Nick Buonuconti

Sadly, we heard about another member of the 72 dolphins team passing away. Nick Buoniconti goes to Valhalla to meet the football gods.

I have a Nick story of my own. It was a random encounter in the 90s. I was flying home with my-then fiancée from NY to Ft Lauderdale. My wife was a frequent flier and had tons of free upgrades, so she bumped us both to first class.

We're waiting for the boarding process to start when there's a stir by the desk. Nick was on that same flight. I hear everyone chatting with him. Then I hear someone say "no problem Mr Buonicoti, we're happy to move you to first class!"

And maybe a minute later I hear "mr kennedy please come to the podium." I know what this means. He's getting *my* seat.

And of course they tell me that they can't accommodate my request and will be refunding the upgrade to my wife's account.

Cue the Seinfeld moment where jerry is in first class, hanging out with a model and eating sundaes, while Elaine is in coach squeezed between two "bad passengers" with nothing to eat.

That was pretty much it.

I had wanted to interview him at one point for my dolphins podcast, but I wasn't able to work it out. I surely would have asked him about this...

....I guess now I can let the grudge go. (Haha)