Watch on Tuesday evening, October 26th from 10-11pm on HBO when the Emmy-Winning Show REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL features a new segment, A Remarkable Journey.
On Oct. 26, 1985, Citadel linebacker Marc Buoniconti stopped East Tennessee’s Herman Jacobs short of first down on a crucial third-and-one. The collision left Buoniconti, son of former Miami Dolphins great Nick Buoniconti, paralyzed from the neck down.
Though he has spent the last 25 years in a wheelchair, Buoniconti has brought a “never give up” attitude to his role as President of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, the world’s most comprehensive spinal research facility at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Meanwhile, the incident left Jacobs, at the time an NFL prospect, consumed by remorse and unable to return to football with the same passion. His life was in a downward spiral until he reunited with an unlikely friend.
In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Mary Carillo profiles both men 25 years after their life-changing collision, and shows how their friendship has endured tragedy. You won’t want to miss this show.
The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis
In 1985, Barth A. Green, MD and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti helped found The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis after Nick’s son, Marc, sustained a spinal cord injury during a college football game. Today, The Miami Project is the world’s most comprehensive spinal cord injury research center, housed in the Lois Pope LIFE Center, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The Miami Project’s international team of more than 200 scientists, researchers and clinicians take innovative approaches to the challenge of spinal cord injury. Committed to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury and to seeing millions worldwide walk again, the Buoniconti family established The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis in 1992, a non-profit organization devoted to assisting The Miami Project achieve its national and international goals.