Chasing Perfection
The Carolina Panthers are the only unbeaten team remaining in the NFL with five games left on the regular season schedule. Carolina, with a win on Sunday, would become the ninth team in the Super Bowl era to start 12-0. All of the eight who have achieved the feat made the playoffs of which six advanced to the Super Bowl. Four of those clubs were crowned champions. Only one team reached perfection - the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
Gold Jacket and former Dolphins fullback Larry Csonka played a major role in the team’s success during that historic 17-0 season. Csonka recalled the pressure that mounted throughout the year as the team continued to rack up win after win.
“We became the target – the focus of even the weakest teams in the league,” Csonka shared during a visit to the Hall of Fame this week. “They stepped up and gave an extra special performance just because we were undefeated at the time.”
Csonka shared that by the eighth or ninth week of the season, the team had the mindset they could win every game. Watch his interview below as he talks about the attitude needed while chasing perfection, what the undefeated season means to his legacy and what makes Don Shula one of the greatest coaches of all time.
Watch his interview below as he talks about the attitude needed while chasing perfection, what the undefeated season means to his legacy and what makes Don Shula one of the greatest coaches of all time.
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