SCORECARD
SI that even fans in Miami “would be hard put to identify
anyone on the defense, with the exception of Buoniconti, who
is flanked by outside linebackers Nos. 57 and 59.”
A middle linebacker for 14 pro football seasons—seven each
with the Patriots and the Dolphins—Buoniconti stood just
5' 11". “He’s really not tall enough to play middle linebacker,”
said Miami coach Don Shula, “but his anticipation is so good
that he’s always in the right place. And he’s quick as a cat.”
Buoniconti, whom Shula entrusted to change plays as he
saw fit, picked off 34 passes in his career, including one in
Super Bowl VII, the culmination of the Dolphins’ perfect 1972
season. The next year he set a team record with 161 tackles.
After his NFL career, Buoniconti worked as an agent,
representing, among others, baseball Hall of Famer Andre
Dawson. He was also a mainstay on HBO’s Inside the NFL.
But his passion was the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis,
which he cofounded after his son, Marc, was paralyzed playing
for the Citadel. The organization has raised close to half a
billion dollars. ±NICK
BUONICONTI
1940–
I
AUGUS T 12, 2019 | SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 19
Don Banks 1963ÐIf there’s a way to describe
Don Banks, it’s this: He was
the voice of reason, both
in his job and beyond it. He
died on Aug. 4 at age 56 in
Canton, Ohio, where he was
covering the Pro Football Hall
of Fame ceremonies for the
Las Vegas Review-Journal,doing the job he did so well
for decades. The longtime SI
scribe (far left) covered the
NFL for most of his 36-year
career in sportswriting, always
finding a way to make sense
of what we were all watching
and talking about. Banks’s first
article for the Review-Journalwas published the afternoon
before he died. It was typical of
his work: reporting and insight
not found anywhere else. But
the respect for Banks around
the NFL and among journalists
is not just for how well he did
his job, but for who he was
FOC while doing it. —Jenny Vrentas