Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 696 is a conversation with Larry Csonka, the NFL Hall of Fame fullback who anchored the only perfect, undefeated season in NFL history with the early-1970s Miami Dolphins, then spent roughly twenty years as an outdoor television host, most famously on North to Alaska. We talk about the undefeated season and Coach Don Shula, his decades of hunting and fishing across Alaska, and the new book that finally ties both halves of his life together, football and the outdoors, into one story.
Listen now: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube · or press play in the player above.
Larry Csonka is an NFL Hall of Fame fullback who starred for the Miami Dolphins during their early-1970s dynasty, including the only perfect, undefeated season in NFL history. After football he spent roughly twenty years as an outdoor television host, best known for North to Alaska on ESPN, and he is now an author who has written a book covering both his football career and his life in the outdoors.
North to Alaska was Larry's outdoor television show, which aired on ESPN and ran as part of about twenty years of outdoor TV he produced. He filmed hunting and fishing adventures across Alaska, much of it alongside his longtime partner who worked on the series with him, chasing big game like moose and the best fishing the state has to offer.
Csonka's book is intentionally more than a football book. The undefeated season and his career under Coach Don Shula form the heart of it, including inside team stories he promised Shula he would not reveal until they were both out of football, but it also covers his upbringing in the country, his lifelong pull toward the outdoors, and his twenty years of outdoor television in Alaska.
Larry won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins in the early 1970s under Coach Don Shula and was a centerpiece of the 1972 team that completed the only perfect, undefeated season in NFL history.
Csonka says his longtime partner had been encouraging him for years to put his story down, but the moment that truly lined it up was when Coach Don Shula passed away. With his word to Shula no longer a barrier, he felt it was the right time to tell the full story, both the football and the outdoors, and to do it right, the way Shula always demanded.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 696 with Larry Csonka is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and iHeartRadio. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
A lot of people know Larry Csonka the football legend. The reason I wanted him on this show is that so many of you remember Larry Csonka the outdoorsman, the guy hosting North to Alaska on ESPN. He grew up in the country dreaming about the outdoors, just like I did, and he turned that dream into twenty years of hunting and fishing television. Getting to talk to a Hall of Famer about both the perfect season and chasing moose in Alaska, in the same conversation, was a genuine privilege.
Press play in the player above to hear the whole thing.
Larry was at the center of the 1972 Dolphins, the only team to ever finish a season undefeated, and he does not just recite the record. He talks about Coach Don Shula, the standard Shula held everyone to, and the inside team stories he kept to himself for decades. He gave Shula his word he would not reveal certain things until they were both out of football, and he explains why now is finally the time. Listen to that part of the episode.
This is the side of Larry that fits this show perfectly. He hosted North to Alaska and produced roughly two decades of outdoor television, filming hunting and fishing adventures across the state alongside his longtime partner. He talks about growing up in the country, the lifelong pull toward wild places, and the search for the biggest fish and the biggest game. It is a whole second career most football fans never knew about. Hear him tell it in the player above.
Larry is honest about why the book happened when it did. His partner had been after him for years to put it all down, but the thing that truly lined the ball up, as he puts it, was Coach Shula passing away. That freed him to tell stories he had promised to keep. He talks about wanting it to be more than a football book and finding the right collaborator who cared about the outdoor side as much as the gridiron. Listen to that section of the conversation.
One line from this conversation stuck with me: Larry says he liked Shula because Shula was like the outdoors. He connects the discipline and the standard Shula demanded, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right, to how he approached his outdoor career and his book. The throughline from the locker room to the Alaska wilderness is the heart of what makes Larry's story special. Press play in the player above.
Listen to the full conversation: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · or watch in the player at the top of this page.
What I take away from Larry is that the second act can be just as rich as the first. He won everything there is to win in football and then went and built an entirely separate life in the outdoors that meant just as much to him.
The Shula material is gold for any football fan, but the part that hits home for me is the kid from the country who kept chasing wild places his whole life and never stopped. That is a story everyone who listens to this show will understand.
Press play in the player above, or grab Episode 696 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Larry Csonka · Miami Dolphins · Coach Don Shula · North to Alaska · ESPN · Jim Kiick · 1972 Undefeated Season · Alaska
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Larry Csonka is an NFL Hall of Fame fullback who starred for the Miami Dolphins during their early-1970s dynasty, winning back-to-back Super Bowls and anchoring the 1972 team that completed the only perfect, undefeated season in NFL history under Coach Don Shula. After football, he became a fixture of outdoor television, spending roughly twenty years hosting and producing hunting and fishing programming, most famously North to Alaska on ESPN. He is also an author whose book brings together both halves of his life, the football career and his lifelong passion for the outdoors.
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