The 1972 Miami Dolphins are famous for being the only team in the history of the National Football League to finish a season undefeated and win a Super Bowl. They are also famous for celebrating, protecting, and boasting about that honor and their position in NFL lore to anybody and everybody. Enter Dolphins legend Larry Csonka.
Csonka is certainly one of the most accomplished members of the iconic team, winning the Super Bowl MVP the following season, being a five-time Pro Bowler and a member of both the Pro and College Football Halls of Fame. After his stellar playing career, he had a multi-decade television career calling games, hosting American Gladiators, and hosting outdoors shows.
At a recent event, Csonka was asked about the 1972 Dolphins being named the greatest NFL team of all-time. Presumably it relates to the rankings that the NFL put out during their 100 year celebration where they topped the list ahead of the 1985 Chicago Bears and 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers.
Csonka posted the video of his response to his own Twitter page and admitted he lost his cool in the response where he showed the same tenacity that made him one of the best bulldozing running backs of his era.
I did lose my cool here but I stand by my point – we achieved perfection and are the only team to do so in the first 100+ years of professional football. My teammates and I already knew this whether the NFL recognized it or not. That said, I am grateful the NFL finally ratified… pic.twitter.com/3FiFSaQipa
— Larry Csonka (@Larry_Csonka39) June 13, 2024
Csonka’s passion comes as no surprise given the responses throughout the years from other members of the 1972 Dolphins who have tried to defend their turf as the greatest NFL team of all-time. Csonka’s former teammate Mercury Morris was perhaps the most vocal throughout the years for his defense of the team’s place in history. When the 2007 New England Patriots became the closest team to emulating the Dolphins’ perfect season, he famously said, “Don’t call me when you’re in my town. Call me when you’re on my block, and I see you moving you’re furniture in next door.”
Still though, it is just a little amusing to see Csonka get so fired up over what amounts to an ultimately meaningless power rankings list all these years later.
