National Program Recognizes Pro Football’s Greatest Players in their Hometown Communities

Canton, Ohio – April 24, 2012 – Pro football legend Nick Buoniconti will be recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate Insurance Company in Springfield, Mass., on Tuesday, May 1, as part of “Hometown Hall of Famers™,” a national program honoring the hometown roots of the sport’s greatest players with special ceremonies and plaque dedication events in local communities.

“’Hometown Hall of Famers™’ has been warmly embraced by communities and Hall of Famers alike,” said George Veras, Pro Football Hall of Fame Enterprises president and CEO. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Allstate to bring the Pro Football Hall of Fame to communities across the country and congratulate Nick Buoniconti and Cathedral High School on bringing a piece of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to Springfield.”

A two-time Pro Bowl selection during his career as linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and Boston Patriots, and former high school standout at Cathedral High School in Springfield, Mass., Buoniconti will be presented with his “Hometown Hall of Famer™” plaque during a special ceremony at 1:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 1, at Cathedral High School in its temporary location in Wilbraham, Mass. The plaque will live permanently at Cathedral High School in its new location to serve as an inspiration for the entire community. The presentation will be made by Billy Kingston, Buoniconti’s former high school teammate and longtime friend.

“To be part of a program that brings the prestige and tradition of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to cities like Springfield is an honor for Allstate, our agents and employees,” said Lisa Cochrane, Allstate’s senior vice president of marketing.
The ceremony will be held at the temporary Cathedral High School location in Wilbraham, Mass., as the permanent CHS facility was damaged by tornadoes in June 2011. The ceremony will be attended by Buoniconti’s family members and close friends, as well as community members from Wilbraham and Springfield. Sheriff Michael Ashe, 1957 Cathedral High School graduate, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

The plaque will return to Springfield, Mass. when a new Cathedral High School facility is completed, along with a commemorative Nick Buoniconti “Hometown Hall of Famer™” road sign that will be on display in Springfield.

A successful student-athlete in high school, Buoniconti went on to play college football at the University of Notre Dame. Despite being seen as undersized at 5-11, 220 pounds, Buoniconti was named captain of the Fighting Irish during the 1961 season.

Buoniconti was selected in the thirteenth-round by the Boston Patriots in the 1962 AFL Draft. His 14-year career as a dominant linebacker totaled 32 interceptions, and 10 fumble recoveries for two touchdowns. During his seasons with the Miami Dolphins, Buoniconti helped lead the team to two Super Bowl titles, including an undefeated season in 1972, beating the Washington Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII.

Buoniconti was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

“Hometown Hall of Famers™ presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate” is the Hall of Fame’s first nationwide plaque program and will lead into the celebration of its 50th anniversary in August 2012. For more information on the program and event videos, fans can visit www.profootballhof.com.

About the Pro Football Hall of Fame
In its day-to-day operation, the Pro Football Hall of Fame works very closely with all facets of the pro football family – the National Football League, the 32 NFL clubs, and other entities to ensure the overall success of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In turn, the Hall strives to serve as the best possible historical showplace and repository for the sport of pro football. The Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational institution that focuses on education, promoting, preserving, and honoring the great individuals and moments that have shaped the sport’s history.

About Allstate
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely known through the “You’re In Good Hands With Allstate®” slogan, Allstate is reinventing protection and retirement to help nearly 16 million households insure what they have today and better prepare for tomorrow. Consumers access Allstate insurance products (auto, home, life and retirement) and services through Allstate agencies, independent agencies, and Allstate exclusive financial representatives in the U.S. and Canada, as well as via www.allstate.com and 1-800 Allstate®. As part of Allstate’s commitment to strengthen local communities, The Allstate Foundation, Allstate employees, agency owners and the corporation provided $28 million in 2011 to thousands of nonprofit organizations and important causes across the United States.

Dolphins traded Brandon Marshall today to the Chicago Bears for 3 draft picks. Really?! Intrigggggggguing. IMO this is a clue that Peyton Manning is coming to the Dolphins.

The coaching staff can hand pick their receiver core on the cheap and no longer have to deal with an egomaniac in Marshall.

Dolphins signed Ray Willis former standout at FSU and Seattle Seahawk. Making room for the Offensive Lineman the Miami Dolphins waived Micah Kia. He should help bolster the Line as Head Coach Tony Sparano is trying to find a good balance between lineman.

Preseason

Aug. 12 at Atlanta 7:30 pm WFOR
AUG. 19 CAROLINA 7:30 PM WFOR
Aug. 27 at Tampa Bay 7:30 pm WFOR
SEPT. 1 DALLAS 7:30 PM WFOR

REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT TIME NETWORK
SEPT. 12 NEW ENGLAND 7:00 PM ESPN

SEPT. 18 HOUSTON 4:15 PM CBS

Sept. 25 at Cleveland 1:00 PM CBS

Oct. 2 at San Diego 4:15 PM CBS

Oct. 9 BYE

Oct. 17 at N.Y. Jets 8:30 PM ESPN

OCT. 23 DENVER 1:00 PM CBS

Oct. 30 at N.Y. Giants 1:00 PM CBS

Nov. 6 at Kansas City 1:00 PM CBS

NOV. 13 WASHINGTON* 1:00 PM FOX

NOV. 20 BUFFALO* 1:00 PM CBS

Nov. 24 at Dallas 4:15 PM CBS

DEC. 4 OAKLAND* 1:00 PM CBS

DEC. 11 PHILADELPHIA* 1:00 PM FOX

Dec. 18 at Buffalo* 1:00 PM CBS

Dec. 24 at New England* 1:00 PM CBS

JAN. 1 N.Y. JETS* 1:00 PM CBS

New rules and points of emphasis for 2011.

While the trend in recent years seems to have been all about player safety, the league took a nice step back this year and will cut down on the number of penalties called when the head of the quarterback is touched. Last season, a penalty was supposed to be called basically anytime a defensive player made contact with a quarterback’s helmet. This year, unless the contact is the result of a “forcible blow,” there will not be a penalty called.

Other notes:

-As you know, kickoffs will now take place at the 35-yard line, not the 30. What you may not know, is that the 10 players on the kicking team besides the actual kicker cannot line up behind the 30, limiting their speed and momentum as they head down the field.

-There can be no coach’s challenges on any play in which points are put on the board. Anytime a play results in points, the replay rules of the final two minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters will be in place (booth review only.) This rule sucks I’m 1 million%% against this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-If a defensive team intentionally commits a stop-clocking penalty in order to give their coach or the replay official more time to look at a possible replay review, the previous play cannot be reviewed–either by challenge or booth review.

-Look for some penalties this year on ball carriers who, while stiff-arming a defender, get their fingers tangled in the defenders’ face mask, and twist. This is a point of emphasis this year and will result in an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Officially Jason Taylor is now with the Dolphins. How will fans react? I think we will be happy to have a top notch defensive end on our team. We needed to solidify that line anyways.

Randy Moss should be a dolphin. He loves going to Heat games already anyways. Deep threat with great hands. When you have a chance to acquire one of the best receivers of all time, you don’t think about it.

Yeh I know its the first game, but the Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills rather soundly. The running game was excellent with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combining for 147 yards on the day.

Probably my favorite play of the game was the 20-25 yard moonball over the receiver and Fasano had to twist around to catch it, but the Henne threw the ball well. It looked like Fasano just didn’t know which side it was going to be on.

The Dolphins displayed something they haven’t had in 3 years. The ability to finish.

A lot of pressure will begin to fall upon the Miami Dolphins organization in the coming weeks and months, after all Bill Parcells and company took a 1-15 team and made them into an 11-5 division winner in just one year. No doubt they will face expectations to AT LEAST match that effort in 2009, if not surpass it all together and go deeper in the playoffs. One thing is certain though, the 2008 team, good as it was, cannot do it again next year without changes. Just what changes might be necessary to help boost the Dolphins in 2009?

Starting on offense, the most glaring need is for a game changing playmaker. 2 years ago the Dolphins believed they had that in drafting Ted Ginn Jr, and though he showed vast improvement this year, he’s still not an elite level performer who can lift his team on his shoulders and will them to victory. Chad Pennington has already been inked as the starter for next season, so what must the Dolphins give him to boost the potential of the offense?

Wide receiver is still the biggest issue needing to be addressed, an issue that can possibly be addressed by free agency. Tampa Bay WR Antonio Bryant is the biggest free agent WR this year, and the pool gets shallow for talent if he leaves the market quickly. The Dolphins’ remaining options would be TJ Houshmanzadeh, Jabar Gaffney, Amani Toomer, Michael Clayton, Devery Henderson, Shaun McDonald, Nate Washington, or Bryant Johnson. The majority of these guys have been role players for years now, are past their prime, or missed it all together.

The draft might however provide Miami the chance to get a young, albeit unproven in the NFL, explosive playmaker. The top playmakers coming out in this years draft for the Dolphins to target would be West Virginia’s Pat White or Florida’s Percy Harvin. Harvin hasn’t declared for the draft yet, but is expected to and is perhaps the most versatile threat coming out of the NCAA this season. The only catch here is Harvin is not likely to fall far enough in the draft that Miami could get their hands on him. However, White may fall far enough and would be an excellent weapon in the Dolphins wildcat scheme.

The Dolphins also have offensive line issues to answer. The Dolphins would like to resign T Vernon Carey, but if they cannot they must go out and find either a back up ready to emerge as a starter or sign a stop gap player and draft someone for a long term solution. The Dolphins also appear interested in changing  personnel at center, with C Jason Brown (25) of Baltimore being the top available free agent.

On defense, the Dolphins have more issues to tackle. Most important, the team needs another pass rusher in the front 7. Two very good, and very expensive, options will be out there. Julius Peppers from Carolina and Terrell Suggs from Baltimore. The only problem here, Baltimore is expected to stick the franchise tag on Suggs. Other options exist, but these two are far and away the best.

At linebacker, the Dolphins are trying to work out a new deal for Channing Crowder, but money appears to be sticking point with Crowder already having rejected one offer. If he were to go, Baltimore’s Bart Scott is likely to end up a free agent as the Ravens may not have the money to sign Scott in addition to free agents Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis.

As for CBs and Safeties, it gets a little easier. The best options at CB, should the Dolphins desire change, are Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha and Houston’s Dunta Robinson. The Dolphins want to keep both Yeremiah Bell and Renaldo Hill at the safety positions, but in the event they don’t, OJ Atogwe, James Butler, and Jim Leonhard are all good options on the free agent market.

For now, the Dolphins are free to dream big. They are expected to be roughly $25 million below the NFL salary cap, leaving them room to spend freely and acquire some big names. If they spend wisely, they could attract 2-3 talented new players to a franchise with renewed hope of success. Lets hope the Dolphins are proactive and get what they need to make 2009 as enjoyable for the fans as 2008.

The miraculous turnaround the Miami Dolphins made this season won’t soon be forgotten. It is hard to see that now through the angst of a tough loss today to the Baltimore Ravens, but with time fans will look back and remember fondly the Miami Dolphins’ 2008 season. True, we all would have preferred to see the Dolphins advance beyond the Wild Card round but it just didn’t turn out that way.

The Miami Dolphins looked more like the team of 2007 today as they fell 27-9 to the Baltimore Ravens. The Dolphins’ problems were almost too many to list, but we’ll try and hit them all. Chad Pennington, usually so careful with the football, threw 4 interceptions, the defense put almost NO pressure on Ravens’ QB Joe Flacco, and the offense just couldn’t breakdown the Raven defense.

In the 1st half it appeared the game would be a defensive stalemate throughout. The teams traded FGs in the 1st quarter, and no TDs were scored until Ravens’ safety Ed Reed picked off Pennington and returned it 57 yds for a TD. A Baltimore FG with 16 seconds left would send Baltimore into halftime with a 13-3 lead.

In the 2nd half Miami’s turnover problems would get worse, and so would the score. Baltimore would get a TD in the 3rd quarter to stretch their lead to 20-3, and after Miami got back to 20-9 on a Pennington TD pass (Carpenter would miss the PAT), Flacco scrambled into the endzone with 3:53 to play giving Baltimore the 27-9 victory.

The biggest problem for the Dolphins was their uncharacteristic amount of turnovers. After turning the ball over only 13 times this season, tied with the New York Giants for the lowest in the NFL, the Dolphins turned the ball over 5 times today. Chad Pennington, who threw only 7 INTs all season, threw 4 today. Another major problem for the Dolphins was the defensive line. Ravens’ QB Joe Flacco had all day in the pocket to make decisions as the Dline was getting NO pressure. Despite that, Flacco was unable however to really burn the Dolphins on a consistent basis.

In the end, the Dolphins inability on offense cost them today against a superior Ravens’ defense. The Dolphins struggled to move the ball, almost completely lacking a run game, and turned the ball over too much to survive their encounter with the Ravens.

The Dolphins are now left to ponder a season that was, look back on the good and bad, and try to build off of their successes in the 2009 season. Make no mistake, the Dolphins meager effort today doesn’t take away from their amazing season. Tony Sparano, Bill Parcells, and the Dolphins’ players were able to prove their detractors wrong and win the AFC East when no one gave them a chance. Next season, it will be time to build off their successes this year and see if they can return to the playoffs and get a better result.