Tony Nathan
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Tony Nathan (born December 14, 1956 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American football coach and former player.
Nathan was an NFL running back for the Miami Dolphins from 1979-1987, drafted in the third round from the University of Alabama. A smart, elusive runner with great pass-catching abilities, Nathan was undersized, and would rarely receive the lion's share of carries.
Nathan was the Dolphins' starting running back in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX. In Super Bowl XIX, he had a superb performance, rushing for 18 yards and catching 10 passes for 83 yards. His 10 receptions were the second most in Super Bowl history. He also was intstrumental in the Dolphins 45-28 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC title game prior to the Super Bowl, rushing for 64 yards, catching eight passes for 114 yards, and scoring a touchdown.
Another one of his most notable performances with in an AFC playoff game that became known as The Epic In Miami. Nathan gaining 169 total yards and scored two touchdowns in the Dolphins narrow loss.
He finished his nine NFL seasons with 3,543 rushing yards, 383 receptions for 3,592 yards, and 32 touchdowns(16 rushing and 16 receiving). He also completed four of eight passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
After his retirement he would become an assistant to Don Shula in 1988. He would become running back coach in 1993. From 1996 to 2001 he was the running backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, under Tony Dungy. In his first season the Bucs' were 22nd in rushing offence, but rose steadily to 11th and then 4th in the next two seasons. After having the 30th ranked rushing offence in 2001, he would be replaced by new coach Jon Gruden.
During the 2003-2005 football seasons, Nathan was the running backs coach at Florida International University, under head coach and former Dolphins teammate Don Strock.
In 2006, Nathan was inducted into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame along with Curtis Martin and Michael Strahan.[1] Additionally, he made his return to the NFL coaching ranks when he was hired by the Baltimore Ravens as their new running backs coach. [2][3]
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