Muñoz, Anthony

Anthony Muñoz, in full Michael Anthony Muñoz, (born August 19, 1958, Ontario, California, U.S.), American gridiron football player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest offensive linemen in the history of the National Football League (NFL).

Muñoz attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he pitched for the school’s national-championship-winning baseball team during his sophomore year and was a two-time All-American (1978–79) in football. Despite concerns over the three knee surgeries he had undergone during his four years at USC, he was chosen by the Cincinnati Bengals with the third overall selection of the 1980 NFL draft and was inserted into the team’s starting lineup for the first game of his rookie season.

The 6-foot 6-inch (1.98-metre), 280-pound (127-kg) Muñoz was far more athletic and nimble than his lineman peers. As the passing game increased in prominence in the NFL during the 1970s, his combination of size and quickness helped redefine the left tackle position as an agile protector of the quarterback’s blind side. Muñoz earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honours in his second season as the Bengals advanced to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, a loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in each season through 1991 and was named first-team All-Pro eight additional times over the course of his career. Muñoz and the Bengals again faced the 49ers in the Super Bowl in 1989, but they were once more left without a championship. He briefly retired after the 1992 season. His attempted comeback with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1993 ended with a preseason shoulder injury, after which Muñoz stepped away from the game for good. In 1994 he was named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, and in 1998 he became the first Bengal to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.