Top 100 NFL Running Backs - #40: Larry Csonka

Larry Csonka

Teams

Miami Dolphins (1968-1974,1979)

New York Giants (1976-1978)

Playoffs

Appearances - 6 (1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1979)

Conf Champ Games - 3 (1971,1972,1973)

Super Bowls - 3 (1971,1972,1973)

Championships - 2 (1972,1973)

Awards and Honors

All-Pro First Team - 2 (1971,1973)

All-Pro Second Team - 1 (1972)

Pro Bowl - 5 (1970,1971,1972,1973,1974)

Super Bowl MVP - 1 (1973)

Comeback Player of the Year - 1 (1979)

Hall of Fame - 1987

All-Time Ranks

Rushing Touchdowns - #49

Rushing Yards - #52

Yards per Rush - #86

League Leads

Rushing Yards (#3-1971, #4-1972, #5-1970,1973)

Rushing Touchdowns (#3-1974, #4-1968,1979, #9-1970, #10-1971)

Yards per Rush (#1-1971, #4-1972, #5-1970, #8-1969,1973, #10-1968)

Rushing Yards per Game (#3-1971, #4-1972, #5-1970, #7-1969, #8-1973, #9-1968, #10-1974)

Total Touchdowns (#6-1979, #8-1968, #10-1974)

Scrimmage Yards (#5-1971)

Yards per Touch (#6-1971)

After rushing for 1127 yards and 8 touchdowns as a senior at Syracuse and finishing 4th in the Heisman voting, Larry Csonka was drafted by the Miami Dolphins with the 8th overall pick in the 1968 NFL Draft.

Csonka was a decent fullback during his first couple of years in Miami, but missed several games each year with concussions. When Don Shula was hired as coach before the 1970 season, he taught Csonka how to protect his head while running to reduce the likelihood of concussions, and he didn't miss a single game over the next 4 seasons.

In 1970, he rushed for 874 yards and 6 touchdowns, and was named to his first Pro Bowl. In 1971, he was the best running back in the league, gaining 1051 yards on the ground and scoring 7 touchdowns, gaining 5.4 yards per carry, best in the league, and helped lead the Dolphins to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Cowboys 24-3.

In 1972, he and Mercury Morris became the first pair of teammates in history to each rush for 1000 yards, with Csonka gaining a career-high 1117 on the ground. The Dolphins finished that year undefeated, and when they returned to the Super Bowl, Csonka gained 112 rushing yards in their 14-7 victory over the Redskins to cap off a perfect season, still the most recent one in the NFL.

Csonka was still very good in 1973, reaching 1000 rushing yards for the 3rd year in a row, and leading the Dolphins to their 3rd straight Super Bowl. Csonka was named MVP of that Super Bowl after scoring 2 touchdowns and setting a then-record with 145 rushing yards in the game, winning a second straight championship.

The next season, Csonka gained only 749 rushing yards, but had 9 touchdowns, his best to that point in his career, but the Dolphins were upset in the playoffs, preventing a third straight title. After that season, he and two teammates decided to leave Miami to join the new World Football League, where they played for the Memphis Southmen.

After the WFL folded early in 1976, Csonka joined the New York Giants as a free agent, where he played 3 seasons, but never reached 600 yards in a season or 4 yards per carry. When his contract ended, he signed with the Dolphins as a free agent, gaining 837 yards and scoring a career-best 12 touchdowns while earning the Comeback Player of the Year award. After the season, he was unable to come to terms on a new contract with Miami, and instead retired.

For a few years in the early 1970s, Csonka was a star player on one of the greatest teams in the league, and was instrumental in 2 championship runs. He received MVP votes in 2 different seasons, and was among the league leaders in yards per carry during his entire first tenure with the Dolphins. His bruising style probably led to his early decline, but he was great at his peak, and is one of the greatest players of all time.

Top 100 NFL Running Backs - #85: Garrison Hearst

Garrison Hearst

Teams

Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (1993-1995)

Cincinnati Bengals (1996)

San Francisco 49ers (1997-2003)

Denver Broncos (2004)

Playoffs

Appearances - 5 (1997,1998,2001,2002,2004)

Conf Champ Games - 1 (1997)

Super Bowls - 0

Championships - 0

Awards and Honors

Comeback Player of the Year - 1 (2001)

Pro Bowl - 2 (1998,2001)

All-Time Ranks

Rushing Yards - #55

Yards per Rush - #64

Rushing Yards per Game - #73

League Leads

 Rushing Yards (#3-1998, #10-2001)

Yards per Rush (#1-1998, #4-2001, #9-1997)

Rushing Yards per Game (#3-1998, #10-1997)

Scrimmage Yards (#4-1998, #10-2001)

Yards per Touch (#3-1998)

Garrison Hearst rushed for 1547 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior, finishing 3rd in voting for the Heisman Trophy, then decided to leave school at Georgia a year early to enter the NFL Draft, where he was selected 3rd overall by the Phoenix Cardinals.

Hearst struggled with knee injuries in his first two seasons, hardly seeing the field and gaining less than 500 yards combined between those two years. When he was finally healthy enough to play consistently, he had his first 1000 yard season, though he only averaged 3.8 yards per carry, and the Cardinals decided to release him before the 1996 season.

He signed with the Bengals for that season, and his production was similar to that of his final season with Arizona, and as a result he was not asked to stay around after the season. He was picked up as a free agent by the 49ers, and that is when his career started to take off.

He rushed for over 1000 yards with the 49ers in 1997, but it was the 1998 season that made him a star and put him on this list. He set team records for rushing yards and scrimmage yards, with 1570 and 2105, both of which were broken by Frank Gore in 2006. He also led the entire league by averaging 5.1 yards per carry, and was named to the Pro Bowl.

In that season's playoffs, he rushed for 128 yards in the Wild Card round, but on the very first play of the Divisional Round, his foot got caught in the turf, and he suffered a gruesome ankle injury that was considered to be career-threatening. After surgery, he had circulatory problems that led to avascular necrosis, or the death of his ankle bone due to lack of blood supply. It was the same thing that ended Bo Jackson's career.

He spent 2 years rehabbing, and was miraculously able to return to the 49ers for the 2001 season. He started all 16 games that year, gaining 1206 yards and scoring 4 touchdowns, an being named the Comeback Player of the Year, which was well-deserved. The 49ers had missed the playoffs in the two seasons that he missed, but they went 12-4 and returned to the playoffs with his return to the field.

He remained with the 49ers for 2 more seasons, but saw his usage slowly drop off before he was released after the 2003 season. He signed with the Denver Broncos, where he was used sparingly for one year before his retirement.

Hearst's 1998 season was absolutely great, and it's sad that he nearly lost his career as soon as he began to hit his prime, but his return from the horrific injury, and his high level of play in that comeback season are extremely impressive, and he belongs on the list of the greatest to ever play the game.