Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 10 - Chuck Muncie, Tortured Talent

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

10. CHUCK MUNCIE

Years at Cal: 1973 to 1975

Sport: Football

Pro teams: New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers

Age: Died of a heart attack on May 13, 2013 at age 60

Hometown: Uniontown, PA

Why we ranked him here: Chosen with third pick of first round of the 1975 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, Muncie played nine seasons with the Saints and San Diego Chargers. The 6-3, 227-pound running back totaled 9,025 yards rushing and receiving and scored 74 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,198 yards and 11 TDs for New Orleans in 1979, becoming the Saints’ first Pro Bowl selection and their first 1,000-yard rusher. Traded to San Diego early in the 1980 season, Muncie rushed 1,144 yards and scored an NFL-leading 19 touchdowns in 1981 to earn his second Pro Bowl nod and finish sixth in MVP voting as a centerpiece on high-scoring “Air Coryell” Chargers offense that featured Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner. He landed his third Pro Bowl selection following the strike-shortened 1982 season. Muncie had 16 career games of 100-plus rushing yards, including three of at least 150 yards. His final career numbers include 6,702 rushing yards with 71 touchdowns and 263 receptions or 2,323 yards and three more TDs. Muncie was first NFL player to wear glasses under his helmet.

Cal's Chuck Muncie follows the blocking of Pat Micco | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

At Cal: Muncie came to Cal after one season at Arizona Western JC, where he played football while on scholarship for basketball. At Cal, Muncie delivered one of the greatest seasons by a Golden Bears’ running back as a senior in in 1975, rushing for a then-school record 1,460 yards and 13 touchdowns and finishing as runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting as the high-scoring Bears earned a Pac-8 co-title. He was spectacular in the '75 Bug Game, rushing for 166 yards and four touchdowns and throwing a TD pass to wide receiver Wesley Walker in the Bears' 48-15 win over Stanford. Muncie finished his Cal career with 3,052 rushing yards and 32 TDs and caught 97 passes for 1,085 yards and six more scores. He was inducted into Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.

Other: Cocaine problems forced Muncie out of football in 1981 and eventually into prison. Nick Canepa, writer for the San Diego Union Tribune and a Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, wrote that only Muncie's choices kept him out of the Hall. "Harry Vance Muncie, the late, bespectacled running back, was a monster. A monster who couldn’t escape his demons," Canepa penned. Later, to his great credit, Muncie turned his life around, helping others through the Boys and Girls Club of America and his own Chuck Muncie Youth Foundation.

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