Kick Off Sports Luncheon

Born in 1975 in an Arkansas refugee camp, Dat Nguyen grew up in a Vietnamese shrimping family in Rockport. He joined the Rockport-Fulton Junior High football team in eighth grade and, despite his parents’ skepticism, found his calling.

As a linebacker at Texas A&M from 1995 - 1998, Nguyen won a host of awards, including the 1998 Lombardi Award and induction into the College Football and State of Texas Sports Halls of Fame.

Nguyen was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 3rd round of the 1999 NFL Draft and holds the distinction of being the first and only Vietnamese-American to play in the National Football League. Nguyen started at middle linebacker in six of his seven seasons with the Cowboys before retiring in 2006.

Nguyen later served coaching stints with the Cowboys and the Aggies. He also served as a proprietor of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Fort Worth and currently co-hosts a sports talk radio show called The Blitz on 1250 ESPN San Antonio.