Larry Csonka
Csonka in 1972
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| Position: | Fullback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | December 25, 1946 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Stow, Ohio | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 237 lb (108 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Stow (OH) | ||||||||
| College: | Syracuse | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1968 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Rushing yards: | 8,081 |
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| Average: | 4.3 |
| Touchdowns: | 68 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Lawrence Richard "Larry" Csonka (born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With the Miami Dolphins he was a member of their perfect season in 1972 and won Super Bowl championships in 1972 and 1973.
One of six children, Csonka was born in the Akron suburb Stow, Ohio, where he was raised on a farm by his Hungarian family. He weighed almost ten pounds at birth, 150 pounds at age 12, and 220 pounds at 16.
Csonka began his football career at Stow High School as the starting tailback on the 1963 Stow Bulldogs squad that won the Metropolitan League of the Akron-area championship under coach Dick Fortner. He played for Stow from 1960 to 1963.
Csonka became a running back by accident. Because of his size, he played defensive end on the varsity team as a sophomore. In the last game that year, he was sent in as a substitute on the kickoff return team. The ball just happened to go to him and he took off running with it. Wrote Csonka,
Even so, the next year Csonka had a tough time before the start of the season convincing his teammates and coaches that he could play running back. They said he was too big and too slow. Although there were doubts about his abilities, he did well in the first game of the season.
Csonka was recruited by Clemson, Iowa, Vanderbilt, and Syracuse. He chose Syracuse, where he played middle linebacker in his first season before being switched to fullback from 1965 to 1967, the position where he was named an All-American. He established many of the school's rushing records, including some previously held by Ernie Davis, Jim Nance, Floyd Little, and Jim Brown.
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