On April 7, 1976 and following some five hours of intense
negotiations, the New York Giants announced that they had signed star FB Larry
Csonka, formerly of the Miami Dolphins and World Football League’s Memphis
Southmen, who was now available due to the demise of that short-lived entity.
The 29-year-old Csonka had originally planned to continue
the search and sit down with other teams, including the Dolphins, Colts, and
Browns, after meeting with the Giants. In all, 15 teams were known to have
expressed interest in signing Csonka now that he was a free agent, with six
serious offers, according to his agent.
The Dolphins had hoped that the 6’5”, 235-pound fullback
would return to Miami
once the WFL folded. Csonka had originally said he would let the Dolphins match
any offer he received, but was angered by comments made by owner Joe Robbie to
the effect that Csonka’s asking price was unrealistic. In the end, the Giants
gave him the multiyear deal he was seeking, with three years for around $2
million.
The Syracuse All-American had gotten off to a slow start as
a pro in his first two years with the struggling Dolphins. Taken in the first
round of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft, he gained a total of 1106 yards for the 8-18-2
recent expansion team and had problems with injuries as well as adjustment to
the pro game. Things changed dramatically for both Csonka and the Dolphins upon
the arrival of Don Shula as head coach in 1970. The team made it to the
postseason with a 10-4 record and the running game, led by Csonka and his 874
yards with a 4.5 average gain, was a big part of the turnaround.
However, going into the 1974 season, in which the Dolphins
again reached the postseason before losing a close-fought game to Oakland in the Divisional round, it was already known that
Csonka and two of his teammates were lame ducks in Miami . In a sensational development Csonka,
HB Jim Kiick, and WR Paul Warfield signed with the Toronto Northmen of the WFL.
The Northmen became the Memphis Southmen by the time the franchise took the
field in ‘74, and, after playing out their Miami contracts, it was there that
the celebrated trio played in 1975. The league went under after 11 weeks and
Csonka, limited to seven games by injury, rushed for 421 yards on 99 carries
(4.3 avg.) and one TD.
The head coach of the Giants, Bill Arnsparger, had been Miami ’s defensive
coordinator when Csonka was with the club. While New York had suffered through three straight
losing seasons and had not reached the postseason since 1963, Csonka indicated
that he didn’t consider the Giants to be in a rebuilding mode. “I’m too old to
be starting from scratch. I don’t think I could endure rebuilding years now. I
think the New York Giants are pretty well rebuilt.”
The confident words proved to be inaccurate. While the
Giants had a capable quarterback in Craig Morton, the receiving corps was
nothing special, the running game no better than fair, and the offensive line
was mediocre. The defense was strong at linebacker but nowhere else. Morton had
completed 51.2 % of his passes for 2359 yards and 11 TDs in ‘75, but he also
threw 16 interceptions and was sacked on 47 occasions. The top rushers were FB
Joe Dawkins (129 carries, 438 yards, 3.4 avg.), HB Doug Kotar (122 carries, 378
yards, 3.1 avg.), and HB Ron Johnson, once a star but now on the downside (116
carries, 351 yards, 3.0 avg. plus 34 catches for 280 yards). Dawkins and
Johnson were both gone before the ‘76 season.
The addition of a solid fullback addressed one of the team’s
needs, but there were too many other holes to fill. A change of venue, with the
move to a newly-constructed stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands, didn’t help.
The Giants sank to 3-11 in 1976, losing their first nine games before finally
registering a win. Csonka played in 11 games before being knocked out for the
remainder of the year with a knee injury and gained just 569 yards on 160
carries (3.6 avg.) and four touchdowns – Kotar ended up leading the club with
731 yards on the ground.
Bill Arnsparger was dismissed as head coach halfway through
the season and his successor was John McVay, who coincidentally had been
Csonka’s coach in Memphis
of the WFL. Morton was also gone, dealt to Denver where he revived his career. While two
mediocre veterans, Steve Ramsey and Dennis Shaw, were brought in to compete for
the vacant quarterback position, a rookie, Jerry Golsteyn, won the job but was
soon replaced by another NFL newcomer by way of Canada , Joe Pisarcik. Csonka had
another rough year on an offensively-challenged club, this time ranking third
on the Giants with 464 yards on 134 attempts (3.5 avg.) and one TD.
The nadir for Csonka and the team was reached in 1978. While
the record actually improved to 6-10 and several of the defeats were by close
margins, a loss to Philadelphia
at home came to epitomize the team’s futility and set the stage for a huge
shakeup of the organization. The key play, which became a part of pro football
folklore and was celebrated as “the Miracle of the Meadowlands” by Eagles fans
and called simply “The Fumble” by morose Giants backers, came in the final
seconds. With possession of the ball and time running out, Pisarcik was
instructed to run a play rather than take a knee - an attempted handoff to
Csonka resulted in a fumble, and the Eagles scored on the recovery to win the
game in stunning fashion.
The Giants won only one more contest the rest of the way,
negating what had been a promising 3-1 start. Along with the coaching staff and
GM Andy Robustelli, Csonka was gone after the ’78 season. It was his least
productive pro year as he rushed for only 311 yards on 91 carries for an
average gain of just 3.4 yards and six touchdowns.
In three seasons with New
York , Csonka ran the ball 385 times for 1344 yards
(3.5 avg.) and 11 TDs. Never noted as a pass receiver, he added 15 catches for
132 yards and no scores. It was far less than had been anticipated when the big
fullback joined the team.
Csonka returned to Miami
for one last year in 1979, and had a solid performance with 837 yards on 220
carries for a 3.8-yard average and 12 touchdowns. It capped a career in which
he gained 8081 yards in the NFL and he ultimately was inducted into the Pro
Football Hall of Fame in 1987. But it was the great performances with winning Miami teams that sealed
his reputation – the brief WFL sojourn and three seasons with the Giants were
mere footnotes.
