Nick Buoniconti
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| No. 85 | |||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Date of birth: | December 15, 1940 | ||||||
| Place of birth: | Springfield, Massachusetts | ||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Springfield (MA) Cathedral | ||||||
| College: | Notre Dame | ||||||
| AFL draft: | 1962 / Round: 13 / Pick: 102 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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| Games: | 183 |
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| Interceptions: | 32 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti (born December 15, 1940) is a former American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) Hall of Fame middle linebacker, who played for the Boston Patriots and Miami Dolphins.
Buoniconti was born to Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti Sr. and Pasqualina "Patsy" Mercolino in Springfield, Massachusetts. The couple ran a family bakery in the predominantly Italian South End of the city. He was raised Catholic and played football for Cathedral High School, where a plaque honoring him as a "Hometown Hall of Famer" was unveiled in 2012.
In 1985, his son Marc suffered a spinal cord injury 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.
Buoniconti graduated from Notre Dame, and was drafted by the American Football League's Patriots in the thirteenth round of the 1962 AFL draft.
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 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. He was the only All-American on Notre Dame's 1961 team.
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