Dolphins ’72 alum melancholy about reunion because of cognitive issues impacting team

For the 1972 Dolphins gathered this weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of perfection, there is the joy and comfort that comes with seeing old friends, the immense pride that comes with their remarkable collective accomplishment and the appreciation that comes with being healthy enough to travel and enjoy these types of gatherings.

But there is also an element of melancholy, not only missing those who have passed, but also those still alive but left diminished by the brutality of the game.

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“I can’t say I’m looking forward to the reunion because I’ve seen guys with CTE and they don’t know who I am,” said former third-string quarterback Jim Del Gaizo, referencing the brain disease caused by repeated trauma to the head.

“It’s very difficult, seeing teammates who don’t know who I was. We’re not going to say the players’ names, but it was heartbreaking. One of the players didn’t have a freaking clue who I was. Seeing what happened to Jim Kiick and Nick Buoniconti was very difficult. It’s just very difficult to see the guys going through this.”

Of the 17 deceased players from the 1972 team, seven of them have been diagnosed posthumously with Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive brain condition that’s thought to be caused by repeated blows to the head and repeated episodes of concussion

Of the 27 who are alive, the Dolphins did not make a half dozen available to the Miami Herald this summer because of cognitive declines. Because CTE cannot be diagnosed until after death, it’s unclear if those declines are entirely the result of football.

That’s why it’s understandable that the controversy surrounding the handling of Tua Tagovailoa’s health in the Bills game resonated with ‘72 players in recent weeks.

“Tua was off balance in the Bills game, and I don’t think he should have been [allowed to stay in] in the first place,” said former star safety Dick Anderson, acknowledging that two doctors said Tagovailoa had a back injury, not a concussion, when he stumbled. “When you saw him collapse, I thought the doctor in charge made a huge mistake in having him go back in.

“Players are all bigger, faster, stronger. With this new protocol [with a player removed from the game if he exhibits ataxia], you are going to have people make mistakes. Some decisions will be tougher than others. But the safe thing is he doesn’t go back in. They did the right thing changing the policy.”

Bob Griese said this week that improving the cushioning inside the helmets has been a positive step.

“I see these guys hitting their heads and I say, ‘Oh, if that would have been me back in the day, I probably would have had a concussion,’” Griese said. “But the helmets are much better, and they’re protecting the quarterbacks a little better. I like what I’m seeing.”

When Anderson forgets something now, he will always ask the same question:

“How much was getting hit in the head and how much was age? I have no fricking idea. I’m 76, healthy, still playing golf. My memory is not as good, but I’m still working every day” in the insurance business.

This weekend, Anderson will deeply miss Jake Scott, the other half of the league’s best safety duo of their era.

He’ll miss old friend and neighbor Nick Buoniconti, with whom he carried on the champagne toast after the last undefeated team lost each season.

Both Scott and Buoniconti were diagnosed with CTE after their passing.

“Nick recognized me up until the end,” Anderson of Buoniconti, who died in 2019. “When you look at what Jake and Nick went through…”

Anderson didn’t need to finish the sentence. It’s painful to discuss.

“When you saw what was happening with Nick and it got worse, you had a rough time dealing with that issue.”

This weekend, Mercury Morris will miss his old backfield mate Jim Kiick, who also was diagnosed with CTE.

Morris and Kiick had come back from Alaska, where they taped an episode of Larry Csonka’s old program, and Kiick “couldn’t find his car,” Morris said. “When we left, he couldn’t find where to go. When I was saw what was happened to him, I never got disconnected from him. I visited him” regularly at the assisted living center before his passing in 2020.

‘72 alum and former defensive lineman Manny Fernandez said: “I guess I’ve had 100 concussions. I am having a little bit of a memory issue .. but at 76, who doesn’t? It’s just old age.”

For Anderson, the bigger concern is COVID. He still wears a mask when he leaves his home.

“I haven’t been to a restaurant in two years,” he said. “I’ve stayed as far away from people as I possibly can.”

Tagovailoa — who met with neurologists in South Florida, Detroit and Pittsburgh — was told that quarterbacks “are less susceptible to getting CTE later on in their years than someone who’s playing a position where they’re constantly taking hits or blows to the head, which would be O-line, D-line, linebackers. That’s kind of some of the information that I’ve been given from a lot of these doctors that are the best of the best in their field.”