(born
December 25 ,
1946 ,
Stow, Ohio ,
USA ) was a punishing running back in
American Football in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Csonka grew up in Stow and started his football career at
Stow-Munroe Falls High School . He was the starting tailback on the famous 1963 Stow Bulldogs squad that won the state championship under former Bulldogs coach Dick Fortner. He played for Stow from 1960-1963, and attended the school from 1959-1963, because at that time, freshmen were not allowed to participate in varsity sports.
He went on to
Syracuse University , where he became an
All-America n playing
Fullback . He broke many of the school's
Rushing records, including some previously held by the great
Jim Brown . In 1968, he was a #1 draft pick by the
American Football League 's
Miami Dolphins , and by the 1970s he became one of the most feared runners in professional football. Standing 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) and 235 lb (107 kg), he was one of the biggest runners of his day and pounded through the middle of field with relative ease. He was also incredibly sure-handed, rarely fumbling the ball or dropping a pass. But, by far his proudest moment at college was his victory in the annual 'grow your mo' competition.
In his 3 seasons at Syracuse, Csonka rushed for a school record 2,934 yards, rushed for 100 yards in 14 different games, and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. In 1989, he was enshrined in the
College Football Hall Of Fame .
Larry formed a great relationship with
Running Back Jim Kiick and the two were referred to as
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid . Together with
Eugene "Mercury" Morris , the Dolphins had one of football's best rushing attacks. It led the Dolphins to three consecutive
Super Bowl s in the early '70s, two of them victorious. Csonka rushed for over a thousand yards in each of those years. During the 1972 season, the Dolphins became the only team since the
AFL-NFL Merger to go undefeated, and Csonka was an instrumental part of the success, rushing for a career best 1,117 yards. The following season, the Dolphins won a second straight title and "Zonk", as he was known, was the Super Bowl MVP.
After 1974, he had a contract dispute with the Dolphins and became one of three Dolphins, along with Kiick and
Paul Warfield , to jump to the fledgling
World Football League for the 1975 season. While their signings are credited with giving the WFL credibility, the league was plagued by financial problems right from the start. The three played for the
Memphis Southmen , but Csonka and the others had minimal success and the league folded midway through its second season.
A free agent again, he joined the
New York Giants in 1976, along with Memphis coach
John McVay . While hopes among fans were high that he could reverse the team's fortunes, these did not bear out. He tore
Ligament s in his
Knee , prematurely ending his first season there. He blamed the injury in part on
Giants Stadium 's
Artificial Turf , and has been a vocal critic of the surface and its injury potential ever since (the Giants have since returned to natural
Grass for home games).
Two seasons later, he was on the field for
The Miracle At The Meadowlands , the play that for years epitomized Giants' fans exasperation with the franchise's long-term mediocrity. On
November 19 , 1978, New York had apparently secured a 17-12 victory over the favored
Philadelphia Eagles . However, with 31 seconds left to play and the Eagles out of
Timeout s,
Offensive Coordinator Bob Gibson overruled quarterback
Joe Pisarcik and called for the ball to be handed off to Csonka for a run up the middle instead of the expected
Quarterback Kneel to
Run Out The Clock .
Csonka pleaded with Pisarcik to change the play, and as they left the huddle said he would not take the ball. However, Pisarcik botched the handoff and Eagles
Cornerback Herman Edwards returned the fumbled ball 29 yards for the winning touchdown. The Giants went into a tailspin afterwards, and finished 6-10 after a hopeful start.
The Giants let McVay go after the season ended. Csonka's contract was up, too, and he returned to Miami the next year. He ran for over 800 yards, his best since their Super Bowl days, and scored 13 touchdowns. On that high note, he retired after the year was over.
In his 11 NFL seasons, Csonka carried the ball 1,891 times for 8,081 yards and 64 touchdowns. He also caught 106 passes for 820 yards and 4 touchdowns. He was among the NFL's top 10 ranked players in rushing yards 4 times, in rushing touchdowns 5 times, total touchdowns 3 times and yards from the line of scrimmage once. He was selected to play in 5
Pro Bowl s.
Csonka was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall Of Fame in
1987 and his #39 was retired by the Miami Dolphins in
2002 . Since his retirement, he has become a
Motivational Speaker and has hosted several
Hunting and
Fishing shows for
Outdoor Life Network . Csonka was also an analyst on the popular syndicated show
American Gladiators from 1990-1993.
Between 1985 and 1990 Csonka started spending time in
Alaska , eventually spending most of the year in
Anchorage . While observing the 1,161-mile (1,962-km)
2005 Iditarod Dog Sled Race he said, "when I was playing and practicing in that heat in July and August in Miami with shoulder pads on, it just vaporized me".
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He was named a member of the
Super Bowl Dream Team in an
NFL Films production.
Repeatedly referenced in episode 0910 of
Mystery Science Theater 3000 , "
The Final Sacrifice ".
In
2006 , Csonka pleaded guilty and paid a small fine for filming on
National Forest land in
Alaska and failing to obtain the required special use permit for production of his cable show.
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