Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti (December 15, 1940 – July 30, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) and

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). He played for the

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

, winning two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

s with the Dolphins. Buoniconti was inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

in 2001.

Early life and family

Nicholas Buoniconti was born to Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti Sr. and Pasqualina "Patsy" Mercolino in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...

. The couple ran a family bakery in the predominantly Italian South End of the city. Nick was raised

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and played football for Cathedral High School, where a plaque honoring him as a "Hometown Hall of Famer" was unveiled in 2012. Nicholas Buoniconti graduated from Notre Dame, and was drafted by the

's Patriots in the 13th round of the 1962 AFL draft. In 1985, his son Marc suffered a

spinal cord injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...

making a tackle for The Citadel, rendering him a quadriplegic. Nick became the public face of the group that founded the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, now one of the world's leading neurological research centers. Nick was married twice, and had three children by his first marriage.

College career

In 1960, as a junior, was second on the Fighting Irish in tackles (behind senior captain Myron Pottios) with 71. As a senior in 1961, Nick led the team with 74 tackles as the Irish co-captain and was rewarded with 2nd-team All-America selections from UPI, TSN, and the Football Coaches' Association. Nick was the only All-American on Notre Dame's 1961 team.

Professional career

As a tackle, Nicholas Buoniconti was the captain of the 1961 Notre Dame football team, but NFL scouts considered him too small to play pro football. Drafted in the 13th round by the Boston Patriots in the 1962 American Football League college draft and switched to linebacker, Nicholas Buoniconti made an immediate impact, as Nick was named the team's rookie of the year. The following year, Nick helped Boston capture the 1963 AFL Eastern Division title. With Boston, Nick appeared in five

AFL All-Star Games The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leagu ...

, and recorded 24 interceptions, which is still the seventh-most in team history. Nick was named 2nd team All-AFL in 1963 and the following season began a run of five consensus All-AFL seasons in the following six seasons, missing only 1968 when Nick was named second-team All-AFL. Nicholas Buoniconti is a member of the Patriots All-1960s (AFL) Team and the AFL All-Time Team. Nick was traded to the AFL's

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. Nick continued to play well with the Dolphins, in

–

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and 1976, and made the

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leagu ...

team in

and the NFL Pro Bowl in 1972 and 1973, when Nick led the Dolphins in Super Bowl wins. Nicholas Buoniconti was also named All-AFC in 1972. His leadership made him a cornerstone of the Dolphins' defense. During his years there, the team advanced to three consecutive

appearances under

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...

, the second of which was the team's 1972 undefeated season. In 1973, Nick recorded a then-team record 162 tackles (91 unassisted). Nick was named to the

AFC-NFC Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thr ...

in 1972 and 1973. Buoniconti ended his career with an unofficial 24 sacks, 18 with the Patriots and six while with the Dolphins. His 32 career interceptions rank him third all-time among NFL linebackers. He was named the Dolphins' Most Valuable Player three times (1969, 1970, 1973). In 1990, Nick was voted as a linebacker on the Dolphins' Silver Anniversary All-Time team. On November 18, 1991, Nick was enshrined on the Miami Dolphin's Honor Roll at Hard Rock Stadium.

Post-playing career

Buoniconti earned a J.D. degree from

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two blocks ...

during his years with the Patriots. He was a practicing attorney for a short time. As an agent, he represented some 30 professional athletes, including baseball players

Bucky Dent Russell Earl "Bucky" Dent (born Russell Earl O'Dey; November 25, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager. He earned two World Series rings as the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978 and ...

and

Andre Dawson Andre Nolan Dawson (born July 10, 1954), nicknamed "The Hawk" and "Awesome Dawson", is an American former professional baseball player and inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During a 21-year baseball career, he played for four different t ...

. He was also president of the United States Tobacco Company during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Buoniconti was a leading critic of studies which showed that

smokeless tobacco Smokeless tobacco is a tobacco product that is used by means other than smoking. Their use involves chewing, sniffing, or placing the product between gum and the cheek or lip. Smokeless tobacco products are produced in various forms, such as che ...

caused cancer of the mouth as well as other types of cancer. In a televised interview on the Comedy Channel toward the end of 1990, when asked his reaction to the last two undefeated teams of the season suffering losses the same Sunday, Buoniconti, indicating his cheerful countenance, told '' Night After Nights Allan Havey, "You know, I think this smile might just stay permanently on my face." Buoniconti also appeared in one of the Miller Lite "Do you know me?" TV ads, in which he talked about the No-Name Defense. The punch line was a variation on an old joke, with Buoniconti remarking that ''everyone'' knows him now. A passerby remarks, "Hey, I know you... you're... uh... uh..." trying to recall Buoniconti's name. Upon being told that it's Nick Buoniconti, the passerby says, "No, that's not it." Buoniconti was a co-host of the HBO series '' Inside the NFL'' until 2001. That same year, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Buoniconti is a member of the

National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit institution honoring exceptional U.S. athletes of Italian descent. In 1977 George Randazzo created the Italian American Boxing Hall of Fame. This was as a means for rai ...

. Buoniconti openly shared that he struggled with

neurological Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

issues, with one or several different diagnoses potentially being the cause.'I Feel Lost. I Feel Like a Child.': The Complicated Decline of Nick Buoniconti
''Sports Illustrated'', S.L. Price, May 9, 2017. On November 3, 2017, he announced that he would posthumously donate his brain to aid CTE research. In March 2018, he joined with former NFL stars Harry Carson and

Phil Villapiano Philip James Villapiano (born February 26, 1949) is a former American football linebacker who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Early life Villapiano played high school football at both Asbury Park High School and Ocean T ...

to support a parent initiative called Flag Football Under 14, which advises no tackle football under that age.

Death

Buoniconti died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

on July 30, 2019, in Bridgehampton, New York, at the age of 78.

References

External links

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buoniconti, Nick 1940 births 2019 deaths American Football League players American football middle linebackers American sportspeople of Italian descent Boston Patriots players Miami Dolphins players National Football League announcers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American Football League All-Star players American Football League All-Time Team Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Suffolk University Law School alumni Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state)