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.

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

“Yeah, Roberto’s done a nice job,” Sparano said. “I like the throw that Matt Moore just made, he hung in there and made a big throw for us, Chad made a good throw earlier on the deep ball.”

Miami recovered from those early miscues on offense and two productive scoring drives led by Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to turn the tables a bit, especially on defense. Cornerback Benny Sapp killed one Atlanta drive with a diving interception and rookie safety Jimmy Wilson set up Moore’s touchdown pass to Wallace with a sack and strip of John Parker Wilson. Linebacker Austin Spitler recovered the fumble.

Spitler and Wilson highlighted a second team defensive unit that really stepped it up with a slew of players out to prove something. Wilson was a seventh-round draft pick in April who missed three years of football due to a legal battle and he is intent on making an impact. Linebacker A.J. Edds and defensive end Jared Odrick are returning from season-ending injuries that cost them the bulk of their rookie campaigns.

“I thought those guys came into the game and did a pretty nice job,” Sparano said. “We had a stop down there in a sudden change situation off an interception, so the second team defense did a good job.”

Moore delivered again in the third quarter after Miami’s third team defense forced the Falcons to settle for yet another short Bryant field goal. He put together a 13-play, 65-yard scoring drive, converting a pivotal 4th-and-7 to keep the drive alive. Rookie Clyde Gates was on the receiving end of that 17-yard strike and then made it count a few plays later with a 6-yard touchdown reception in the back of the end zone, giving Miami a 21-20 lead headed into the fourth quarter. He was 11-of-18 for 123 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on the night.

Gates finished with two catches for 23 yards, returned two kickoffs for 38 yards and one punt for two yards and was used quite a bit in the first half in the absence of Brandon Marshall. He fed off of that amount of playing time and tried to seize the opportunity.

“It was fun and I was amped and hyped,” Gates said. “The adrenaline was rushing and I was just trying to make a play whenever my name was called. It was a blessing to actually come out here and compete and come out and play a game. Practice is hard and fun but when you come into a game it’s a lot different. It’s fun and you want to let it all out.”

Undrafted rookie quarterback Pat Devlin took over on the Dolphins’ first drive in the fourth quarter and tried to extend the lead. Unfortunately, he got a rude welcome to the NFL when Emmanuel Stephens sacked him on a third down and Miami had to punt.

But another undrafted rookie, Phillip Livas, brought a smile to the face of Sparano and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi moments later. The speedy but diminutive Livas broke free on a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown, keeping his balance after Falcons punter Ken Parrish tried to trip him up after he got past midfield. The 5-foot-7, 179-pound Livas dove into the end zone for the score that put Miami ahead 28-20.

“I knew that was going to be the way I get on the team and the way I’d make my mark, by making plays in the return game,” Livas said. “I knew I had to make one person miss and I knew I couldn’t let the punter get me. I broke the tackle and ran into the end zone. I probably could have run in but I just wanted to dive to make it look good. I’m happy with the result.”

Miami’s defense stiffened one more time late in the fourth quarter with the Falcons driving for the tying touchdown and forced them to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Bryant. That stop secured the win as the Dolphins will host the Carolina Panthers at Sun Life Stadium next Friday.

HENNE WEATHERS EARLY BUMPS: It certainly was not the kind of start Henne or the first team offense wanted to get off to, but it comes with the territory of a condensed offseason and a new offense. Add in the fact that Henne was minus two of his biggest offensive weapons, Marshall and running back Reggie Bush, and things are expected to get better.

By the time he took his helmet off for good following that 44-yard touchdown strike to Hartline, Henne was 4-of-8 for 77 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His final passer rating was 83.9, while Moore’s was 95.4.

“It was definitely fun to get back out there and see some new faces rather than our own defense out there,” Henne said. “Obviously, we didn’t start how we wanted to but we put a drive together in the third series and got what we wanted out of it.

“We were moving the ball. They were dropping some people into coverage and I had to make some runs out there and avoid some defenders. But we moved the ball down on that third series like we know how to, but you wish that was the first series. You can’t take anything back and you’ve just got to move on from here.”

Sparano pointed out after the game that both of Henne’s interceptions were not directly his fault. The first one on the opening series bounced off of tight end Anthony Fasano’s hands into the arms of Falcons linebacker John Abraham at his own 44. On the second one there was a miscommunication between Henne and Davone Bess that led to the ball being picked off, but Henne still shouldered the blame for making the decision to throw the ball.

EDDS AND ODRICK SATISFY THEIR HUNGER: Both Edds and Odrick couldn’t help but be a little extra pumped for their turn on the field being that it had been so long. Odrick’s last live action came in last year’s season opener at Buffalo, while Edds hadn’t played in a game in more than 18 months when he was at Iowa.

As it turned out, Edds led the Dolphins in tackles with seven (six solo) and added a sack and a tackle for loss. Odrick had one tackle for loss but disrupted the Atlanta backfield quite a bit.

“What’s funny and me and A.J. had a conversation right before we went out there,” Odrick said. “He was like, ‘Are you a little antsy?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m excited to play but I’m not nearly as antsy as I was last year.’ He hadn’t played in more than a year so I was happy to see him get the sack and I got in the backfield a few times. It definitely felt good to get back into a rhythm and I felt like everything was flowing the right way and felt good about the way I was moving out there.”

DEFENSE
POS STARTER 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
LE 70 Kendall Langford 78 Tony McDaniel 90 Ryan Baker
NT 96 Paul Soliai 95 Ronald Fields 66 Frank Kearse 62 Johnny Jones
RE 94 Randy Starks 97 Phillip Merling 98 Jared Odrick 56 Robert Rose
SLB 55 Koa Misi 99 Jason Taylor 59 Ikaika Alama-Franc 48 Quinton Spears
ILB 58 Karlos Dansby 53 Austin Spitler 57 Mike Rivera 45 Mark Masterson
ILB 47 Kevin Burnett 50 A.J. Edds
WLB 91 Cameron Wake 46 Jason Trusnik 49 Jonathan Freeny
LCB 24 Sean Smith 25 Will Allen 27 Benny Sapp 41 Vincent Agnew
RCB 21 Vontae Davis 28 Nolan Carroll 32 Nate Ness 43 Jose Perez 35 Jimmy Wilson
SS 37 Yeremiah Bell 29 Tyrone Culver 44 Mark Restelli
FS 30 Chris Clemons 20 Reshad Jones

SPECIALISTS
POS STARTER 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
P 2 Brandon Fields
K 5 Dan Carpenter
H 2 Brandon Fields
KR 15 Davone Bess 10 Clyde Gates 85 Phillip Livas
PR 15 Davone Bess 10 Clyde Gates 85 Phillip Livas
LS 92 John Denney