[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 139 (Tuesday, August 27, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF NICK BUONICONTI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DONNA E. SHALALA

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 27, 2019

  Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of my friend Nick 
Buoniconti, the humanitarian and football legend who contributed to two 
Miami Dolphins Super Bowl wins in the 1970s. He passed away on July 30, 
2019, at the age of 78.
  Mr. Buoniconti grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts, before 
enrolling in Notre Dame, where he began his football career. Small for 
the N.F.L., he began playing for the American Football League (A.F.L.) 
in 1962. An ambitious student as well as an excellent athlete, he 
studied at the Suffolk University School of Law in Boston during his 
tenure with the Patriots, graduating with his law degree in 1968.
  Mr. Buoniconti was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 1969. After the 
A.F.L. and N.F.L. merged, he helped the Dolphins win the Super Bowl 
VII, capping off a season in which the team went undefeated. The 
Dolphins continued to dominate the next year, winning the following 
Super Bowl as well. Mr. Buoniconti played with the team through 1976, 
when he retired from professional football.
  In 1985, Mr. Buoniconti's son Marc sustained a spinal cord injury in 
a college football game that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Mr. 
Buoniconti left his job at U.S. Tobacco to focus on his son's health 
and support the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, of which Marc 
Buoniconti currently serves as president. The Miami Project is a Center 
of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 
where I have seen the groundbreaking research it has supported in the 
fields of spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. Mr. Buoniconti and 
his family also founded the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, which 
has raised over $500 million in support of the Miami Project's research 
objectives.
  Nick Buoniconti dedicated his life to excellence, both in his 
football career and in his work with the Miami Project. His influence 
will be felt in Miami for years to come. We will remember him with love 
and pride.

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