Bob Heinz

Robert Kenneth Heinz was born on 25 July 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Ken and Bette Heinz. He grew up in a large family near Milwaukee and attended Messmer High School before the family moved to California during his high school years. At Lincoln High School in Stockton he excelled in football, basketball, and track and field.

He played football at San Joaquin Delta College and then at the University of the Pacific, where he lettered in football and track from 1966 to 1969. He was voted Pacific's most valuable lineman, captained the track team as a senior, and played in the Coaches' All-American Game in Atlanta and the College All-Star Game in Chicago. It was at Pacific that he met Carol Covington. The university inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.

The Miami Dolphins selected Heinz in the second round, 37th overall, of the 1969 NFL/AFL draft. He played in all 14 games as a rookie, starting one. Listed at six feet six and 265 pounds, and wearing number 72, he became the right defensive tackle on a line with Manny Fernandez, Vern Den Herder and Bill Stanfill, part of the unit nicknamed the "No-Name Defense".

In 1972, when the Dolphins went 17 and 0 and won Super Bowl VII, Heinz appeared in 11 games and started eight. The NFL did not keep tackle statistics then, but he was credited with two sacks and a fumble recovery, and the defense ranked first in the league in yards and points allowed. He started every game of the 1973 season, when Miami won Super Bowl VIII, and all but one in 1974, before missing the 1975 season through injury.

According to the Miami Herald he appeared in 109 games for Miami and started 55. He played his final season, 1978, with the Washington Redskins, appearing in two games as a reserve, and finished his career with nine sacks.

Heinz married Carol Covington in 1970, and they were together for 56 years. They raised their three children, Julie, Joe and John, in Menlo Park, California, while he worked for many years in sales and as an advertising executive in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. After retiring they moved to Fresno to be near family.

In 2015 he sold his Super Bowl VIII ring to a private investor. It sold months later at an auction in Rosemont, Illinois, for $68,040, and was believed to be the first player ring from either of Miami's 1972 or 1973 championship teams offered publicly for sale.

His family wrote that he enjoyed a good cigar and bourbon, the music of Jimmy Buffett, cheering on the San Francisco Giants, and rooting against any NFL team attempting perfection.

Bob Heinz died on Saturday 31 October 2026 in Fresno, California. He was 79. His son John confirmed the death on 3 November, the day his family's obituary was published on Legacy.com. No cause of death was made public.

He was survived by his wife Carol, his children Julie, Joe and John, his daughter-in-law Laura, and grandchildren Matthew and Samantha. He was predeceased by his parents and his siblings Mike, Pete, Geoff, Peggy and Doug. A private family service was planned, and the family asked for donations to the Miami Dolphins Foundation in place of flowers.

Heinz was a starter on the only team in NFL history to complete a full season, playoffs included, without a loss, and he was a two-time Super Bowl champion. He was the 22nd member of the 1972 Dolphins to die. His death was reported days after the last unbeaten NFL team of the 2026 season lost, an annual moment the surviving members of that team have long marked. The University of the Pacific remembers him as one of its Hall of Fame football players.