May 4, 2012

Football Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti returns to Cathedral

 

REGIONAL

Story and photos by Stephen Kiltonic

WILBRAHAM – He played on the only undefeated Super Bowl team in history, the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

But Pro-Football Hall of Famer and Cathedral High School grad, Nick Buoniconti, also played on another undefeated team – the Panthers 1955 squad under legendary coach Billy Wise.
On May 1, the former Notre Dame captain and Boston Patriot linebacker, returned home to Cathedral High School in Wilbraham.

Buoniconti, who grew up in Springfield’s South End, was there for a special ceremony to receive a plaque that is part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s “Hometown Hall of Famers” program, which honors the NFL’s greatest players. Buoniconti is one of 50 enshrinees who will be honored this year. The plaque and a road sign will be permanently displayed at Cathedral to serve as an inspiration for the entire community.

During his 14-year career, Buoniconti was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and played on two Super Bowl winning teams. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Former Cathedral teammates, classmates, family and his 95-year-old mother, Pasqualina “Patsy” Buoniconti, were in attendance to honor the man known more affectionately as “Skippy.”

“Patsy, you are the best. You are the most wonderful mother anyone could possibly have,” said Nick at the ceremony.

Billy Kingston, the quarterback and Nick’s teammate on that undefeated team, introduced Buoniconti to the crowd, calling him small in stature but big where it counted.  “Size didn’t matter. It was what was in his heart that drove him to be a great player and great person,” said Kingston, who added that Buoniconti started games as a 13-year-old freshman, which was unheard of in those days.

But when called to the podium, it wasn’t Buoniconti’s football exploits that he spoke about – it was his son, Marc, whom he calls the “most courageous young man in my life.” In 1985, Marc, then 19, broke his neck making a tackle in a football game for the Citadel. He severed his spinal cord and was paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Buoniconti visited Marc in the hospital. “He couldn’t speak. He was on a respirator and I looked into his big brown eyes and I saw, ‘Daddy, please help me,’” Nick recalled. “And for the first time in my life I couldn’t help my son.” 

Nick made a commitment to never let money get in the way of finding a cure for spinal cord injury and he founded the Buoniconti Fund, which became the fund-raising arm of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Marc Buoniconti serves as the project’s president and fund’s ambassador. To date, the fund has raised $400 million for research.

“My commitment to Marc is that we will endure to find a cure for spinal cord injury so that he can rise out of his chair, put his arms around me, give me a hug and give me a kiss,” added Buoniconti, who is now 71 and lives in Miami.

The Cathedral High football team presented Nick with a $500 check from the school to help in the cause. 

“To me, this is his legacy. Great football player, amazing football player, great friend, great son, great brother, but a humanitarian that defies description,” said Kingston.
Buoniconti said it felt great to be back at Cathedral where it all began in 1954 on Elliot Street.  He recalled that when Cathedral beat arch-rival Tech High, the team would march down Main Street with the school band playing the Cathedral victory march.

“It’s a great honor. Any time you can go home and have your hometown honor you, you’ve reached the pinnacle of success, because there is nothing like coming home,” said Buoniconti.

“It’s a family, Cathedral is a family. Whether they’re in this temporary structure or going into a new building. It’s a family and it was always that way. We looked after each other,” commented Nick. “Cathedral taught me discipline, respect, all the things I think you like to take from a high school, they gave me.”

Buoniconti said this was the first time in 50 years that his former Cathedral team has been together. “Most of us grew up in the South End of Springfield. Most of us came from Italian extraction and our family ties and binds are still very close,” he said. 

Speaking before the Cathedral students and faculty, he also thanked former coach Billy Wise for being his mentor and the Sisters of St. Joseph, who formed Cathedral’s faculty, for their dedication and commitment over the years. He admitted to having a crush on Sister Marie Christine, who Nick said “was the most beautiful nun you had ever seen. I took Spanish five times just to get into her class.”

Buoniconti also addressed the students, saying “Let’s hope that the future that you sketch is something that will make your family proud of you, your school proud of you and you proud of yourself.” 

When asked about last year’s tornado that destroyed Cathedral’s Surrey Road campus, Buoniconti commented, “Cathedral is going to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes. It’s going to happen because you have to have a spirit. Alumni like myself will make that happen. I hope the students can rally around it also.”

Buoniconti concluded the ceremony by singing the school song,”The Royal Purple of Old Cathedral.” When only a handful in the crowd sang along, Nick told the students to learn the song for their homework assignment.

Watch for a video version of this story on the May 5 edition of the Springfield Diocese’s weekly newsmagazine program, “Real to Reel,” which airs at 7 p.m. on WWLP-22NEWS.