Tony Nathan facts for kids

Tony Curtis Nathan (born December 14, 1956) is a former American football player. He was a running back for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League (NFL). Tony played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Dolphins chose him in the third round of the 1979 NFL draft. He played with Miami from 1979 to 1987.

Tony Nathan's Early Life

Tony Nathan grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. When he was in high school, he became one of the first African American football players at Woodlawn High School. His inspiring story from high school was later made into a movie called Woodlawn. The film was released on October 16, 2015.

College Football Career

Tony Nathan played for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1975 to 1978. During his four years in college, he ran for 1,997 yards. He also scored 29 touchdowns. On average, he gained 6.4 yards every time he carried the ball.

Tony was also great at returning kicks. He finished his college career with a total of 30 touchdowns. He gained 3,362 yards from all his plays, including an average of 10.9 yards per punt return.

Professional Football Career

Tony Nathan was a key player for the Miami Dolphins. He was the team's starting running back in two major championship games: Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX.

Super Bowl and Playoff Highlights

Tony had an amazing game in Super Bowl XIX. He ran for 18 yards and caught 10 passes for 83 yards. His 10 catches were one of the highest numbers in Super Bowl history at that time.

He also played a big part in the Dolphins' win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1985 AFC Championship game. In that game, he ran for 64 yards and scored a touchdown. He also caught eight passes for 114 yards.

Another memorable game was the 1981 AFC Divisional playoff game against the San Diego Chargers. This game is famous and known as "The Epic In Miami". Tony Nathan gained 169 total yards and scored two touchdowns. One of his touchdowns came from a famous play called the "hook and lateral". In this play, he caught a pass from his teammate, Duriel Harris.

Career Statistics and Retirement

Tony Nathan played nine seasons in the NFL. He finished his career with 3,543 yards rushing. He also caught 383 passes for 3,592 yards. In total, he scored 32 touchdowns, with 16 from running and 16 from catching passes. He even completed four of eight passes for 61 yards and one touchdown.

He stopped playing football in 1988. After that, he became an assistant coach for the Dolphins under Don Shula. He became the Dolphins' running backs coach in 1993. Later, he coached running backs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996 to 2001, working under coach Tony Dungy.

From 2003 to 2005, Tony Nathan coached running backs at Florida International University. He worked there with his former Dolphins teammate, Don Strock, who was the head coach.

In 2006, Tony Nathan was honored by being inducted into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame. He also returned to the NFL to coach running backs for the Baltimore Ravens. On February 4, 2008, he was hired as the running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers. He left the 49ers on December 30, 2008.

Personal Life

Tony Nathan currently works as a Bailiff for Judge Marcus Bach Armas in Miami-Dade County. Judge Armas took over from Tony's former teammate, Judge Edward Newman.

In 2015, Tony Nathan went back to the University of Alabama to finish his college degree. He had promised his former coach, Bear Bryant, in 1979 that he would complete it. Also in 2015, Tony Nathan wrote a book called Touchdown Tony: Running with a Purpose. This book was released at the same time as the movie Woodlawn, which tells the story of his time at Woodlawn High School.