LARRY CSONKA

HEAD ON: MIAMI DOLPHINS FOOTBALL LEGEND LOOKS BACK

By Ira Kaufman Transcribed and edited from an @iraonsports radio interview

What do you believe was the lasting legacy or impact of the undefeated '72 Miami Dolphins?

In 2019, the NFL voted us the #1 team of the first 100 years of the NFL. That’s impactful. It means a lot when you contrast that against the teams of today. The game has changed a great deal from the time of its inception over 100 years ago. It's hard to compare what's in the past with what's in the present, but the important thing is that it's changing for the better and it's changing for the protection of the players. Back in our day, ball control was the big thing. If you were two touchdowns ahead, the game was kind of over. Today's game is different. The rules have changed to enhance the passing game. Even if you’re 17 points behind at the half, you can come back and win it.

Your preparation for football was working on a farm and hauling feed to a bunch of cows. Would you say those chores helped you become a Hall of Famer?

The physical part, maybe. But my high school principal, Mr. Saltis, made me read football books and study how a team operates. I talk about him quite a bit in my memoir, Head On. He made sure I really understood the game and set me on my path. Understanding the game is probably the biggest first step.

You were drafted out of Syracuse, correct?

Yes, I was drafted by Miami in 1968. I didn’t know much about them. They were a young expansion team. But two years later, when Coach Shula arrived, things changed drastically, and I had that hurdle to jump – he’d never coached a very large running back before. I was 245 pounds and the first thing he did was move my weight down, and the second thing we did was get into an argument. Our relationship was something like a tugof-war, I write about it a lot in my book, but we didn't argue all the time. We found a comfortable middle ground where we tolerated each other so we could get our jobs done.

Back then you were the only pro team in the state, which must have been cool. What was it like? Well, it was a coming together of a lot of different things. In the Sixties there was a lot of civil strife going on — racial tensions, and a lot of friction, at least in Miami. But our football team became something to rally around, and the Orange Bowl became a gathering place. Turns out we were something everyone could cheer for. Especially when Coach Shula arrived, and we started to win. I've never seen a more significant unifying factor in a community, that was really at odds with each other, than to have a winning football team right in the heart of Miami. The Dolphins made a difference.

In the early days, they didn't have reserved parking spaces for the players, so you guys were out there tailgating with the fans?

Absolutely, Ira, you hit it right on the head...you talk about enhancing the relationship between the team and the fans...sometimes we’d hang out for a couple of hours after the game, just sitting on lawn chairs in Little Havana and eating hotdogs. It was a great elbowrubbing situation with the fans. We got to know them by name. And we’d sometimes get the kids without tickets into the stadium with us.

Your running mate was Jim Kiick, and then Mercury Morris. It must have been fun to play ball with running backs who you got along with so well. It was me and Jim initially and then, when Shula arrived, Jim was in the lead back position, and I was doing a little more blocking. But then Shula saw the potential. He brought an offensive line coach with him, Monte Clark, and he loved to use the power running game, so it became a mixture, using all three backs. But that only worked if the three backs - me, Jim Kiick, and Mercury Morris - got along. Fortunately, all three of us enjoyed each other's company and there was never any animosity between us. I think Jim and Merc were competitive as far as wanting to get in the game more, but that's a healthy situation. They were close friends. We all wanted to win so whatever it took in terms of sacrifice; we were all willing to do that.

Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Paul Warfield was also on the team. Did you two collaborate?

When Paul first got there in 1970 - on one play, against Buffalo, I did not like the defensive back on the other side of the ball. I was power running up through the middle and at the vanguard of that avalanche of humanity I turned and hit that defensive back at the last second and knocked him silly with all that momentum. When I came back to the huddle Paul Warfield looked at me and said, "Thanks, Zonk." Then he beat that guy on one-on-one coverage the next play because his eyes were still crossed from the earlier impact with me. That's when I discovered how much I could contribute to the passing game by running into the defensive backs downfield.

Coach Shula sometimes had four practices a day and didn't give you water breaks in the hot Miami sun. How did you survive that?

I don't know! It was either get in great shape or die trying. We had a couple of guys pass out from getting over-heated. I don't think you could execute that today. I don't think the union would stand for it. But that was then, and this is now. As it turns out, it was a great thing. It made a difference in all those games in the fourth quarter at 90-degrees and higher, which happened several times. Like the 49ers game, they just weren't used to that heat and humidity. They had put up a great fight but, in the fourth quarter, we just handled them because the physical demand was too much. Anytime it was 85 degrees or more we knew we had an edge. We were extremely well-conditioned.

You lost to the Cowboys in Super Bowl VI in '71, and before that '72 season you had a feeling that it was going to be your year, that Shula would be relentless. We knew Shula would be more intense than ever because, after we lost the Super Bowl in '71, he threw everybody out of the locker room except the coaches and players and said, "I want every one of you to think about how you feel right now ... we’re going to draw from this ... we’re going to go one game at a time with the idea of playing every game as though it’s the Super Bowl." He never said we would have an undefeated season. What he did predict was that we were going to take every game very seriously and he lived up to his word. When he said that, Jim Kiick looked at me because we had already been through four-a-days in 90+-degree heat with no water...so, when Shula said that Jim Kiick gave me a wink and said, "buckle up.” His prediction was true. We never had a passing thought of winning every game because no one had ever done that. What we were going to do was prepare for every game as though it was the Super Bowl. And we did. Shula never took his foot off the gas. No detail was too small to be overlooked - he would bring it up and dwell on it until you did it right just to shut him up.

Hall of Fame QB Bob Griese got injured and was out the majority of the regular ’72 season. Yet you were still able to keep your winning streak going after losing your star quarterback. Bob’s leg was broken. It was against San Diego in the fifth game. The defender went airborne and landed on his leg just as he was throwing the pass; the hit broke his leg right below his knee. He was out for several weeks. We had a veteran backup named Earl Morrall step up. Having a quality player like Earl ready was a great asset to our team that year. Signing him in preseason proved to be a really smart move by Shula. Earl was just one of those detailoriented guys. He had played for Shula at Baltimore, and he knew our whole setup. He just came in, clapped his hands, and we took it one play at a time. We never missed a beat.