James Mungro
| No. 23 | |
| Date of birth | February 13, 1978 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Running back |
| College | Syracuse |
| NFL draft | 2002 / Undrafted |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 2002 | Detroit Lions* |
| 2002–2006 | Indianapolis Colts |
| *Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Career stats | |
| |
James Olevia Mungro, II (born February 13, 1978 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) is a former American football running back. He retired from the NFL due to a severe ACL injury he received in a pre-season game in 2006. His entire NFL career was with the Indianapolis Colts, with whom he won Super Bowl XLI with, beating the Chicago Bears. He attended Syracuse University.
Personal biography
James Mungro attended East Stroudsburg South High School and was coached by Ed Christian. He was Parade and Street and Smith’s All-America grid performer. He was also Pennsylvania Player-of-the-Year as a junior and all-state selection in his final two seasons. He rushed for 2,541 yards and 34 TDs as senior. He set the Pennsylvania state record after rushing for 8,432 yards and totaling 9,513 all-purpose yards during his career. Overall, he set 48 team records during his high school career and was three-time team MVP. He now resides in Camillus, NY with his wife Jessica.
College career
Mungro was a four-year letterman who totaled 529–2, 869, 29 touchdowns (TD) rushing for the Syracuse University Orangemen. He had his best year as a senior with 1,170, 14 TDs rushing. His yardage total ranked as third-best seasonal performance in school history. Named Insight.com Bowl Offensive Player of the Game after rushing for 19–112 in a win over Kansas State. He was 115–797, 7 TDs as junior in 10 games. His seasonal 6.9 rushing average ranked him third-best in school history. Mungro started one of twelve games as a sophomore with 116–537, 5 TDs rushing. He was named Music City Bowl MVP after rushing 12–162, 2 TDs against the University of Kentucky, including a career-long 86-yard TD burst. He played in eight games as a freshman and was 50-365, 3 TDs rushing. Mungro graduated with a major in physical education.
NFL career
Undrafted, Mungro was signed by the Detroit Lions in 2002 but was cut at the end of training camp that year. The Indianapolis Colts signed him immediately, and he became a backup to Edgerrin James. He rushed for eight TDs filling in for James that year, who was oft-injured. He had 114 yards in his first start.
In 2003, Mungro was a reserve RB running back in seven outings for Colts before spending his final four games on injured reserve with a toe injury. His 3 TD rushes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers helped the club erase a 35–14 deficit with four minutes remaining in an eventual 38–35 OT win.
In 2004, he caught 2 of Peyton Manning's record-breaking 49 touchdown passes in a season, including the record-tying 48th touchdown pass against the San Diego Chargers.
On the Colts Official Website, Tony Dungy quoted "He did a lot for us, he was our third back and a very good runner. He was a guy who could go in and play tailback and win games for us. He was our fullback in short-yardage and goal-line situations and he was a very good special teams player." This was quoted after James Mungro tore his ACL.
In 2006, he won a super bowl ring after winning Super Bowl XLI with the Colts.
Mungro was not re-signed by the Colts and was not on the roster for any part of the 2007–08 season.
According to Colts GM Bill Polian during an interview live on the NFL Network on the 6th Round of the 2008 NFL Draft, Mungro has retired from the NFL due to his injury.