Eugene Chung was just a kid lost among the big names at Oakton High School in the late 1980's. Chung, who suffered through one of the worst losing streaks of that decade while the Cougars failed to win a game in the 1985 and 1986 football seasons, was a quiet lineman who drew no joy from grabbing headlines or even talking amongst his teammates.
"He had a small group of friends," said Dave Foley, a 1986 Oakton graduate and fellow lineman. "He wasn't a big 'partier.' He spent a lot of time in the weight room."
Chung, who eventually grew to 6-feet 4-inches tall and 295-pounds, was an offensive and defensive lineman who sculpted his body into that of a Div. 1 collegiate prospect and an eventual NFL draft pick. He bought in to former Oakton coach Bob Herb's weight room regiment — a new school of thought in the Northern Region.
"That was a big thing that Bob Herb instilled in all of us," said Brent Newell, a 1988 Oakton graduate and fellow lineman alongside of Chung. "[Herb] was probably one of the first guys that stressed weight-training and offseason conditioning. [Eugene] was one of the disciples of that, and that made him a Div. 1A player."
Herb, now living in Florida, said that Chung had all the abilities, but initially lacked the confidence to produce.
"The thing that weightlifting did for Eugene, it just gave him some confidence to use the abilities he already had," said Herb.
But before Chung could go on to find success at Virginia Tech and in the NFL, he would suffer through trying times at Oakton, at least before his senior year.
Chung's mother died when he was young and his father passed away days before the New England Patriots made him the 13th overall pick in the 1992 NFL draft (first Asian player to be selected in the first round.) He championed a defense that helped Oakton fight back from a winless streak that spanned both the 1985 and in 1986 seasons. Oakton finished in last place in the Northern District with an 0-9-1 record in 1986. "The only game we tied was against West Springfield on homecoming," remembered Newel. "It was a pretty challenging year."
CHUNG AND a new group of Oakton Cougars surged in the 1987 season and forced a 9-1 record with a star-studded cast that included the return of 15 starters like quarterback J.D. Gibbs — son of Redskins coach Joe Gibbs— and Robert Brooks, a versatile receiver that also lined up at running back and ran back punts and kicks. Chris Scaglione, a red-zone receiving machine, was also a part of the offensive machine that Oakton became in the 1987 season. In a Sept. 10 1986 article entitled "Oakton Stuns Chantilly," Chargers coach Fred Welch said that "Oakton may have the best passing game in the region this year." Chung was on the line protecting Gibbs, while opening holes for Brooks and Kevin Barnes — a tailback that punished opposing defenses.
Foley, now an assistant coach with Oakton's football team, knew Chung from an early age. "We kind of grew up together. We played little league together," said Foley. "He was a real quiet guy, not a talker. He's quiet but you knew that he had a mean streak in him. He had a brown belt in judo."
Newell remembered Chung for his size.
"He was definitely bigger than everybody else," said Newell. "He had good speed and agility and had a lot of potential. You can't coach height. He had a lot of those intangibles that need to be recruited."
Chung made sure that he was recruited by coming up with big plays at key times. He recovered the fumble on the Madison 35-yard-line that helped Oakton earn the 20-14 come-from-behind victory over the cross-town rival Warhawks in the 1986-87 season. Chung also stuffed Edison's attack on fourth-and-five in a late September game to help Oakton keep its postseason hopes alive.
HE WAS PART of the goal-line stand that stopped Robinson from punching in what would have been the game tying touchdown in the mid-October 21-14 win over the Rams to improve the Cougars to 6-0. Chung also forced Woodson tailback Mark Hite — a region dazzler that had tallied 913 yards to lead the region in rushing at that point in the season — to fumble. A few plays later Hite was off the field with an injury forced by a Chung-led defense that helped Oakton earn the 7-3 victory and berth in the Northern District Championship Game against four-time champion T.C. Williams. It was plays like that, which earned only a footnote in newspaper clippings and stat boxes, that helped Oakton grit its way through several close games to a 9-1 record. But it would be all for naught as the Cougars lost to the Titans and missed the playoffs.
"We played on a really rainy night, like a typhoon night. We made the decision to play," said Newell, who helped Oakton take the 3-0 lead at the half. "[T.C. Williams] ended up winning 21-3. That was under the old playoff format, before you had powerpoints and all that."
Despite earning a 9-1 record, Oakton missed the playoffs because only district champions advanced to the regional tournament. Chung went on to become a selection for the Football Writers Association All-America team following his senior season at Virginia Tech. He was the first offensive lineman to win first-team All-America honors. He started every game at tackle for the Hokies in 1991, allowing just one sack in 730 plays. He was honored as the National Lineman of the Year by the Washington Gridiron Club. He played with the New England Patriots in the NFL from 1992-1994 before playing brief stints with Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and Kansas City.
Eugene Chung is 42 in a survey of the area's Top 100 Athletes by Connection Newspapers in 2000.