If not for his drug abuse, Chuck Muncie might have wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Ricky Williams, Deuce McAllister, George Rogers and Dalton Hillard were very good running backs for the Saints, but Muncie was the most talented running back in Saints history.
:Chuck was one of those running backs that comes along every 19 years,: said Archie Manning. :He could have been one of the all-time greats. He was that big and fast."
Former Saints defensive tackle Derland Moore said, "Chuck could have been a Hall of Famer."
Muncie made the news recently when he was a victim of identity theft. A man from a bank called and told Muncie had been approved for a $1 million home loan. Muncie had no idea what the man was talking about because he had neither applied for a loan nor was looking for a house. A victim of identity theft, he was frightened and agitated. But on the other side, it showed how far Mince had progressed in reclaiming his good name.
Twenty years ago, nobody wanted to be Chuck Muncie, whose drug addiction had cut short his NFL career and landed him in jail. He told an interviewer, "I was spiraling downhill."
Before going to prison in 1989 for selling cocaine, Muncie told he sentencing judge, "I am more than willing to get my life back in order."
Today, Muncie heads up his Chuck Muncie Youth Foundation, a nonprofit established in 1997 and based on Oxnard, Cal., which has helped countless youngsters avoid he bad decisions that nearly destroyed its namesake, and providing Southern California youth with alternatives to the street and offering a highly regarded tattoo-removal program.
Muncie, who spends much of his time at his Bay Area home in Emeryville, also spearheads a mentoring program for athlete at his California, his alma mater.
"Back in the '70s," Muncie told Jerry Crowe of the Los Angeles Times, noting that he started using cocaine in college, "everything was about experimentation, and Berkeley was a different place than it is now. It was a different time, and we didn't have the education we have now on drug abuse, so it's kind of hard to compare apples and oranges."
Muncie, now 55, spent about 1 1/2 years behind bars.
"Everything I did and everything I went through in my life has allowed me to do the things I;m doing now," said Muncie. "I've been able to tell these guys, 'Benn there, done that, and you keep doing these things, this is what is what's going to happen."
Muncie's drug use didn't keep him from leading California to a share of the then Pacific 8 Conference championship in 1975. He was runner-up to Archie Griffin of OhioState in voting for the Heisman Trophy, even though Muncie had a better season statistically,
Coach Hank Stram and the Saints made Muncie the third pick in the 1976 draft and, fueled with cash, his drug abuse kicked into high gear.
Still he ran for more than 6,700 yards and score 74 touchdowns in nine seasons with the Saints and Chargers, twice topping 1,000 yards in a season. Former Saints teammate Don Reese told Sports Illustrated in 1982 that the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Muncie, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, had to be a superman to continue performing at such a high level despite his addiction.
Muncie teamed with Tony Galbreath in he backfield to help balance an offense that had been reliant of Manning's arm. Muncie was he focal point. In 1980, he helped he Saints post their first non-losing season by rushing for 1,198 yards, becoming the first Saints rusher to top the 1,000 threshold.
"I've seen a lot of talented people in my life, and Muncie, had he been dedicated and didn't have that drug problem in his way, probably would hold he NFL records for rushing."
Muncie's lack of dedication resulted in instructed owner John Mecom to trade him for whatever you can get for him.
Muncie said he wasn't the only player abusing cocaine. "I'll never name names," he said, "but it wasn't like what I was doing I was doing was rare in the NFL or NBA or major league baseball back then. It was a very prominent thing is sports at the time. I happened to get caught."
Muncie said that getting caught was the best thing that ever happened to him.
"If you don't stop," said Muncie, a single grandfather or two whose marriages collapsed during his hard partying days, "you're going to lose everything and end up dead, homeless or in prison for the rest of your life."
Instead, Muncie is thriving. A partner in several businesses, among hem a high school football recruiting service and another prevents identity theft, he said he was lucky no to lose any money when his identity was stolen.
If not for his drug abuse, Muncie might have wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he notes without regret, "I had a pretty good career."
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: The Hornets will honor the 40th anniversary of the New Orleans Buccaneers, charter members of the American Basketball Association formed in 1967 (first year of the Saints), this season. "Basketball has a strong history on New Orleans and celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Bucs is a great way to pay tribute to the history of the sport in our city,: said Hornets official Brad Shinn. The Hornets will debut the throwback uniforms against Charlotte on Dec. 10 and on Jan. 28 against Denver and on Feb. 27 against Milwaukee. The Hornets will also wear the Bucs uniforms on the road against Cleveland on Jan. 16. Former Bucs scheduled to attend include Steve "Skipper" Jones, Jesse Brown, Ron Franz, Gerald Govan, Ron Widby, James Jones, Lee Davis, Malbert Pradd, Red Robbins and more. Doug Moe and Larry Jones (Bobcats coach) were also members of that team...
Voting for the Pro Bowl, presented by State Farm on NFL.com, is down to its final week. Some Saints you may want to consider include:
QB Drew Brees is on pace to set the NFL's single-season passing mark currently held by Dan Marino (1984).
WR Lance Moore has set career highs in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns and became the first Saints player to record five straight games with a receiving touchdown.
LB Jon Vilma is among the NFL leaders in tackles and forced fumbles.
RB/PR Reggie Bush has scored eight touchdowns already this season despite missing four games with a knee injury and is averaging 17.9 yards per punt return with three touchdowns.
RB Pierre Thomas has scored seven touchdowns and has racked up 1,192 all-purpose yards.
DE Bobby McCray keads he team with six sacks.
WR Marques Colston is averaging 23.8 yards per reception despite missing a month of play because of a thumb injury.
WR Devery Henderson, like Colston, is averaging 12.8 yards per receptions this season and is on pace to set a career high in catches this season.
Plaxico Burress has sot himself out of New York...I When GM ended its Buick endorsement with Tiger Woods, I'm betting that Woods did three fist-pumps and exclaimed, "Thank God I don't have to drive those Skylarks anymore."
If not for his drug abuse, Chuck Muncie might have wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
