Alumni Spotlight: Bob Baumhower
March 27, 2002

On the field, one of the greatest rivalries in the National Football League is between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. Off the field, well, some fans might not understand how two teams that hate each other so much on Sunday afternoons could be as close as brothers on Monday afternoon.

For former Miami Dolphins nose tackle Bob Baumhower, the friendship he shared with a few of the Jets led him to his life after football.

Having the same agent as Joe Namath and Richard Todd led Baumhower to a 1979 business partnership between the three in a Bachelors III restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale. It was a Ft. Lauderdale hot spot, referred to by Baumhower as Planet Hollywood before Planet Hollywood existed. Everybody who was anybody hung out there.

“As far as I know, Joe Namath was the first professional athlete to get into the restaurant business in a big way.  Since all three of us lived in Ft. Lauderdale, we thought it would be a good idea to go into business together.  It was a lot of fun, and it was these relationships and experiences that ignited my passion for the hospitality business.”  Baumhower said.

Former Dolphin Steve Towle invited Baumhower to a restaurant that served Buffalo Wings. Baumhower had no idea what he was talking about and thought he was crazy. When the pair left the restaurant, Baumhower knew he had his restaurant idea. In 1981, he opened his first restaurant on the campus of the University of Alabama and from there went on to grow his empire throughout the state.

“We started with a very small restaurant,” Baumhower said. “Now, we operate in 7,500 square feet superstores. We serve everything. It’s a challenge, but making our guests happy is what makes me happy. I never thought this would happen.”

Playing football was something else Baumhower thought would never happen. Because his family moved around a lot when he was a child, Baumhower seldom played organized sports.

He didn’t play football until his junior year at Palm Beach Gardens High School, and he went out for the team only because “someone told me it would be a good way to make friends.”

That same year, his dad decided he could use some toughening up and talked him into wrestling a 450-pound bear at a local boat show. Baumhower tried to take the bear down low, and the animal knocked him across the ring. He then went high, and for a triumphant moment held the bear in a hammerlock. An instant later the bear was sitting on top of Baumhower, licking him with its long tongue. It was a show of force Baumhower would never forget.

At Alabama, Baumhower made the starting defensive unit during spring practice of his freshman year. But he came back the next fall in terrible shape, and Bear Bryant, a man who was also familiar with wrestling bears, demoted him to fifth string. Baumhower quit in a rage. Bryant called him into his office and ripped into him like nobody ever had. He told Baumhower he was lazy and wasting his talents.

“I had my speech all prepared,” Baumhower said. “But, Coach Bryant just made me feel like a toad. He was right. I’d never put my heart into football. I was just doing it for fun. He changed everything for me and made me want to be as good as I could be. I came back, worked my way up, and from the fourth game on I was the starter.”

When Baumhower came to Miami in 1977 after earning All-SEC honors at Alabama as a defensive tackle, one of the first people to offer him advice was fellow defensive tackle Manny Fernandez, who was getting ready to retire. Fernandez, who had sat out the previous season with knee and shoulder injuries, told him that playing nose was his downfall and it could be Baumhower's, too.

Baumhower said nothing, because there was nothing he could say. Dolphins Head Coach Don Shula had coached Baumhower in the Senior Bowl and had drafted him specifically as a nose tackle for the Dolphins 3-4 defensive alignment. For better or for worse, Baumhower was going to be a nose tackle.

“At first, I hated it,” Baumhower said. “But a lot of that was because the center and two guards I was practicing against were Jim Langer, Bob Kuechenberg and Larry Little, three All-Pros, maybe the best trio ever. They bounced my around like a pinball. But I learned a lot, and that made playing other teams easier.”

Physically, Baumhower was both ideal and unusual for the position. He was mobile and strong, but at 6-5 he was one of the tallest nose tackles in the National Football League. Somehow, Baumhower made it work.

From the beginning, the second round draft choice made a first-rate impression, earning a starting spot with the Dolphins and sharing NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors with teammate A.J. Duhe. For his first eight years in the league, Baumhower was a star. He never missed a game during those first eight seasons, and was selected to the Pro Bowl fives times.

Then, on December 9, 1984, Baumhower was forced to miss the first game of his career because of ankle and knee injuries, ending a streak of 125 consecutive games played. Little did he know, but the end was just beginning. There was not a week during the 1984 season when Baumhower played at 100 percent. Baumhower played through the injuries and following the Dolphins’ Super Bowl appearance, he needed assistance to get off the field. He missed the Pro Bowl to have surgery on his knee.

When he went under, the doctors told him it would be a simple procedure. When he woke up, they told him it was a lot worse then they thought and that he couldn't walk for two months.

“For eight years in a row, I didn’t miss a game,” Baumhower said. “After the surgery, I was never the same player again. The frustrating part was that it took away what I loved so much so quickly. That aspect was tough to take.”

With is new life as a restaurant owner and a father of four, football doesn’t weigh on his mind like it used to. The pain of those final years is gone as well. He tries to follow the Dolphins when he can, but admits he hasn’t been to a game since he retired. Yet, while he keeps busy serving Buffalo Wings to his customers, he finds time to allow himself to reminisce.

“I really miss the contact,” Baumhower said. “The personal and physical challenge the game presented was great therapy. We had some very good teams and we all liked each other very much. I just wish we had Dan Marino early on when we had the defense to support his great offensive talent. I would have liked to play longer. The ten years I played seemed like two. I really miss that part of my life.”

Bob Baumhower now lives on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay in Fairhope, AL (or LA as he likes to call it). Bob is happily married to his wife Leslie and is the proud father of 4 children. Bob currently serves as CEO of Aloha Hospitality International, a restaurant management company that manages Baumhower’s Wings Restaurants and WingFingers. He continues to pursue perfection in the restaurant business with the same will and determination to win that he did in football.