Best NFL Players of All Time: Anthony Muñoz. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Anthony Muñoz

Anthony Muñoz’s style of football was anything but brutal. Although Muñoz was a large man for his era and possessed great strength and power, his abilities made him the best blocker of his time. But don’t even consider for a moment that Muñoz wasn’t interested in dominating his opponents. After he completed his blocks, he did it on a daily basis.

However, Muñoz would begin run blocking with the most exquisite technique NFL onlookers had ever seen. Following his 1980 third-round draft selection by the Cincinnati Bengals, Muñoz continued to improve after learning new blocking techniques from coach John Robinson at USC. “I never really thought it was about me showing the other guy who was tougher; I just liked what I was doing,” Muñoz remarked. “I wanted to shield the quarterback or open an opening for the running back. That seemed to me to be entirely technical.

My method in opposition to his method. You want to make it into a real fight, a real conflict, ne? But that won’t make my goal any different. My goal is to make a hole. My goal is to make a running lane. My goal is to keep the quarterback safe. I refuse to become involved in your conflict.

Muñoz created enormous openings for the running game while he was a left tackle for the Bengals. Eleven times selected for the Pro Bowl and a nine-time first-team All-Pro pick, Muñoz guided Cincinnati to the league’s most productive running game from 1986 to 1989, a period in which nearly all of the crucial runs came to his side of the ball.

Even though James Brooks was an excellent running back, he will never be able to match the stature of Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, or Emmitt Smith. Nonetheless, he was one of the league’s most feared backs when he was rushing behind Muñoz. Brooks remarked, “I didn’t feel like I needed that much room to make a big play.” “I could squeeze through a tiny crack because I was swift. However, you don’t get a little crack when you run behind Anthony. He was so large, so strong, and so good that you could cut him off as he was finishing his block, giving you an entire lane to go through. He was unlike any player I’ve ever encountered.

With the feet of a tap dancer, Muñoz was a student of the game. Though he was capable of sprinting when necessary to make a block on the corner, his ability to shift directions without losing his balance was what set him apart.

Veteran offensive line coach Jim McNally of the Bengals remarked, “I don’t care who he was playing against, what the conditions were like, or what his assignment was.” “He never lost his balance. I have never seen someone with such amazing balance as he did. Despite facing the swiftest pass rushers, he would never take his foot off the ground. He was incredibly anticipatory and balanced. He was a pleasure to coach as well as an excellent player and student of the game.

In fact, Muñoz saw himself as a kind of artist on the eld. He wanted to play offensive lineman to the highest standard because he thought it was the most underappreciated component of football. When it came to Muñoz’s profession, his wife DeDe might have provided the greatest analysis of anyone. She told Sports Illustrated, “If you really watch the way he plays offensive line, it’s different than any other player in the league.” He only intended to demonstrate how much more skilled he was than his opponent, not to intimidate or subdue them. His playing is artistic in nature. He gives the impression that it is simple.

Muñoz was quite influential on conditioning, but he wasn’t as big on the weighting component that makes up so much of the modern game. Before practice, Muñoz would run two or three miles, and then he would participate in the team’s standard drills. As he grew older, he put even more effort into himself. Muñoz came to the realization that while younger players were more athletic, older players possessed superior understanding and skill. He never wanted his opponent to get the upper hand, which is why he continued pushing himself.

Muñoz would square up against former Houston Oilers defensive end William Fuller twice a year. “I’ll tell you that he was one great player,” Fuller said. “I’ve never seen a man with such lightning-fast feet in that posture. Nobody was in the slightest. It was a difficult task to try and outmaneuver him when you mix it with his technique. His hands were about the same level as his feet, which were the best. He was, without a doubt, the greatest.

For Muñoz, blocking passes was nearly effortless. He would immediately get into his blocking position as he settled into his backpedal, and he would not surrender an inch further. Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason, the Bengals’ starting quarterbacks throughout Muñoz’s tenure, were astounded by his consistency; both players went to a Super Bowl with Muñoz up front.

“This is what you need to know about Anthony Muñoz,” stated Esiason. “He performed his duties without fail. There are better things to say about a professional football player, I don’t know of any. He was not in need of, nor did he utilize, excuses. He was there to complete a task, and he completed it correctly. It made no difference who he faced off against. Anthony was dependable and consistently fulfilled his obligations. The one thing he avoided doing was letting you down.

He played a game without seeking attention; this was unusual in an era when sportsmen often pursued fame and fortune. The Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith said of him, “He never said anything when you played against him.” “Don’t engage in trash talk. Not at all. He never said anything to me other than to apologize for getting his fingers caught in my facemask. You would have assumed that other players had done it to obtain an advantage if that had happened to them. Not in the presence of Anthony. He didn’t even need to obtain an advantage because he would never have acted dishonestly, not even for a split second.

Seems like the ideal offensive offensive lineman. Not many people would contest the point.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Anthony Muñoz Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	TD	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb	AV
1980	22	CIN	LT	78	16	16		1	-6	-6	0	-6	0.1	-0.4	0	1	-6	-6	0	0	6
1981	23	CIN	LT	78	16	16					0				0				0		17
1982	24	CIN	LT	78	9	9					0				0				0		19
1983	25	CIN	LT	78	16	15					0				0				0		15
1984	26	CIN	LT	78	16	16		1	1	1	1	1	0.1	0.1	0	1	1	1	1	0	13
1985	27	CIN	LT	78	16	16		1	1	1	0	1	0.1	0.1	0	1	1	1	0	0	20
1986	28	CIN	LT	78	16	16		2	7	3.5	2	5	0.1	0.4	0	2	3.5	7	2	0	18
1987	29	CIN	LT	78	11	11		2	15	7.5	1	12	0.2	1.4	0	2	7.5	15	1	0	11
1988	30	CIN	LT	78	16	16					0				0				0	0	18
1989	31	CIN	LT	78	16	16					0				0				0	0	16
1990	32	CIN	LT	78	16	16					0				0				0		15
1991	33	CIN	LT	78	13	13					0				0				0	0	9
1992	34	CIN	LT	78	8	8					0				0				0		4
Career					185	184		7	18	2.6	4	12	0	0.1	0	7	2.6	18	4		181

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	TD	TD	RRTD	Fmb
1981	23	CIN	LT	3	3	0	0	0	0
1982	24	CIN	LT	1	1	0	0	0	0
1988	30	CIN	LT	3	3	0	0	0	0
1990	32	CIN	LT	1	1	0	0	0

 

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