| No. 22 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1956-12-14)December 14, 1956 (age 68) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 206 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Woodlawn (Birmingham) | ||||||||
| College: | Alabama | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1979: 3rd round, 61st pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Tony Curtis Nathan (born December 14, 1956) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back for theMiami Dolphins of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theAlabama Crimson Tide and was selected by the Dolphins in the third round of the1979 NFL draft. Nathan played with Miami from1979 to1987.
During high school, Tony Nathan became one of the first black football players atWoodlawn High School inBirmingham, Alabama.[1] The story of his high school career was made into aPure Flix Entertainment film known asWoodlawn. It was released on October 16, 2015.
In his four seasons with theAlabama Crimson Tide from 1975 to 1978, Nathan rushed for 1,997 yards, with 29 touchdowns and a 6.4 yards per carry average. Also excelling as a kick returner, he finished his college career with 30 touchdowns and 3,362 all-purpose yards, including a 10.9 average in yards per punt return.
Nathan was the Dolphins' starting running back inSuper Bowl XVII andSuper Bowl XIX. He had a superb performance in Super Bowl XIX, with 18 yards rushing and 10 receptions for 83 yards. His ten receptions were the second most inSuper Bowl history at the time. He was also instrumental in the Dolphins' 45–28 win over thePittsburgh Steelers in the1985 AFC Championship game, in which he rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown, and caught eight receptions for 114 yards. He also had a key performance in the1981 AFC Divisional playoff game against theSan Diego Chargers that became known as "The Epic In Miami". Nathan gained 169 total yards and scored two touchdowns in the Dolphins' narrow loss, including a score on the famous "hook and lateral" play in which he caught a toss from receiverDuriel Harris.
He finished his nine NFL seasons with 3,543 yards rushing, 383 receptions for 3,592 yards, and 32 touchdowns (16 each rushing and receiving). He also completed four of eight passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. He retired from playing in1988, and became an assistant toDon Shula. He became the Dolphins'running backs coach in1993. He served underTony Dungy as the running backs coach for theTampa Bay Buccaneers from1996 to2001. The Bucs ranked 22nd in theNFL in rushing offense in his first year, but rose steadily to 11th and then 4th in the next two seasons. The Bucs fell to 30th in the league in rushing in2001, and he was replaced by incoming head coachJon Gruden.
From 2003 to 2005, Nathan was the running backs coach atFlorida International University, under head coach and former Dolphins teammateDon Strock.
Nathan was inducted into theSenior Bowl Hall of Fame in 2006, along withCurtis Martin andMichael Strahan.[2] Additionally, he returned to the NFL coaching ranks as theBaltimore Ravens'running backs coach.[3][4] On February 4, 2008, Nathan was hired as theSan Francisco 49ers' running backs coach, making him the 24th former Raven to join the 49ers sinceMike Nolan became the head coach. Nathan was fired by the 49ers on December 30, 2008.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1979 | MIA | 16 | 0 | 16 | 68 | 4.3 | 18 | 0 | 17 | 213 | 12.5 | 35 | 2 |
| 1980 | MIA | 16 | 6 | 60 | 327 | 5.5 | 18 | 1 | 57 | 588 | 10.3 | 61 | 5 |
| 1981 | MIA | 13 | 11 | 147 | 782 | 5.3 | 46 | 5 | 50 | 452 | 9.0 | 31 | 3 |
| 1982 | MIA | 8 | 7 | 66 | 233 | 3.5 | 15 | 1 | 16 | 114 | 7.1 | 16 | 0 |
| 1983 | MIA | 16 | 12 | 151 | 685 | 4.5 | 40 | 3 | 52 | 461 | 8.9 | 25 | 1 |
| 1984 | MIA | 16 | 12 | 118 | 558 | 4.7 | 22 | 1 | 61 | 579 | 9.5 | 26 | 2 |
| 1985 | MIA | 16 | 15 | 143 | 667 | 4.7 | 22 | 5 | 72 | 651 | 9.0 | 73 | 1 |
| 1986 | MIA | 16 | 0 | 27 | 203 | 7.5 | 20 | 0 | 48 | 457 | 9.5 | 23 | 2 |
| 1987 | MIA | 6 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 5.0 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 77 | 7.7 | 14 | 0 |
| 123 | 63 | 732 | 3,543 | 4.8 | 46 | 16 | 383 | 3,592 | 9.4 | 73 | 16 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1979 | MIA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 14 | 0 |
| 1981 | MIA | 1 | 0 | 14 | 48 | 3.4 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 114 | 12.7 | 27 | 1 |
| 1982 | MIA | 4 | 2 | 45 | 204 | 4.5 | 16 | 0 | 15 | 127 | 8.5 | 26 | 0 |
| 1983 | MIA | 1 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 2.4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| 1984 | MIA | 3 | 3 | 42 | 158 | 3.8 | 16 | 2 | 22 | 217 | 9.9 | 30 | 0 |
| 1985 | MIA | 2 | 2 | 9 | 25 | 2.8 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 158 | 10.5 | 39 | 1 |
| 12 | 7 | 118 | 454 | 3.8 | 16 | 3 | 65 | 649 | 10.0 | 39 | 2 | ||
He is currently the Bailiff for long-time Miami Dolphins attorney, Judge Marcus Bach Armas, who replaced Nathan's teammate, JudgeEdward Newman, on the Miami-Dade County court.[citation needed]
Fulfilling a promise he made toBear Bryant in 1979, Nathan returned to finish his degree at Alabama in 2015. Also in 2015,Touchdown Tony: Running with a Purpose which was written by Nathan was published as a tie-in with the release of the movieWoodlawn which depicted his time at Woodlawn High School.[5]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| International | |
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