Athletes - Larry Csonka

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	Athletes - Larry Csonka

Lawrence Richard Csonka (born December 25, 1946, Stow, Ohio, USA) was a punishing American football player in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Early life

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.

College career

He went on to Syracuse University, where he became an All-American 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.

Pro career

Miami and the Super Bowl years

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 Bowls 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.

Move to WFL

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.

Giants and return to NFL

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 ligaments 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 timeouts, 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.

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