Age: 24 (Dec.
25)
3rd
season in pro football & with Dolphins
College: Syracuse
Height: 6’3” Weight: 235
Prelude:
Csonka rushed
for 2934 yards in college and was a consensus first-team All-American in 1967.
He was chosen by the Dolphins in the first round of the 1968 AFL/NFL draft
(eighth overall) but, with a poor team, was undistinguished in his first two
seasons. Csonka suffered a severe concussion as a rookie, when he rushed for
540 yards, and missed further time to injury in 1969, ending up with 566 yards
on the ground. The arrival of new Head Coach Don Shula for 1970 brought about a
significant turnaround for both the team and Csonka.
1970 Season Summary
Appeared in all
14 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Rushing
Attempts – 193
[11]
Most
attempts, game – 22 (for 84 yds.) at Houston 9/27
Yards – 874 [5]
Most yards,
game – 115 yards (on 21 carries) vs. Boston 12/6
Average gain
– 4.5 [5]
TDs – 6 [9,
tied with Paul Robinson, Jim Kiick & Leroy Kelly]
100-yard
rushing games – 2
Pass
Receiving
Receptions – 11
Most
receptions, game – 2 (for 16 yds.) at Boston 9/20, (for 8 yds.) at Philadelphia
11/8
Yards – 94
Most yards,
game – 54 (on 1 catch) vs. Buffalo 12/20
Average gain
– 8.5
TDs – 0
Scoring
TDs – 6
Points – 36
Postseason: 1 G (AFC Divisional playoff at
Oakland)
Rushing
attempts – 10
Rushing yards
– 23
Average gain
rushing – 2.3
Rushing TDs –
0
Awards & Honors:
1st
team All-AFC: Pro Football Weekly
2nd
team All-AFC: UPI
Pro Bowl
Dolphins went
10-4 to finish second in the AFC East and qualified for the postseason as a
Wild Card while leading the conference in rushing yards (2082). Lost AFC
Divisional playoff to Oakland Raiders (21-14).
Aftermath:
Csonka, a
classic power-running fullback with speed and a punishing style, continued to
excel for the Dolphins. He gained over a thousand yards rushing in each of the
next three seasons, twice averaging over five yards per carry, and Miami won
AFC titles in each of those years as well as two Super Bowls, going undefeated
in ’72. His crowning achievement was a 145-yard rushing performance in the
Super Bowl VIII win over the Vikings that earned him game MVP honors. While
Csonka ran for 749 yards and 9 TDs in 1974 and was selected to a fifth straight
Pro Bowl, he, along with teammates HB Jim Kiick and WR Paul Warfield, had
already committed to jumping to the World Football League in 1975. Csonka
gained 421 yards in seven games with the Memphis Southmen before the league
folded and he returned to the NFL in ’76 with the New York Giants. He had three
lackluster years with New York, never gaining more than 569 rushing yards in a
season or averaging better than 3.6 yards-per-carry. He returned to the
Dolphins for one last year in 1979 and returned to form, gaining 837 yards and
scoring a career-high 12 touchdowns. Overall in the NFL, Csonka rushed 1891
times for 8081 yards, which ranked sixth all-time at the time of his
retirement, for a 4.3-yard average with 64 touchdowns and caught 106 passes for
820 yards with another four TDs. 6737 of those rushing yards came with Miami,
making him the franchise’s all-time leader. In 12 postseason games he added
another 891 yards and 9 TDs on the ground and also had a scoring catch among
his four pass receptions. Csonka received consensus first-team All-NFL
recognition three times, garnered All-AFC honors after one other season, and
was selected to five Pro Bowls. The Dolphins retired his #39 and he was
inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1987.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
