Jim Kiick
Encyclopedia
James Forrest Kiick is a former professional American football
running back
, who is best known for playing halfback
for the Miami Dolphins
in the American Football League
(AFL) from 1968 to 1969 and in the National Football League
(NFL) from 1970 through 1974. He was a member of the undefeated 1972 team
, and was an integral part of the ball-control running game which characterized the Dolphins under head coach Don Shula
in the early 1970s. He played in three Super Bowl
s. He is the Dolphins' fourth all-time leading rusher. He and Dolphins fullback
Larry Csonka
were known as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," in 1973 co-wrote a book, Always on the Run, and in 1974 shocked the sports world when they signed with the World Football League
.
and played football
, baseball
, and basketball
at Boonton High School
. He made the All-Morris County
team, but as a defensive back
, not as a running back.
at the University of Wyoming
from 1965 through 1967, and was Wyoming's leading rusher each of those years. He totalled 1,714 yards and ten touchdowns on 431 carries, and 561 yards and five touchdowns on 52 pass receptions. He was the first player ever to earn first-team All-Western Athletic Conference
honors three times. Kiick was co-captain of the team as a senior. He was named the Most Valuable Player in the 1966 Sun Bowl
against Florida State University
(FSU), rushing 25 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and catching four passes for 42 yards. He also played in the 1968 Sugar Bowl
against Louisiana State University
(LSU), rushing 19 times for 75 yards and a touchdown, and catching five passes for 48 yards. Kiick played in the Senior Bowl
, and was selected to play in the 1968 College All-Star Game
. He met Csonka at the College All-Stars training camp. (In a foreshadowing of things to come, they went out drinking every night.) Although Csonka would be named the All-Stars' Most Valuable Player, Kiick never got into the game. He showed up at the All-Stars' training camp out of shape, and the All-Stars' coach, ex-National Football League
(NFL) quarterback
Norm Van Brocklin
, decided he had a bad attitude and benched him.
by the American Football League
's Miami Dolphins
in the fifth round (118th overall) of the 1968 AFL Draft
. Director of Player Personnel Joe Thomas said Kiick was drafted for his "quick feet." He signed a two-year no-cut contract for $15,000 the first year, $17,000 the second year, plus a $7,000 bonus. He was the primary halfback for the next four years, and missed only one game in that period. Beginning with the 1972 season he had to share halfback duties with other players, most notably Mercury Morris
, as Shula decided a faster back would better complement Csonka. Kiick started only three of 14 regular season games in 1972 as he became primarily a short-yardage and goal-line specialist, although he did start Super Bowl VII
at the end of the season.
Although not blessed with breakaway speed, the 5 ft 11 in, 214 lb Kiick was a versatile player who in addition to being an effective inside power runner was also an excellent blocker and clutch pass receiver. He had over 1,000 yards combined rushing and receiving in each of his first four years. He was often compared to such well-known all-purpose backs as Paul Hornung
, Tom Matte
, and his boyhood idol, Frank Gifford
. Teammate Jim Langer
described him as "a very heady runner and receiver." He played hurt and rarely fumbled. Kiick once played with a broken toe, a broken finger, a hip pointer and a badly bruised elbow. He led the Dolphins in rushing in 1968 (621 yards) and 1969 (575 yards) and was selected for the AFL All-Star
game both years. His nine rushing touchdowns in 1969 led the AFL, and his 1,155 total yards from scrimmage in 1970 ranked fifth in the NFL. In 1971, he had his best year as a runner, rushing for 738 yards and three touchdown
s. He was the only player to rank in the top 15 in both receptions and rushing yardage in both 1970 and 1971. He led the Dolphins in receiving in 1970 and was second in 1968 and 1971.
Wrote teammate Nick Buoniconti
,
Kiick negotiated a one-year $32,000 contract during the 1970 training camp after initially being offered $20,000. Kiick and Csonka didn't report to training camp in 1971 during contract negotiations. The Dolphins were offering each player less than $40,000 a year. After two weeks of negotiations, they ended up signing three-year contracts for about $60,000 a year, which was commensurate with what the other stars on the team, such as Paul Warfield
, Bob Griese
and Nick Buoniconti
, were being paid. (They were also fined $2,800 apiece.)
In the longest game in NFL history, the 27-24 double-overtime victory over the Kansas City Chiefs
in the 1971 AFC playoffs, Kiick rushed 15 times for 56 yards and scored a touchdown. In the 1972 AFC playoff game against the Cleveland Browns
, he rushed 14 times for 50 yards and scored the decisive touchdown. In the 1972 AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers
, he rushed only eight times for 15 yards, but those 15 yards produced two touchdowns, including the decisive one.
Kiick played in Super Bowl
s VI, VII, and VIII. In Super Bowl VI
, he rushed 10 times for 40 yards, and caught three passes for 21 yards, but the Dolphins failed to score a touchdown and were trounced by the Dallas Cowboys
, 24–3. In Super Bowl VII
, he caught two passes for six yards, and rushed 12 times for 38 yards, scoring the decisive touchdown, a one-yard blast, as Miami defeated the Washington Redskins
14–7, completing their perfect 17-0 season. In Super Bowl VIII
he rushed seven times for ten yards and scored the second of Miami's three touchdowns, diving in headfirst from the one yard line (his only touchdown of the 1973 season). It was, said Kiick, "my specialty--the one-yard gallop." Miami dominated the Minnesota Vikings
, 24–7.
The August 7, 1972 issue of Sports Illustrated
featured a profile of Kiick and Csonka. This issue has become a collector's item because of the cover photograph of Kiick and Csonka by famed Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss
, with Csonka making an obscene gesture with the middle finger of his right hand. Kiick was such a celebrity in South Florida by the summer of 1972 that a petty criminal who bore a passing resemblance to Kiick was able to rent a luxury home on Key Biscayne, make public appearances, and get engaged, passing himself off as Kiick, before being caught.
In 1973, Kiick and Csonka, in collaboration with sportswriter Dave Anderson
, published a book, Always on the Run. (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.) Kiick and Csonka discuss their childhoods, their college football careers, their sometimes stormy relationship with Don Shula, their experiences as pro football players, and the sometimes outrageous behavior of their teammates. There is an extensive discussion of how Kiick lost his starting role to Mercury Morris at the 1972 training camp. The book provides insight into the history of the Dolphins and the state of professional football in the late Sixties and early and mid Seventies. The book was excerpted in the September 1973 issue of Esquire magazine, with Kiick and Csonka on the cover of the magazine, dressed as Old-West dandies.
of the World Football League
. Kiick had wanted out of Miami ever since he lost his starting role. The March, 1974 press conference announcing what was then the richest three-player deal in sports was national news and shocked the sports world. The Miami Trio had signed three-year guaranteed contracts beginning in 1975 with a total value, including perks, of $3.5 million. Csonka's salary was $1.4 million, Warfield's $900,000, Kiick's $700,000. Each player would also receive a luxury car every year and a three-bedroom luxury apartment.
In October 1975, twelve games into an eighteen-game schedule, the league failed. The Southmen finished 7–4, in second place in the Eastern Division behind the 9–3 Birmingham Vulcans
. Kiick led the team in touchdowns (ten), action points (five), and points scored (75). He finished second on the team in rushing, with 121 carries for 462 yards and nine touchdowns, and tied for second with Warfield in receiving, with 25 catches for 259 yards and one touchdown.
in 1976 and 1977, rushing 32 times for 115 yards and one touchdown, and catching 12 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. He was released during the 1977 regular season and missed out on the Broncos' appearance in Super Bowl XII
(the Broncos lost). (On the same day Kiick was released by the Broncos, his house burned down and he got divorced.) He played for the Washington Redskins
for one game of the 1977 season, and then retired.
Not counting his WFL games, Kiick ended his career with 1,029 rushing attempts for 3,759 yards and 29 touchdowns, and 233 pass receptions for 2,302 yards and four touchdowns. He fumbled only 15 times. He also completed two passes for 38 yards, and ran back a kickoff for 28 yards.
He was inducted into the University of Wyoming's Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
in 1940 and 1945.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
, who is best known for playing halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
for the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
(AFL) from 1968 to 1969 and in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) from 1970 through 1974. He was a member of the undefeated 1972 team
1972 Miami Dolphins season
The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only National Football League team to win the Super Bowl with a perfect season. The undefeated campaign was led by coach Don Shula and notable players Bob Griese, Earl Morrall, and Larry Csonka...
, and was an integral part of the ball-control running game which characterized the Dolphins under head coach Don Shula
Don Shula
Donald Francis "Don" Shula is a former American football cornerback and coach.He is best known as coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the National Football League's only perfect season. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated....
in the early 1970s. He played in three Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s. He is the Dolphins' fourth all-time leading rusher. He and Dolphins fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
Larry Csonka
Larry Csonka
Larry Richard Csonka is a former collegiate and professional American football fullback.-Childhood:One of six children, Csonka was born in Stow, Ohio where he was raised on a farm by his Hungarian family...
were known as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," in 1973 co-wrote a book, Always on the Run, and in 1974 shocked the sports world when they signed with the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
.
Early life
Kiick grew up in Lincoln Park, New JerseyLincoln Park, New Jersey
Lincoln Park is a Borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 10,930....
and played football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
at Boonton High School
Boonton High School
Boonton High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Boonton, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Boonton Public Schools...
. He made the All-Morris County
Morris County, New Jersey
Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the United States 2010 Census, the population was 492,276. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Morristown....
team, but as a defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
, not as a running back.
College career
Kiick played college footballCollege football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
from 1965 through 1967, and was Wyoming's leading rusher each of those years. He totalled 1,714 yards and ten touchdowns on 431 carries, and 561 yards and five touchdowns on 52 pass receptions. He was the first player ever to earn first-team All-Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...
honors three times. Kiick was co-captain of the team as a senior. He was named the Most Valuable Player in the 1966 Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl
The Sun Bowl is an annual U.S. college football bowl game that is usually played at the end of December in El Paso, Texas. The Sun Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl are the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind the Rose Bowl...
against Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
(FSU), rushing 25 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and catching four passes for 42 yards. He also played in the 1968 Sugar Bowl
1968 Sugar Bowl
The 1968 Sugar Bowl featured the 5th ranked Wyoming Cowboys, and the unranked LSU Tigers.Wyoming scored first in the second quarter, on a 1 yard touchdown run from Jim Kiick, as Wyoming took a 7-0 lead. Jerry DePoyster added field goals of 24 and 49 yards as Wyoming extended its lead to 13-0 at...
against Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
(LSU), rushing 19 times for 75 yards and a touchdown, and catching five passes for 48 yards. Kiick played in the Senior Bowl
Senior Bowl
The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football exhibition game played in Mobile, Alabama which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those collegiate players who have completed their eligibility. First played in 1950 in Jacksonville, Florida, the game moved to Mobile's Ladd Peebles Stadium...
, and was selected to play in the 1968 College All-Star Game
College All-Star Game
The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played annually from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year...
. He met Csonka at the College All-Stars training camp. (In a foreshadowing of things to come, they went out drinking every night.) Although Csonka would be named the All-Stars' Most Valuable Player, Kiick never got into the game. He showed up at the All-Stars' training camp out of shape, and the All-Stars' coach, ex-National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Norm Van Brocklin
Norm Van Brocklin
Norman Mack "Norm" Van Brocklin , nicknamed "The Dutchman", was an American football player and coach. He was also a first rate punter in college and in the NFL...
, decided he had a bad attitude and benched him.
Dolphins
Kiick was draftedAmerican Football League Draft
The American Football League stocked its teams in two ways:# Signing free agents ....
by the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
's Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the fifth round (118th overall) of the 1968 AFL Draft
1968 American Football League Draft
The 1968 American Football League Draft was part of the Common Draft, in the second year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players.-AFL Player selections:-Round one:-Future Hall of Famers Selected by AFL Teams:...
. Director of Player Personnel Joe Thomas said Kiick was drafted for his "quick feet." He signed a two-year no-cut contract for $15,000 the first year, $17,000 the second year, plus a $7,000 bonus. He was the primary halfback for the next four years, and missed only one game in that period. Beginning with the 1972 season he had to share halfback duties with other players, most notably Mercury Morris
Mercury Morris
Eugene Edward "Mercury" Morris , is a former American football player, nicknamed early on for his mercurial quickness when running with the ball. Morris was a running back and kick returner for 9 years, playing mostly for the Miami Dolphins...
, as Shula decided a faster back would better complement Csonka. Kiick started only three of 14 regular season games in 1972 as he became primarily a short-yardage and goal-line specialist, although he did start Super Bowl VII
Super Bowl VII
Super Bowl VII was an American football game played on January 14, 1973, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1972 regular season...
at the end of the season.
Although not blessed with breakaway speed, the 5 ft 11 in, 214 lb Kiick was a versatile player who in addition to being an effective inside power runner was also an excellent blocker and clutch pass receiver. He had over 1,000 yards combined rushing and receiving in each of his first four years. He was often compared to such well-known all-purpose backs as Paul Hornung
Paul Hornung
Paul Vernon Hornung is a retired Hall of Fame professional football player who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1957-66...
, Tom Matte
Tom Matte
Thomas Roland Matte was an American football player who played quarterback in college and primarily running back in the NFL in the 1960s and 1970s and earned a Super Bowl Ring. He attended Shaw High School in East Cleveland and is an Eagle Scout...
, and his boyhood idol, Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
. Teammate Jim Langer
Jim Langer
James John Langer is a former American football center who played for the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings. He is considered one of the greatest NFL centers of all time and a hard working and quick blocker...
described him as "a very heady runner and receiver." He played hurt and rarely fumbled. Kiick once played with a broken toe, a broken finger, a hip pointer and a badly bruised elbow. He led the Dolphins in rushing in 1968 (621 yards) and 1969 (575 yards) and was selected for the AFL All-Star
American Football League All-Star games
-All-League Teams:The Sporting News published American Football League All-League Teams for each season played by the American Football League, 1960 through 1969...
game both years. His nine rushing touchdowns in 1969 led the AFL, and his 1,155 total yards from scrimmage in 1970 ranked fifth in the NFL. In 1971, he had his best year as a runner, rushing for 738 yards and three touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s. He was the only player to rank in the top 15 in both receptions and rushing yardage in both 1970 and 1971. He led the Dolphins in receiving in 1970 and was second in 1968 and 1971.
Wrote teammate Nick Buoniconti
Nick Buoniconti
Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti is a former American Football League and NFL Hall of Fame middle linebacker, who played for the Boston Patriots and Miami Dolphins....
,
-
- "Jim Kiick...loved the game and loved clutch situations--where he was at his best. When we needed a first down on third-and-4 or 5, he'd get it. We might get the ball to him on a short option because there was no one better coming out of the backfield to catch a pass. I've never seen anyone put moves on like him. He'd get a linebacker to lean one way and then go the opposite way. Even when they'd double team, he'd get open."
Kiick negotiated a one-year $32,000 contract during the 1970 training camp after initially being offered $20,000. Kiick and Csonka didn't report to training camp in 1971 during contract negotiations. The Dolphins were offering each player less than $40,000 a year. After two weeks of negotiations, they ended up signing three-year contracts for about $60,000 a year, which was commensurate with what the other stars on the team, such as Paul Warfield
Paul Warfield
Paul Dryden Warfield is a former professional American football wide receiver in the 1960s and 1970s known for his speed, fluid moves, grace, jumping ability and hands.- Football career :...
, Bob Griese
Bob Griese
Robert Allen "Bob" Griese is a former American collegiate and Professional Football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins...
and Nick Buoniconti
Nick Buoniconti
Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti is a former American Football League and NFL Hall of Fame middle linebacker, who played for the Boston Patriots and Miami Dolphins....
, were being paid. (They were also fined $2,800 apiece.)
In the longest game in NFL history, the 27-24 double-overtime victory over the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
in the 1971 AFC playoffs, Kiick rushed 15 times for 56 yards and scored a touchdown. In the 1972 AFC playoff game against the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, he rushed 14 times for 50 yards and scored the decisive touchdown. In the 1972 AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, he rushed only eight times for 15 yards, but those 15 yards produced two touchdowns, including the decisive one.
Kiick played in Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s VI, VII, and VIII. In Super Bowl VI
Super Bowl VI
Super Bowl VI was an American football game played on January 16, 1972, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1971 regular season...
, he rushed 10 times for 40 yards, and caught three passes for 21 yards, but the Dolphins failed to score a touchdown and were trounced by the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
, 24–3. In Super Bowl VII
Super Bowl VII
Super Bowl VII was an American football game played on January 14, 1973, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1972 regular season...
, he caught two passes for six yards, and rushed 12 times for 38 yards, scoring the decisive touchdown, a one-yard blast, as Miami defeated the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
14–7, completing their perfect 17-0 season. In Super Bowl VIII
Super Bowl VIII
Super Bowl VIII was a professional American football game played on January 13, 1974 at Rice Stadium. in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 1973 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Miami Dolphins defeated the National Football...
he rushed seven times for ten yards and scored the second of Miami's three touchdowns, diving in headfirst from the one yard line (his only touchdown of the 1973 season). It was, said Kiick, "my specialty--the one-yard gallop." Miami dominated the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
, 24–7.
Celebrity
Kiick and Csonka were roommates at training camp and on the road. Their hell-raising typically included consuming large quantities of adult beverages. In 1969 sportswriter Bill Braucher of the Miami Herald, upon hearing of their exploits on and off the field, dubbed them "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (Kiick was Butch, Csonka was Sundance). A TV film was made of their exploits, showing them riding horseback into the sunset on Miami Beach. They even posed for a poster dressed in western garb.The August 7, 1972 issue of Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
featured a profile of Kiick and Csonka. This issue has become a collector's item because of the cover photograph of Kiick and Csonka by famed Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss
Walter Iooss
Walter Iooss Jr. is a professional photographer.He is best known for his work with Sports Illustrated magazine, which has featured his photos on its cover several times and for his portraits of famous athletes such as Michael Jordan, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ken Griffey, Jr....
, with Csonka making an obscene gesture with the middle finger of his right hand. Kiick was such a celebrity in South Florida by the summer of 1972 that a petty criminal who bore a passing resemblance to Kiick was able to rent a luxury home on Key Biscayne, make public appearances, and get engaged, passing himself off as Kiick, before being caught.
In 1973, Kiick and Csonka, in collaboration with sportswriter Dave Anderson
Dave Anderson (sportswriter)
Dave Anderson is an American sportswriter based in New York City. After graduating in 1947 from Xavier High School - an elite Jesuit preparatory school in New York City - Anderson attended the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, graduating in 1951.Anderson has written for a number of New...
, published a book, Always on the Run. (A second edition, with an additional chapter covering the 1973 season, Super Bowl VIII, and their signing with the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
was published in 1974.) Kiick and Csonka discuss their childhoods, their college football careers, their sometimes stormy relationship with Don Shula, their experiences as pro football players, and the sometimes outrageous behavior of their teammates. There is an extensive discussion of how Kiick lost his starting role to Mercury Morris at the 1972 training camp. The book provides insight into the history of the Dolphins and the state of professional football in the late Sixties and early and mid Seventies. The book was excerpted in the September 1973 issue of Esquire magazine, with Kiick and Csonka on the cover of the magazine, dressed as Old-West dandies.
WFL
In 1975, Kiick and teammates Csonka and Warfield played for the Memphis SouthmenMemphis Southmen
The Memphis Southmen were a franchise in the World Football League which operated in 1974 and 1975. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, United States.-From North to South:...
of the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
. Kiick had wanted out of Miami ever since he lost his starting role. The March, 1974 press conference announcing what was then the richest three-player deal in sports was national news and shocked the sports world. The Miami Trio had signed three-year guaranteed contracts beginning in 1975 with a total value, including perks, of $3.5 million. Csonka's salary was $1.4 million, Warfield's $900,000, Kiick's $700,000. Each player would also receive a luxury car every year and a three-bedroom luxury apartment.
In October 1975, twelve games into an eighteen-game schedule, the league failed. The Southmen finished 7–4, in second place in the Eastern Division behind the 9–3 Birmingham Vulcans
Birmingham Vulcans
The Birmingham Vulcans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the five-team Eastern Division of the World Football League . The Vulcans, founded in March 1975, played in the upstart league's second and final season in 1975...
. Kiick led the team in touchdowns (ten), action points (five), and points scored (75). He finished second on the team in rushing, with 121 carries for 462 yards and nine touchdowns, and tied for second with Warfield in receiving, with 25 catches for 259 yards and one touchdown.
Broncos and Redskins
Following his brief, disappointing, but lucrative detour to the WFL, Kiick played 17 games in a back-up role for the Denver BroncosDenver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1976 and 1977, rushing 32 times for 115 yards and one touchdown, and catching 12 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. He was released during the 1977 regular season and missed out on the Broncos' appearance in Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII was an American football game played on January 15, 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1977 regular season...
(the Broncos lost). (On the same day Kiick was released by the Broncos, his house burned down and he got divorced.) He played for the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
for one game of the 1977 season, and then retired.
Not counting his WFL games, Kiick ended his career with 1,029 rushing attempts for 3,759 yards and 29 touchdowns, and 233 pass receptions for 2,302 yards and four touchdowns. He fumbled only 15 times. He also completed two passes for 38 yards, and ran back a kickoff for 28 yards.
After football
Kiick has worked as a private investigator for the Broward County Public Defenders Office, and has been President of Kiick Sports Promotions in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.He was inducted into the University of Wyoming's Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Personal
His father, George Kiick, was a running back for the Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
in 1940 and 1945.