Phinatics.com

Tony Nathan
04/15/02

Tony Nathan was a running back for the Miami Dolphins from 1979-1987. He played in two Super Bowls and in the "greatest game in NFL history" (San Diego). Tony was the 1979 AP All-NFL (First team) kick returner. He played college football for Alabama.

Phinatics.com gives Mr. Nathan a special "THANK YOU" for his participation.

phinatics.com: You had some really good success with in Tampa as the Running Backs coach. Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn are now household names. Indy has had some success as well with Edgerrin James and Dominic Rhodes, so it would have been tough for Coach Dungy to take you with him. What are your thoughts on how the situation was handled?
Tony Nathan: Well, you know, Tony did what he could, he offered to take us with him. When he got there, I guess after he had signed his contract, from what I've gathered from other people I've talked to, Edgerrin did speak up and said he'd like to keep the coach that he had . . . which you know I commend him on doing because not very many players if they had the ability or the authority or the power to do so would do it. I commend him on stepping up and speaking up for his coach.

phinatics.com: Do you still want to coach in the NFL and where do you think you might end up?
Tony Nathan: I don't know, I really and truly don't know right now. I know I want to get back in the NFL, but this year I think I'll be out.

phinatics.com: Are you talking to any specific teams?
Tony Nathan: Not in the NFL; everybody has their coaching staff filled now.

phinatics.com: If you were hired by the Dolphins to help out the running backs, how would you deal with Ricky Williams knowing his unusual background?
Tony Nathan: Well, me and Ricky would just have to get to know one another. Dealing with his background, that's something Ricky has to deal with. I'm not here to judge anyone; I know and I go on what Ricky showed me. If I was hired, he might want to change from what he used to be. You know, I can't hold what he used to do against him, and if he can let it go, why should I throw it up in his face again? If he wants to make a fresh start, he has an opportunity to do so, and hopefully he does.

phinatics.com: The Dolphins offensive line is very questionable right now, do you think Ricky could be successful behind a mediocre line if he had to play behind one?
Tony Nathan: You hope that he will be able to. You never know, because you think that he is the type of guy . . . a physical type of runner. You don't know if that situation could be more hazardous than helpful because if you don't have more help up front, and if they are still going to be a mediocre line, he could get nicked a lot.

phinatics.com: Your position with the Dolphins was running back, yet if someone looks at your stats they may be mislead into thinking your were a wide receiver. In 1985, Marino connected with you for more passes than Duper or Clayton. Did you enjoy receiving more than rushing?
Tony Nathan: No, I didn't enjoy catching the ball more than I enjoyed just getting a handoff. But during that time of the year, based on what was going and what was working, as long as you were involved, you took what you could get. That was my philosophy . . . doing what you gotta do to help your team win a football game.

phinatics.com: Do you keep up with the current Dolphin teams?
Tony Nathan: Not as much as I will now that I am back here in Miami. In the past 6 years I really haven't watched them more than just when we had to play them . . . you do what you gotta do to study them, and get to know them. They have been winning, but not in the latter part of the year where they don't have a very good record.

phinatics.com: What kind of season do you expect the Dolphins to have this year?
Tony Nathan: You can always say on paper they should do real well, but as soon as you go to mini-camp and go do your little passing camps and QB camps, a lot of things can happen. As a coach, and being in the business, I've seen it go both ways. When everybody stays healthy, everything works well. Later on somebody might get nicked, somebody that you might need. Or early on, you might lose 2 or 3 people to injuries that really set them back, which gives you a late start on what you're trying to get done during the season.

phinatics.com: Your first season in the NFL and with the Dolphins was 1979. Larry Csonka returned that year after a four year absence and you busted out early in the season for a record 86 yard punt return for a TD against the Bills and the team made the playoffs. What was it like dealing with all of that excitement your rookie season?
Tony Nathan: Basically it was like a dream that came true, or like living in a dream that you hope you didn't wake up from any time soon, but eventually we did. It was a real thrill to have an opportunity to play with a legend like Larry.

phinatics.com: What do you miss the most and the least about playing in the NFL?
Tony Nathan: The camaraderie of lining up every Sunday . . . the excitement and the thrill of going out and doing what you can against the opponent that you're playing against that week . . . just the thrill of being able to put the pads on and going to line up. You know, that's the way it used to be, but I've been out now for some time, so you have a tendency to outgrow that.

phinatics.com: Would it be safe to say the thing you liked least was training camp?
Tony Nathan: Yes.

phinatics.com: What do you remember about watching Marino for the first time it hit you that he was such an incredible talent?
Tony Nathan: The first time you saw him throw the football, or the first time you actually caught one of those balls, it was like OK he's OK --- he's got a little ways to go; he's an arrogant young man, we'll see what he can do (chuckles). So, you try not to form that final conclusion about people when you first go into the thing because you never know. You knew he had talent, but how he was going to deal with it, and what he was going to do with it, had to be seen. You know, he was a raw individual, but you knew he could throw the football.

phinatics.com: Do you think Coach Shula got too pass happy with Marino at the helm?
Tony Nathan: Well, we did throw it a lot more than we had in the past before Marino got there. It's one of those deals where, yes, I thought we did, but maybe he didn't think so because he was putting the ball in the best talent's hands and it was up to somebody else to come through for him and help him out, instead of doing what you usually did . . . just pack it up and say, "Here we come."

phinatics.com: What do you think went wrong in Marino’s only Super Bowl, anything in particular?
Tony Nathan: Well, the particular team that we played (laughs). They said, "Hey, this is what we are going to do," and they stepped up and stopped us from doing what we were having success with. We didn't make the adjustments we needed to make to contradict what they were doing against us. They made the adjustments they needed to make, and they made the plays they needed to make.

phinatics.com: During your Dolphin tenure, you had 3 fellow teammates David Overstreet , Rusty Chambers, and Larry Gordon that passed away. Last season the Minnesota Vikings were dealing with the loss of Korey Stringer who died from heat stroke at a practice. How difficult is it to get back to football after something terrible like that happens?
Tony Nathan: Back in those days it was very rare, and then it would get to a point where you were afraid to do what you had to do to get yourself in the best shape because you knew those things could happen. David died in a car accident, so it wasn't totally all just football related. It's one of those type things . . . on any given day it could be your day. When the Lord wants you, the Lord is going to take you no matter what you're doing or where you are. As a team you just have to share time and mourn the loss that you have, but we had a task at hand ... dedicating the season to them, going and playing for them to make sure that their death wasn't just a total loss.

phinatics.com: You had some great lineman to block for you including Pro Football Hall of Famer Dwight Stephenson, who played college ball with you at the University of Alabama. Did having a college teammate on the same team help both of you in any way, and if yes how?
Tony Nathan: We didn't do the same things that we did in Miami. We dealt with an entire different game plan, a different type scheme from when we were in college. We ran the wishbone in college, and when we got down to Miami, we threw the ball more. But when we did run the football that was basically up to Dwight and those 6 people up front and me. As time went along, Dwight and I got a chance to work together, and we got a chance to talk. We would do things according to what we saw, and we got together. We made our own little calls that we felt like we could make to put him on the linebacker and me on the db if they were going to try and blitz a db and a linebacker. We had our own little codes that we would come up with to do things in the week. If you try and talk to young guys nowadays, to try and help out on the protection side of things ... that's something that as you get older you just learn . . . to be a student of the game. And you get to know the people you are working with if they are willing to work with you and stuff. Dwight was that type of guy, you know. Instead of you having to block the linebacker, let me get him and you go get the db. Sometimes I would go totally opposite of where I was supposed to go, because I knew Dwight was going to go get my guy. We had that relationship, and we worked together, and we came up with those type of communication things. Dwight was an interesting individual from day one when he got there, so it was good to have him around for a while.

phinatics.com: What kind of codes? Do you have any examples you remember?
Tony Nathan: Anytime I would have to go block strong side, and they would have the two linebackers strong side of me, and the db on the back side of this, and I had the first linebacker in the middle, Dwight would just pat his hip or sometimes raise his right hand or raise his left hand and tell me which way he was gonna go, and I would just go the total opposite way. If I was lined up on the right side, or the strong side, he was supposed to go to the left side. We changed it up every week; we would do something different every week so people couldn't just say, "OK if they do that or this the back is going that way." We'd change different things up; we might even do it the day of the game. We'd find out what we did the last week, or the last time we played this team, we always changed it up so it varied from every game. Sometimes he would just put his hand on the ball and look under his leg; it was always something different.

phinatics.com: Your college coach Bear Bryant may be the greatest college coach of all time. Don Shula is the greatest NFL coach of all time. They were both tops in their profession, but was their style the same?
Tony Nathan: No, their style was a little bit different. It was definitely different. Don was the type that as you played for him, he was more outgoing . . . almost like you could say he liked to intimidate people and pressure people into doing things. Coach Bryant, when I was in college, he showed you once you got in the game, you better do what you gotta do while you're there because it wasn't guaranteed you'd get back in that game once he took you out. You better have been rolling. It's like when we played Missouri one year, I had 89 yards rushing the first half and didn't play the second half. And I was like, "Coach what's up with this" and he said, "Go sit down you've had enough for one day." So what do you do? You go sit down.

phinatics.com: Do you keep up with any of your former teammates from the Dolphins?
Tony Nathan: I see a few of them every now and then. I haven't seen Dwight in a long time. I've talked to Don McNeal, I see him all the time. I see Marino occasionally and I talk to Strock occasionally. You meet people every now and then, its not that we are all buddy buddy type where we see each other everyday, but we see each other every now and then.

phinatics.com: What NFL game do you recall was the most memorable for you?
Tony Nathan: The Charger game when we lost, unfortunately. Both Super Bowls . . . we lost both. You know those type games stick out in your mind because you had a chance to do something and you didn't get it done. Unfortunately, in my career that's what happened. If you were in someone else's career that was able to win those three games, and you know you win the big games, you have a more enjoyable career. But, I lost in the three games that went down in history, and unfortunately we didn't come out on top of those games.

phinatics.com: Which NFL opponent did you find the hardest to play against?
Tony Nathan: San Francisco . . . when they were rolling. When we played against Pittsburgh, we didn't play against the Steel Curtain. None of them were still there, but we played against cats like "Dirt" Winson, and some of those guys, and they were pretty tough.

phinatics.com: Do you have any memorabilia from your playing days?
Tony Nathan: I got both of my helmets, when I played at Alabama and when I played at Miami. You know, different little things.

phinatics.com: Have you experienced any racism in the NFL during your playing or coaching days that really stands out?
Tony Nathan: Well, you had your individuals that were there that talked a little noise when they wanted to, but other than that, it wasn't something I experienced. You probably felt that way sometimes because the way some cats were getting paid, and everyone was not getting paid the same. But, nothing I would say that was too out of whack or what not. But you know, like I said, most of the part was you had some individuals who were out of whack sometimes.

phinatics.com: Please compare playing in the Orange Bowl to playing in Joe Robbie.
Tony Nathan: The Orange Bowl for me was much better. The fans were right there on top of you. They had all the history going on in the Orange Bowl, and that's were the Dolphins were known. That's where they had done all the things they had achieved at the time. Joe Robbie was great for the fans. It's a much better stadium for the fans than it is for the team, and I guess for the game... playing.

phinatics.com: Did the appearance of some of the ’72 team at the ’85 Bears game have a big motivating impact on the team and what was that like?
Tony Nathan: It was great to see them there and have them there, but it didn't make a difference whether they were there or not. You didn't want to go down as the team that let the Bears go undefeated. You didn't want to be the ones who had an opportunity to stop it and didn't get it stopped. You did not want to let them achieve something the team you were playing for had already achieved, so you didn't want to go down in the books as being the team who let them slip by and go undefeated.

phinatics.com: There were obviously a lot of teams that couldn't get it done, what do you think made the difference for you guys?
Tony Nathan: Looking at them on tape, game plan wise, we had the actual game plan for them. We knew they were going to put 7,8, 9 people on the ball. You had the people that were outside. The receivers had to come through for you in the game because you really couldn't run the football against them. And if you held on too long in the passing game, you were going to get your clock cleaned.

phinatics.com: You're pretty sure you're not going to be doing anything in the NFL this year?
Tony Nathan: In the NFL, no.

phinatics.com: Do you have some options with the Arena League or something?
Tony Nathan: No offers, just one of the local high schools were my wife works has been asking me to come out and help them and see what I could do for them. So, I have been thinking about that, but I don't know.

phinatics.com: You have a lot of former Dolphins in the area that are coaching. I know one of the Blackwood's is a high school football coach. Does this school you are talking about have any former Dolphins on the coaching staff?
Tony Nathan: No . . . well, Don McNeal is over here. He is one of the ministers at this school. He was the Head Coach there at one time, but he became the youth minister. I don't know if he is going to get back in it, but if he does, I might decide to do so just to keep myself busy, but I don't know yet.

phinatics.com: How many children do you have?
Tony Nathan: I have 3 girls, two in college.

phinatics.com: Would you care to add any comments about what’s going on in your personal life i.e. family?
Tony Nathan: Right now I'm waiting to see where the good Lord takes me. It's given me an opportunity to sit back and re-evaluate my career, and what I need to do and what I should be doing. I get a chance to be reunited with my wife. I haven't been with her like I will be now, for the next year here at least. I'll get to see her almost everyday. You know I've been in Tampa for the last 6 years and she has been here, so, you know, I got to give it to her --- she's a trooper. She's done a great job with the kids and stuff, and I thank her for what she's done, and I love her for it. Now I get a chance to be here, and be with my youngest daughter. We've got one that is a freshman in high school now, and I get a chance to revisit the other ones and not be in a rush to get back to do other things like work and what not. I think I have been given an opportunity that not too many people get a chance to do. I'm thankful for it, but when next year rolls around, I'll definitely be hungry to get back in and go to work, so we'll see what happens.

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