A five-time Pro Bowler, and three-time first-team All-Pro, Csonka remains to this day as the Miami Dolphins franchise's all-time leading rusher with 6,737 yards and 53 touchdowns.

One of six children, Csonka was born in the Akron suburb of Stow, Ohio, where he was raised on a farm by his Hungarian family.

He was the starting fullback on the 1962 Stow Bulldogs football team that won the Metropolitan League of the Akron-area championship under coach Dick Fortner.

He chose Syracuse, where he played middle linebacker in his first season before being switched to fullback from 1965 to 1967, the position where he was named an All-American.

In the fifth game of the 1968 season, at home against Buffalo, he was knocked out and suffered a concussion when his head hit the ground during a tackle.

Writes teammate Jim Langer, "Csonka had the utmost respect of every player on the team, offense and defense.

Standing 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and 235 lb (107 kg), he was one of the biggest running backs of his day and pounded through the middle of the field with relative ease, often dragging tacklers 5–10 yards.

He broke his nose about ten times playing football in high school, college, and the pros, causing it to be permanently deformed, and he would remain in the game with blood pouring out of it.

[10] In a close game against the Minnesota Vikings in the perfect season of 1972, Csonka was hit in the back by linebacker Roy Winston in a tackle so grotesque it was shown on The Tonight Show.

His return to the game was crucial, as the winning touchdown pass to tight end Jim Mandich was set up by a fake to Csonka.

During the 1972 season, the Dolphins became the only team since the AFL–NFL Merger to go undefeated, and Csonka was an instrumental part of the success, rushing for a career-best 1,117 yards.

Near the end of that run, Washington Redskins cornerback Pat Fischer, who was known as a fearless and gritty tackler, came up to try to tackle Csonka.

[2] That season, the Dolphins won a second straight title and "Zonk", as he was known, was the Super Bowl VIII MVP.

Csonka and his friend, Dolphins running back Jim Kiick, were known as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

(A second edition, with an additional chapter covering the 1973 season, Super Bowl VIII, and their signing with the World Football League was published in 1974.)

The same month, Csonka, Kiick, and Dolphin wide receiver Paul Warfield, announced they had signed contracts to play with Toronto in the fledgling World Football League starting in 1975.

The three played for the Memphis Southmen, but Csonka and the others had minimal success and the league folded midway through its second season.

[17] Two seasons later, he was on the field for The Miracle at the Meadowlands, the play that for years epitomized Giants' fans exasperation with the franchise's long-term mediocrity.

However, with 31 seconds left to play and the Eagles out of timeouts, offensive coordinator Bob Gibson overruled quarterback Joe Pisarcik and called for the ball to be handed off to Csonka for a run up the middle, as Gibson felt Pisarcik was risking too much injury falling on the ball in an era before the quarterback kneel to run out the clock was common.

However, Pisarcik botched the handoff and Eagles cornerback Herman Edwards returned the fumbled ball 29 yards for the winning touchdown.

Since his retirement, he has become a motivational speaker and has hosted several hunting and fishing shows for the NBC Sports Network (formerly OLN and Versus).

He worked for the United States Football League (USFL) Jacksonville Bulls in the mid-1980s, first as director of scouting and then as general manager.

He is one of 11 Dolphins (Jim Langer, Bob Griese, Paul Warfield, Larry Little, Dwight Stephenson, Nick Buoniconti, Jason Taylor, Dan Marino, Don Shula and Zach Thomas) in the Hall of Fame.

While observing the 1,161-mile (1,962-km) 2005 Iditarod dog sled race he said, "when I was playing and practicing in that heat in July and August in Miami with shoulder pads on, it just vaporized me".

In November 2013, Csonka was recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of "Hometown Hall of Famers," a national program honoring the hometown roots of the sport's greatest coaches, players and contributors with special ceremonies and plaque dedication events in local communities.

[27] Csonka played a fictional version of himself in the HBO series Ballers and was named head coach of the Miami Dolphins.