Hall of Famer Csonka showed grit on, off field

Former Miami Dolphins fullback Larry Csonka (39) spoke at Monday’s Little Rock Touchdown Club luncheon about his playing career and his life after retirement when he hosted “North to Alaska” for 17 years. Csonka has always maintained a love for Alaska and the great outdoors.
Former Miami Dolphins fullback Larry Csonka (39) spoke at Monday’s Little Rock Touchdown Club luncheon about his playing career and his life after retirement when he hosted “North to Alaska” for 17 years. Csonka has always maintained a love for Alaska and the great outdoors.

Some names are synonymous with blood, sweat and aggression.

Butkus, Nitschke, Ditka, Tatum and Nagurski come to mind, in the world of football.

Csonka at a glance

AGE 71

POSITION Running back

PROFESSIONAL NFL: Miami Dolphins (1968-1974; 1979), New York Giants (1976-1978). World Football League: Memphis Southmen (1975)

COLLEGE Syracuse

NOTEWORTHY Two-time Super Bowl champion with the Miami Dolphins (1972, 1973). … Super Bowl VIII MVP in January 1974. … Five-time Pro Bowl selection (1970-1974). … Three-time All-Pro selection (1971-1973). … Rushed for 8,081 yards and 64 yards in 11 seasons in the NFL. … Two-time All-American at Syracuse (1966, 1967).

Then, there is Larry Csonka, who traveled more than 4,000 miles from his home in Wasilla, Alaska, to speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club luncheon on Monday at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock.

Csonka, 71, regarded as one of the most punishing fullbacks of his era, ran over NFL defenses during the late 1960s and 1970s as a member of the two-time world champion Miami Dolphins after an All-American career at Syracuse.

At 6-3, 235 pounds, Csonka was never an easy man to tackle, but he was especially punishing when allowed to break into a secondary and prey on smaller safeties and cornerbacks.

Former Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Cliff Harris once said bringing down Csonka was like trying to tackle a Volkswagen.

Monte Clark, Csonka's offensive line coach with the Dolphins, compared Csonka's battering-ram style as being intimidating to both man and beast.

"When Csonka goes on safari," Clark once said, "the lions roll up their windows."

Csonka, a lover of all things associated with Alaska and the outdoors, said there is no comparing a football player's toughness to what he encountered when filming one of episode of North To Alaska, an outdoor show he hosted for 17 years after retiring from his NFL career.

It was Csonka and 7 members of his TV crew vs. an angry grizzly bear, a sow who had lost her cub.

It was enough to make a Hall of Fame NFL player yearn for the more civil environs of a playing field.

"Luckily, we had a guide with us," Csonka said. "He said, 'Stand your ground, close ranks. Don't anybody run, that's the worst thing you can do. That's surrender in the predator world.' "

Csonka said the crew put its hands in the air as the sow prepared to charge. It was harrowing, for a moment.

"That looked a lot worse than Joe Greene ever thought of looking," Csonka said. "Then she stopped."

Since, Csonka said he carries a 50-caliber pistol when alone in the bush.

"One time in 50 years," Csonka said of his encounter with the bear.

Csonka's fascination with Alaska began as a child growing up on a 20-acre dirt farm in Stow, Ohio.

At age 10, Csonka said his mother brought home an outdoors magazine from the grocery store, with a picture of a Kodiak Bear in Kodiak, Alaska.

"From that moment forward, my drive was to get to Alaska," Csonka said. "Unfortunately, the only means I had to get there was through football. Back then, you just didn't play football and retire for life. It was an ongoing thing. The entire time I was playing football, in high school, in college and for 13-some years in the pros. ... That entire time, I wanted to be in Alaska."

Csonka doesn't do a TV show anymore, but said he wants to use his knowledge of Alaska, and the lure of it, to help people cross Alaska excursions off their bucket lists.

"All the frontiers have been conquered," Csonka said. "There are still some areas in Alaska that are 100 percent wild."

Possibly more wild than football in the 1960s and 1970s, certainly more wild than the rules that have tamed the game.

It's a game Csonka, who suffered six concussions in his first two seasons and more than 10 broken noses in his career, said he would have a difficult time to adapting.

"I don't think I'd fit it in" Csonka said. "I'd like to tell you I never led with my head, but I led with my head most of the time."

Sports on 10/09/2018

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