Education
Born in Ogden, Utah, Nye played football at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, and graduated in 1964.
Born in Ogden, Utah, Nye played football at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, and graduated in 1964.
He played college football up the coast at Stanford University. As a sophomore at in 1965, he played offensive tackle and defensive education The next season he was moved to defensive tackle, led the team with 104 tackles and received honorable-mention All-Pac-8 honors.
As a senior in 1967, he made All-AAWU Athletic Association of Western Universities Honorable-Mention, while earning a Bachelor of Arts in physics.
He also played rugby. He was inducted into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame, the Stanford All-Century football team and to the Orange County Sports Hall Of Fame.
Nye was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round (130th overall) of the 1968 NFL/American Federation of Labor-Congress draft as a defensive tackle. During the 1970 season, with the Cowboys needing help on the offensive line, he was switched to offensive guard and replaced John Wilbur.
He played right guard between Hall of Famer offensive tackle Rayfield Wright (1970–1976) and Dave Manders (1970–1972) or John Fitzgerald (1973–1976) at center and helped anchor a dominant offensive line that led the Cowboys to three Super Bowls.
He played in 125 games during his nine-year career with the Cowboys, including the three Super Bowls and two Pro Bowls. Nye retired at the end of the 1976 season (after the Pro Bowl in January) and was replaced by Tom Rafferty. Nye was widely considered one of the smartest players in the NFL. Amidst the time and pressure of regular-season play, he earned two master"s degrees.
Inside the team, he founded the "Zero Club", which prided itself on performing behind the scenes.
Its first rule, "Thou Shalt Not Seek Publicity," kept its members (Nye, Larry Cole, and Pat Toomay) out of the limelight. Although he didn"t seek publicity, he is also known for providing some of the team"s famous quotes:
"Offensive linemen are like salt.
Nobody ever remembers the brand they buy."
During the offseason, Nye earned a Master of Surgery in physics from University of Washington in Seattle in 1970 and an Master of Business Administration from Stanford University in 1974. After retiring from football in 1976, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy in finance from Stanford in 1981.
His dissertation was titled "Demand and Pricing for Health Care and Guaranteed Insurability".
In 1981, Nye founded Incorporated. He performs numerous economic analyses and research, and provides expert testimony in multiple areas including securities litigation, intellectual property, business litigation, damages, and insurance economics.
He was later the founder and president of, Incorporated., a firm specializing in economic research. After Clint Longley"s famous comeback win over the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving Day in 1974, a reporter asked him what the game meant, his answer was "This game represents the triumph of the uncluttered mind.".
