Gold Jacket Spotlight: Larry Csonka's Fitting Nickname

Larry Csonka's Fitting Nickname

Zonk.

Nothing about Larry Csonka’s nickname suggests finesse. And few of the extensive highlights captured during his 11 seasons as a fullback in the National Football League showed it, either.

Stutter steps? Spin moves? Shimmies or shakes?

C’mon.

Zonk ran over and through defenders, not around them, although he possessed enough speed to get up a head of steam in the open field.

Pity the poor defensive backs. “When I was out into the open field where it was a man in the secondary, obviously I’m going to have an extreme size and weight advantage,” Zonk, who stood 6-foot-3 and played anywhere from 235 to 255 pounds, told NFL Films. “Generally, they were looking for a side shot rather than a head-on shot … and very often, if you would cut back directly into them, that element of surprise would completely discombobulate whatever they were trying to put together. And you’d be able not only to avoid the tackle but lay in some devastating blows.”

Tackling Zonk was “like trying to catch a runaway truck on an incline. … There’s no way,” said Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Joe Greene.

“I took a lot of pride in being a power running back. Had I not had that little bit of speed and body control – or whatever it was – I probably would have ended up a middle linebacker,” Zonk told NFL Films.

A narrator for NFL Films said Zonk, who this week steps into the Gold Jacket Spotlight, “played fullback like a horse plows a field – doggedly, with a high pain threshold and with great determination.”

Zonk rushed for 8,081 career yards with a majority of his 1,891 carries between the tackles. A typical run gained 4 or 5 yards and ended in a pile of bodies.

“I liked that style. I won’t hide that. I preferred to run inside. … It was kind of fun to meet (the defenders) head-on,” Zonk said.

From 1970 to 1973, Zonk finished in the top five for rushing yardage each season. He surpassed 1,000 yards three times (1971-73) as the Dolphins relied on a dominant ground attack to reach three consecutive Super Bowls.

Following a lopsided loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI, the Dolphins returned for the 1972 season determined to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. They would complete the NFL’s only 17-0 season with a victory over Washington in Super Bowl VII. Zonk carried 15 times for 112 yards.

A year later, Zonk rushed for 145 yards on 33 carries and scored two touchdowns as the Dolphins made it back-to-back NFL titles with a 24-7 conquest of the Minnesota Vikings. He took home the game’s Most Valuable Player trophy.

“The bigger the game, the bigger this guy played,” Dolphins coach Don Shula said in praise of Zonk. “He liked a little bit of blood dripping off his nose. He liked to look down and see himself filthy dirty, because he now knows that he’s playing the game; he’s into it the way that he likes to be.”

That was Zonk.