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

Larry Csonka (pronounced "ZON-ka") emerged to
prominence after being an All-American at Syracuse
University, where the bruising fullback broke many
of the school's rushing records, a number of
which where 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 (1.91 m)
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.

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 3 consecutive Super Bowls in the early
'70s, with Miami winning 2 of them. Csonka rushed
for over 1,000 yards (900 m) 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
(1021 m). 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. The three played
for the Memphis Southmen, but Csonka and the
others had minimal success. Csonka left after one
season and joined the New York Giants in 1976,
where he played for 3 seasons. They were not
hugely successful, and he returned to Miami in
1979. He ran for over 800 yards (732 m), his best
since their Super Bowl days, and scored 13
touchdowns that season. He chose to retire from
football on that high note after the year was
over.

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 public speaker and has hosted several
hunting and fishing shows for Outdoor Life
Network. Csonka is a member of the American
Football League Hall of Fame. He 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 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".[1].

He was named a member of the Super Bowl Dream Team
in an NFL Films production.