NFL great Csonka visits Cape

Larry Csonka, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was in Cape Girardeau Monday for Auto Tire And Parts NAPA's 100-year anniversary celebration that continues today at the Osage Community Centre with an appearance by professional drag racer Ron Capps.

Csonka, a powerful fullback, helped lead the Miami Dolphins to three consecutive Super Bowls following the 1971, 1972 and 1973 seasons. He surpassed 1,000 yards rushing all three years and was MVP of Super Bowl VIII as he carried 33 times for a then-Super Bowl record 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Csonka, part of Miami's 1972 team that remains the NFL's last undefeated, untied squad, finished his 11-year career with 8,081 yards rushing.

The 62-year-old Csonka, who currently hosts and produces the outdoor adventure program, "NAPA's North to Alaska," sat down with Missourian sports writer Marty Mishow to answer several questions.

Q: What do you consider your greatest football accomplishment?

A: Being part of the 1972 team. The transition we made from doormat in the league (several years earlier, in the old AFL) to penthouse in the league, which wasn't a short stay.

Q: How closely did you follow the Patriots' run to an undefeated regular season in 2007?

A: I started to watch the Patriots in about the 10th game. That's usually the magic number. If you get past the 10th game, then it gets serious.

Q: Do you root against teams trying to match your 1972 Dolphins squad?

A: You don't celebrate someone's defeat. You celebrate the victory at the end that you still have. I won't sit here and tell you I don't appreciate when an undefeated team has lost, but you don't openly celebrate someone's defeat. That's in poor taste. But absolutely, you enjoy being the [last] undefeated team.

Q: What made that 1972 Dolphins team so special?

A: I think the mixture of veteran players and young players was just about perfect. And I think a tenacious coach [Don Shula] combined with a good group of assistant coaches. And I think we had something to prove after being the doormat of the AFL our first few years of existence.

Q: Who was the hardest hitting defender you faced in the NFL?

A: I don't think I could pick out one. There is a whole list. Ray Nitschke, Dick Butkus, Joe Greene, Curley Culp, Willie Lanier, the list goes on and on. (laughs). I think about those guys all the time when I wake up in the cold morning in Alaska. I hope they think about me.

Q: How satisfying was it to get enshrined in Canton after your career?

A: I think as a singular individual accolade, that's probably the greatest thing that can happen to you. It meant a great deal to me.

Q: What are the biggest changes you see in the NFL now compared to when you played?

A: The rules. The way wide receivers and quarterbacks have been singled out to where they're nearly untouchable compared to when I played in the 1970s and 1980s. When you hear this wide receiver is the best ever, I don't know how they can say that. I have a real issue with it. They're not allowed to be touched after they go five yards. We had a receiver, Paul Warfield, that's why they came up with the [current] bump and run rule. They could take your head off all the way down the field. Now you can't bump them after five yards. And what is that about, not being able to hit the quarterback?

Q: What do you think about the increased size and speed of today's players?

A: They're bigger and faster and stronger and that has never ceased. The dimensions of the football field have never changed, but the field was designed for players 160 to 180 pounds who ran a five-flat 40. Now you have players on the same size field weighing 360 pounds and running a five-flat 40, a 4.8, a 4.7.