1. Harry Vance "Chuck" Muncie was an American professional football player who was a running back for the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers in the National Football League from 1976 to 1984.
52 Facts About Chuck Muncie
1. 2.
Chuck Muncie was selected to the Pro Bowl three times, and tied the then-NFL season record for rushing touchdowns in 1981.
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Chuck Muncie was selected by the Saints in the first round of the 1976 NFL draft with the third overall pick.
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Chuck Muncie became the first member of the Saints to be named to a Pro Bowl, and he was their first player to rush for 1,000 yards.
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Chuck Muncie was traded to San Diego in 1980, starring in their high-scoring offense known as Air Coryell while being named to two additional Pro Bowls.
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Chuck Muncie was considered one of the best running backs of his era until cocaine problems forced him into retirement.
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Chuck Muncie was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area town of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, as one of six children in a football-playing family.
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When he was six, Chuck Muncie was hit by a truck, breaking his thigh, leg, hip, and arm.
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Chuck Muncie was in a cast from his neck to his toes for six months, and doctors warned that he might never be able to walk properly again.
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Chuck Muncie recovered to become a multi-sport athlete, but the accident left his left leg shorter than his right.
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Chuck Muncie compensated by playing with a shoe with an extra-thick sole.
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Chuck Muncie viewed athletics as his way out of Uniontown.
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Chuck Muncie turned to basketball, averaging 18 points per game for the Uniontown Red Raiders and earning an athletic scholarship to play basketball for Arizona Western Junior College.
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Chuck Muncie never played basketball for the school, and he received a scholarship from the University of California, Berkeley after one year.
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At Berkeley, Chuck Muncie was a star running back for the California Golden Bears during the 1970s.
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Chuck Muncie was big, fast and elusive, and was a good receiver.
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Chuck Muncie was instrumental in Cal's NCAA-leading offense which propelled the team to the co-championship of the Pac-8 in 1975, and he became the first Golden Bear to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
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Chuck Muncie set then-school single-season records for rushing yards, all-purpose yards, and rushing touchdowns.
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Chuck Muncie was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy behind two-time winner Archie Griffin of Ohio State.
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Chuck Muncie finished his college career with then-school career records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, 100-yard rushing games and all-purpose yards.
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Chuck Muncie graduated from Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies with a minor in business.
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Chuck Muncie was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.
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Chuck Muncie was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 1976 NFL draft with the third overall pick.
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Chuck Muncie teamed with Saints' second round pick Tony Galbreath to form a backfield dubbed by then-coach Hank Stram as "Thunder and Lightning".
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Chuck Muncie played in the Pro Bowl after the 1979 season with the Saints and was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the game.
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Chuck Muncie was the first Saints player named to the Pro Bowl and was the first Saints player ever to reach the 1,000-yard rushing plateau when he ran for a then-team record of 1,198 yards in 1979.
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Chuck Muncie appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated two additional times during the NFL Playoffs.
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Chuck Muncie enjoyed his best season in 1981, when he ran for 1,144 yards and 19 touchdowns, tying the then-NFL season record for rushing touchdowns.
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Chuck Muncie helped lead the team to two AFC West division championships.
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Chuck Muncie said that he had cut down on his cocaine since his trade to San Diego.
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Chuck Muncie admitted he still had a problem with alcohol and marijuana, and he underwent an initial round of rehabilitation.
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Two days later, Chuck Muncie was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a second-round draft pick.
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Chuck Muncie started and performed well in the final exhibition game, but he served a one-game suspension in the season opener after failing to attend two aftercare therapy sessions that were one of the conditions of his reinstatement.
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Chuck Muncie retired three days later, citing his need to make his life his first priority and the difficulty with balancing drug rehabilitation with playing football.
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Chuck Muncie finished his nine-season career with 6,702 rushing yards, 263 receptions for 2,323 yards, 20 kickoff returns for 432 yards, and 74 touchdowns.
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Chuck Muncie completed four passes in his career, all for touchdowns, with three of them to Wes Chandler, and he had a 141.4 passer rating.
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Chuck Muncie's rushing yards were the seventh-most in the NFL from 1976 though 1984, while his touchdowns ranked fourth.
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Chuck Muncie's 71 rushing touchdowns ranked ninth in NFL history at his retirement.
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Chuck Muncie was named to the Saints Hall of Honor, and he was a member of the Chargers' 40th and 50th anniversary teams.
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The Los Angeles Times wrote that Chuck Muncie "was gifted with size, speed and power", while The Miami News said he possessed the strength of a fullback and the elegance of a halfback.
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U-T San Diego added that he was "widely considered the most talented running back of his era", and the San Francisco Chronicle said Chuck Muncie "could have been the greatest running back in NFL history, a 2.0 version of Jim Brown" if he had the discipline of running backs like Walter Payton or Roger Craig.
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Whenever the Saints broke the huddle, quarterback Archie Manning had to walk by Chuck Muncie and tell him exactly what he was supposed to do in the upcoming play.
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Chuck Muncie did cocaine after games, and sometimes would be high for days leading up to game day.
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In 1982, Reese said Chuck Muncie had to be "superman" to perform at his high level in spite of his addiction.
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Chuck Muncie was one of the first players to wear glasses or goggles while playing.
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Chuck Muncie began wearing glasses at Arizona Western, when he wore them at practice one day and realized they improved his nearsightedness.
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Chuck Muncie wore thick black frames throughout his career, switching to sports goggles late in his career.
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In 1989, Chuck Muncie was sentenced to 18 months in a federal prison in California after he pleaded guilty to intending to sell 2 ounces of cocaine to a friend.
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Chuck Muncie turned his life around after prison, pursuing business interests and sharing stories of his drug problems with at-risk youths.
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Chuck Muncie said his time in prison likely saved his life.
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Chuck Muncie led a program that mentored athletes at his alma mater in Berkeley.
52.
Chuck Muncie died of a heart attack on May 13,2013, in Perris, California, near Los Angeles.