Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti (, December 15, 1940 – July 30, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a middle linebacker in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Buoniconti played professionally for the Boston Patriots and Miami Dolphins, winning two Super Bowls with the Dolphins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

Buoniconti graduated from Notre Dame and was drafted by the American Football League's Patriots in the 13th round of the 1962 AFL draft.

In 1985, his son Marc suffered a spinal cord injury making a tackle for The Citadel, rendering him a quadriplegic. Buoniconti 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.

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 from 1978 until 2001. In 2001, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where he joined his Inside the NFL co-host Len Dawson, who was inducted in 1987.

Buoniconti is a member of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.

Buoniconti openly shared that he struggled with neurological issues, with one or several different diagnoses potentially being the cause. 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 to support a parent initiative called Flag Football Under 14, which advises no tackle football under that age.

Death

Buoniconti died of pneumonia on July 30, 2019, in Bridgehampton, New York, at the age of 78. He was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with CTE, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.

See also

  • List of American Football League players
  • List of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
  • List of AFL/NFL players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy

References

  • New England Patriots bio