Sport: TIME All-America: Ready to Run

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When pro football's annual college draft begins next month, the obvious first choice would seem to be Ohio State Running Back Archie Griffin. He has, after all, run for 100 yds. or more in 31 consecutive regular-season games and carried the ball for nearly three miles in his Ohio State career. Last week he became the only player ever to win the Heisman Trophy twice. Despite those credentials, Griffin may not be first to go. According to pro scouts, the man most likely to succeed in an N.F.L. backfield is Chuck Muncie, a harddriving, shifty tailback from the University of California at Berkeley (see box). Rated not far behind Muncie and Griffin is Oklahoma's quicksilver running back Joe Washington. "There's no question about it," says one scout. "This is the year of the running back." It is also a big year for the heartland: 13 of the nation's 29 top players come from Big Ten and Big Eight schools. Picked by N.F.L. scouts as the seniors most coveted by the pros, here is the TIME All-America Team, class of '76: