After Dat Tan Nguyen, Why Haven’t More Vietnamese Players Followed in His Footsteps?

The NFL is one of the most popular sports leagues in the United States, with around 16.5 million fans tuning in to watch each game and around 100 million watching the Super Bowl each year. This is in addition to the more than 66,000 fans that cram into stadiums to watch games in person.

It’s big business, with TV companies paying the NFL over $5 billion each year to have the rights to broadcast games. This helps to fuel the NFL betting market, with millions of fans placing wagers on games each year, often using NFL picks and predictions to help their decisions. An additional $1.39 billion is spent on sponsorship in the league.

Yet, despite being one of the most-watched sports in the country, the NFL fails to attract and recruit many Asian players. Just 1.9% of NFL players in 2017 had Asian heritage, while 97% of all players were from either African-American or white backgrounds.

Moreover, only one player of Vietnamese descent has ever been signed by an NFL team.

Dat Tan Nguyen

In 1999, Dat Tan Nguyen was drafted to the Dallas Cowboys after being picked in the third round (85th overall). Despite being considered a little too slow and small (5 ft 11 in)to play as a linebacker in the NFL, he quickly caught the attention of many as soon as he signed for the Cowboys, leading the team in tackles in his first season.

After just one full season in the league, Nguyen became the starting middle linebacker, playing a total of 10 games. He was unable to take part in more games in 2000 as he was out for six games due to a knee injury.

In 2001, Nguyen came back fighting fit, completing a full season and leading the team on tackles with a total of 172. However, he missed another eight games at the start of the 2002 season after breaking his wrist in the first game of the season.

He continued to be one of the Cowboys’ leading defensive players throughout the 2003 and 2004 seasons. His success came at a cost though, being involved in some many tackles caused him to suffer a neck injury.

He sat out a large part of the 2005 season, having been placed in the injured reserve list at the end of November. He retired the following year, having not played in another game.

Not the End

That wasn’t the end of Nguyen’s involvement in football though. He currently holds the record for the 10th highest total career tackles for the Dallas Cowboys, a record that earned him a coaching job one year after retiring.

From early 2007 to January 2010, Nguyen worked as an assistant linebackers coach. He then returned to his former college, Texas A&M University, where he worked for two seasons as the lead linebackers coach.

He hasn’t held any other formal coaching roles since.

In recognition of his contributions to the sport, Nguyen was added to the College Football Hall of Game in 2017.

Today, he works as a sports radio host and owns a Chick-fil-A franchise which he runs “like a football team”.

Other Asian Players

While there haven’t been other Vietnamese players in the NFL, there have been several successful players of Asian descent:

• Will Demps – A crucial member of the Baltimore Raven’s defence during the 2000s
• Tedy Bruschi – Playing for the New England Patriots, Bruschi was another key defensive player from the 2000s
• Hines Ward – A two-time Super Bowl-winning wide receiver and Super Bowl MVP, Ward played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1998 to 2011. He now works as an offensive assistant coach for the New York Jets

Why So Few?

It isn’t completely clear why there haven’t been more Vietnamese players following in the footsteps of Nguyen, partly because it seems to be an under-researched area.

Many speculate that a lack of role models, Nguyen aside, make it difficult for other Vietnamese athletes to consider taking up American football. Instead, many prefer soccer and basketball.

The NFL has almost no presence in Vietnam too. Countries that have overseas games played, like the United Kingdom and markets where TV coverage is extensive like Australia, Brazil and Canada, tend to send more players to play in the NFL.

Therefore, it’s likely that a chicken and egg scenario exists. There aren’t any Vietnamese players to inspire future generations, which prevents future role models being created.