Csonka left in the mid 70's and played in the WFL, but that league folded quickly, but Zonk didn't return to Miami at first, he went to the NY Giants, only to return to play one more season in Miami (ala JT?):
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1095198/index.htm
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dolphindebby likes this.
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Remember when the Giants were playing the Eagles and all they needed was a knee down to win and the QB handed off to a running back and fumbled?
That was Zonk.HardKoreXXX likes this. -
I remember that. When Zonk and the others left it was sad.
I watched him play in ny and it was so wrong to see him in another uni.
I can't remember the fan reaction when he came back as there was no forums etc. Plus, down here I heard nothing about the team. Just the falcons.
Zonk was and is a good 'ole guy.
Memories, ahhhh.
Thanks padre. -
I like the retro stuff Ddebby, we did not have SI nor cable 'back then" and the stories were hard to come by.
Csonka was my favorite dolphin pre Duhe and Marino.Themole and dolphindebby like this. -
Zonk was so good. I love so many of the old and new guys. I liked Duhe to, he was rough.
I just feel this team has been a big part of my life for so many years that I can't imagine not being a fan.
I think I told you before I don't have many heros, but Shula is one to me.:yes: I still love it when he gets interviewed etc. -
Even though there was no internet in those day's it was a big deal when Zonk came back to Miami,as far as comparing JT to Csonka the reason Csonka left was money-more than he could get in the NFL and that after 3 consecutive trips to the super bowl.2 championships, superbowl mvp etc.
Hard to be sympothetic to overpaid athletes but that was not the case in those days. I was devistated as a fan when Zonk,Kiick,and Warfield left but do not blame them for it. -
Who could blame them? The signing money in the WFL was huge, Robbie wouldn't come off of 50k to keep Zonk, the WFL was offering 300k..upfront.
Zonka was the last Great Phin who left, then came back, now JT is doing the same, we won the AFC East that year (1979) and the Steelers wiped us out in the playoffs, one of the first Phins games I ever got to watch.
I hope JT can do the same for us, and that is a decent article as well. -
Weren't Zonk and Kiick just about the only ones that got out of that league with any money? Didn't their contracts protect them? I know some of the players got shafted bad in that whole deal and lost a lot of money..
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The three players, Zonk, Kiick and Warfield all got paid 3.5 million between them, and I'm not sure how the rest of players made out, I suspect poorly like Steve Young's "48 million dollar contract" in the USFL, he saw very very little of that money.
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Well, technically it was a "mishandled handoff"
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I just remember Zonk & Kiick were on a show and talked about how their contracts were set up to protect. And a lot of the others lost money big time.
I think Zonk said he wasn't anybody's fool, or something like that. And he and Kiick didn't go in blindly.
I wish I could remember more, or atleast what I saw them on. -
The story is told that Shula was in the room when Csonka re-signed with the Dolphins. As soon as Zonk signs, Shula grabs him and starts chortling like a mad scientist: "HA HA HA! Now I've got you! I've got my Hunky back! HA HA HA..."
padre31 likes this. -
I had a chuckle when the article mentioned Zonk saying "I can't run 4.7 anymore"...:lol:
Csonka led us in rushing on the way to the division title, then retired. -
The "only" time I got to see Csonka play was when he was with a very sorry Giants team.
I would of loved that he never left our team,but I am very happy to say I got to see Csonka play.