Peanut Tillman and Roman Harper sit down with Hall of Fame offensive tackle Anthony Muñoz to learn how he overcame three major college injuries to become one of the NFL’s all-time 100 Greatest Players. Anthony explains how he set the NFL touchdown record for an offensive lineman and what was unique about his training protocol. He also discusses his charity work and what he’s doing to support Cincinnati’s youth.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
What's up, everybody. I'm Peanut Tooman and this is the
NFL Player's Second Act podcast and with me as always
as my trusty co host, Roman the Elder Harper.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Appreciate that, thanks, Peanut, even though you're older than me.
I want to jump right into our guests. I mean
we've already been talking.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Introduced who he is, First Ballot Hall of Famer, NFL
Top one hundred players, Walter Payton, Man of the Year
Award winner. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Anthony Munos to
the show.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Want to thanks having me. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I'm gonna just say this, like, I know who you are.
I played my thirteen years. I've seen you Super Bowls
and all the events that the league does, and having
done the research on you, I didn't know how dominant
you were. I don't pay attention to the lineman as
much per se because we I'm a dB, so I'm
(00:57):
you know, receivers maybe uh maybe tight ends.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
But like you was, you were a dog.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Like you were you were, you were great.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You were.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
He told me this this morning.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It was like, with all due respect, I said, dude,
he's considered the best tackle.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Of all I know. I just didn't just paid attention. Obviously,
I did.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I appreciate that our follows your son when he was
at college on meers.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Thank.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
I appreciate that, And I mean it's still very humbling.
I mean, you know, I'm an old guy. You know,
I got I got a son your age, I got
grandkids are in high school, and uh, you know, I
still pinch myself. I live in Cincinnati, so it's a
three hour drive to Canton. Uh, and I've been in
twenty seven years, and I still pinch myself every time.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
I drive up.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
I have to watch it because I daydream a little
bit while I'm driving, you know, about coming up and
being with all the guys, and uh, thinking about the
guys I've I've gotten to know over the years that
are no longer with us when I got in. You know,
it's just one of those things where my wife and
I we got married my sophomore in college, where we
knew each other when I was in high school in
our hometown, and you know, we both just kind of say, man,
(01:58):
this is this is unbelievable that to be able to
come up here.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
So I played thirteen years in the league.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
After I retired, we moved we moved into built a
new house, and that was thirty two years ago. And
I found my freshman playbook from USC that was, you know,
seventeen years after I left USC. I found this freshman
my freshman playbook, and I said, I'm going to read
through it to see what kind of plays we ran. Well,
I knew we ran student body right, student body left,
student body right.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Call it student body back then.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Well, no, we called it twenty eight. But everybody that
was the name, name, that was the name.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
But I opened it up in the first page, just
written in block letters, just one word on that first
page said dominate. Opened the next page and said, we
will dominate our opponent the first play of the game,
and they will give up by the end of the third,
early fourth quarter. So that's how I was trained in college.
And the pros had the same line coach for thirteen years.
(02:52):
We had shirts at camp that said finished. You know,
play goes from the snap to the whistle, absolutely, And
I understand some defensive line don't like to go to
the end. And we were like, let's see how many
times we can make those d line have to get
off the ground. But that was our whole philosophy, not
that it's going to happen every play, but that was
our attitude. And I talk about you know, I still
(03:13):
coach sometimes and talk about old line play and it's
all about one word attitude. If you have the attitude
attitude to dominate, you're gonna get out there and that's
going to be your primary goal. And that's why I
was taught and not only in football, but I have
two older brothers. They taught me to do that in life.
Baseball is my first love. I started playing baseball at
(03:33):
seven years old and I was going to be a
Major League baseball player. And then my brothers took me
under their winging man and it was like I competed
with them two years older, eight years older. And that's
what they taught me. They said, don't you don't have
to talk. Don't talk about your game. If your game
is good enough, people will.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Talk about it.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
So that's a little that I know. I was learning
humility at the age of seven. Yeah, but that was
my approach and that's everything I do. I'm gonna let
what I do, my body will work speak for itself.
So I appreciate you guys saying them.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I want to just applaud you because you mentioned all
these things. And I've been doing a lot of reading
this off season for myself for growth purposes. And you
truly learned that you are a product of your whole environment.
It's not just the college you choose. It's usually your upbringing,
you your birth order, you being the youngest of two
older brothers, trying to keep up, Like, all these things
(04:21):
kind of make you who you are at the end
of the day. The reason why you want to dominate, oh,
is college what I learned? And you were on the
national championship baseball team at Southern Cal Like because you
maybe tell us some stats we couldn't find them, give
us a breakdown. I saw you with a bat. You're
on the website. I mean, you look like a huge
(04:42):
guy in the batter's box. But this is great. Maybe
he kind of tell us about that story because you
have some really good players and teammates on that team
as well.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
So I always wanted to play baseball, and you know,
at six six, three hundred a senior in high school,
I tell people, you know, football is going to be
my meal plan, and that was going to be my
way out of Ontario, California. But I wanted to make
sure that I could continue to play baseball in college
because I loved it. I was a third basement pitcher
at two seventy five and USC. It wasn't only a
recruiting pitch. They had done that with a lot of
(05:13):
guys prior to me going there, so I mean pretty
much a done deal once USC came after me. But
the crazy thing about it is that in four years
at USC had three knee operations freshman year, junior year,
senior year. The only healthy year I played in football
was my sophomore year, and that was the year I
played baseball because I was rehabbing the other three years.
So I went out and I was my sophomore year
in school, but I was a freshman in baseball, so
(05:35):
they looked at me as a relief pitcher, so I
get out there. When I went home my fresh after
my freshmanyear, I played little summer baseball just to keep
throwing the ball. So I went in there and on
the side, I was getting my arm in shape and
they were letting me play a little first base. Little
DH played a couple that was back there at JV team,
so I played two to three games on the JV team.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Then they moved me up to the varsity.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
And you know, I was hitting the ball pretty well,
but once my arm got into shape, I was in
the pen.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
No more hitting.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
I was a fungo hitter, you know, hitting the outfielders,
which was fine. So we were loaded. I mean, we
won the World Series. We you know, we went to
Omahan and just swept everything. The entire team got drafted,
and I'm thinking there was two of us, two freshmen
on the pitching staff. Man, I'm gonna get a lot
of time next year. Then I get hurt again. But
so stats, you know, it was the only year I played,
so I had one win. We're in Texas during Easter.
(06:23):
Starting pitcher takes the line driving the arm, so I
warm up, I pitch, I get the win. So I
was want to know in college, uh, And I didn't
know my stats either. I know that that was the
first time that I threw a fastball and it hit
the parking lot over the fence faster and it got
Oh my goodness, I guess I'm in the big times.
But I think I threw like eleven or twelve innings
(06:44):
and had like thirteen strikeouts. But the thing is, you know,
I was undefeated, so I was wanting to know. But
and like I said, the team was loaded. I still
have contact with a lot of those teammates. I mean
there was number one picks for the Giants. There was
you know, you Chill the outfielders for the Astros, and
all star catcher for the Twins, and you know, so
there was a lot of great guys. In fact, our
stud pitcher was a left hander. He played two years
(07:07):
at SC than he was number one pick for the
Giants twenty six and two at SC's two years.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Oh now, you're so close to it.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Tell me the biggest difference from like, because I know
we all have our own little things that we'd like.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
To do before the games. We talked to John Superstitions.
The Superstittion got you between baseball and football. I know
baseball has.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
More, right Yeah, oh yeah, that's tell me the.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Biggest difference in the locker rooms going from football to
baseball locker rooms because it's got to be night day.
Speaker 5 (07:37):
Well, first of all, baseball locker room is so much
more about stats. I mean, the guys are like fixated
about stats. They're all about stats. You know, and it's
I mean, I enjoyed that. I still have some great friends,
but football, to me is more. I think it's you
get more of a true brotherhood. I mean I got
(07:58):
some great friends from baseball, don't get me wrong, and
our locker room was great.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Maybe it's because the physical aspect of the game and
the camps we go through. Uh, you know baseball, I
mean you get a good workout and it's a few
sprints after you throw a few you know. It's just yeah,
maybe that's the difference because it is such a physical
sport and you go through so much more in camp
than you do in baseball. But I noticed that guys
are constantly looking okay, it's my batt and ever maybe
(08:23):
that's I don't know, maybe that's the dB wide receiver thing.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
If we don't do that, I say that's probably the
biggest difference I noticed. Do you think baseball helped you
with football?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Definitely? I think all three sports.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I played football, basketball, and baseball in high school and
as a big kid. Think about it, I was a
third basement at two hundred and seventy five pounds. Now
I had I had to hit a ball twice as
far as my teammates to get around the bases. I
mean not until my senior year freshman did my speech start.
But you could not bun on me at two seventy five.
I could move forward later that you couldn't get the
(09:02):
line on me. I was blessed with being able to
sit down, yeah, and move. Think about that, sitting down
and moving at two seventy I was garden guys that
are one to seventy in basketball. If I had to
move my feet right football, what do you do as
an old lineman?
Speaker 3 (09:15):
You sit down and you gotta move.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
You gotta move, you gotta have you out in space
left tackle you got so Yeah. I think baseball really
helped me out, And I think that's why I'm such
a big and I know it's tough for now. I'm
so big on multiple sports guys, because you're working different muscles.
You know my age. I can still sit down in
that stin. I can't get up right away, but I
can still sit down like I needed to playing third, Yeah,
(09:38):
and sit down like what I needed to when I
was pass blocking.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Why did you wear number seventy eight? You were number
seventy seven in college? Why did you wear number seventy eight?
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, I got to Cincinnati.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
I didn't have enough money to buy seventy seven from
the veteran offensive lineman reason. You know, you hear about that.
Guys get to another team and say I'll offer you
this much for that number. So seventy eight was available,
which is pretty cool because seventy eight. There's so much
significance in that number in that year. And you know,
I look back to college. I was a sophomore, you know,
in nineteen seventy eight, sophomore, you know, and then going
(10:11):
into my junior year.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, that was a year.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
We got married in nineteen seventy eight, so we've been
married seventy year. Eight is a year, h I started
my spiritual journey, you know, That's when I trusted Jesus.
And it's been forty seven years, so that and you know,
so it was a lot of significance. And I'm thinking, Okay,
that's pretty cool number seventy eight. And of course I
was the one healthy year I played and I got
(10:35):
to throw this south there. I'm a big sec guy.
But on you you mentioned best road trip, and I
thought we would talk about I don't know if you
just meant overall or football. And I have to share
this with it was my junior year nineteen seventy eight,
week two best road trip we had. We ran student
body right, student body left all day long, twenty four
(10:56):
and we beat Alabama in Alabama.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I'm sorry the role with it that changed, that changed.
That was a big thing for us.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Oh man, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
You guys were loaded in and then got loaded reloaded
again for many years.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
But well, how fun was it?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I mean because Alabama was not used to having teams
on the West coast come into briand.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
It was huge because they came to Since or to
La my sophomore year, you know, so that started. So
twenty one to twenty we go make it and we
go for two. Of course, you know, we want to win.
So we didn't make it so because there was no overtime,
no overtime, so we lose twenty one twenty. Then we
go to Alabama and that was my sophomore year. I
tell people had a terrible year or nine to three.
We didn't go to Rose Bowl. So now we go
(11:39):
into you know Alabama.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
My junior year, who was the head coach State in.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
John Robinson, John Robinson, Okay, and then we go in
I mean, you.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Know, Dwight Stevenson and Marty Lyons, Barry Krause, I mean Tony,
I mean loaded, We had Marcus at fullback, Charles White,
we had Ronnie, Dennis Smith, Joey Brown.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
So both teams were just like yeah, And so we go.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Down there and I'll never forget it, and I was
a week side tackle, so on student body, right, you.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Know, we flip flopped out me and the back.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
Guard pulled and we pulled and it was the first
time I'd ever been exposed to humidity.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
I like that.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
But we ran that all day long and so that
was that was really pretty cool. I mean Bear Bryant
was still there, and I mean that was huge to
go into Alabama. So we split one on one and
uh but yeah, earlier I mentioned the SEC we went
to L s U.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
That that uh that next year we went to L.
S U.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Baton Rouge, and I mean what an atmosphere there. So yeah,
I mean I had I had a blast, even though
I spent a lot of time rehabbiting college. I mean
some of the guys I played with are amazing. I
see four of them here in the Pro Football Hall
of Fame from my senior year team.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
That's wild. Ain't anything wild?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah? We had Ronnie A.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
Lott, we had Marcus, Bruce Matthews and myself and off
that last team we had I think fifteen first round
picks and I mean we were It's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
There's a lot of fun. Think about it.
Speaker 5 (13:03):
Marcus Allen, our full back at about two hundred and
ten pounds maybe dripping wet.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I want to know, like, is it is it because
you think recruiting has changed so much because you had
a son and go through the Cole college experience, he
was highly recruited. You have grandkids now that are about
to get going through this stuff, right, I'm sure, And
so I know, like for you to have four Hall
of Famers on one team and any college now would
be in my mind, like I just don't see it,
(13:31):
Like talent is so much more spread out and so
back then, like was it just sc like that's you know.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
While you had, oh, you had Ohio State, Notre Dame,
you had a handful. I think the difference now is
I look at my sophomore year when we didn't go.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
To the Roseball.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
We went to the Blue Bonnet Bone and played A
and M. Charles White was our starting tail back. He
had about one hundred and eighty yards that game. But
we had two backup running backs. One was probably the
fastest guy on the team, but he was hurt. One
of the guys had one hundred and fifty yards who
had been hurt but fast. See what happens now, if
you don't start, you're not there.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You leave lead.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
We were three four deep when I was at SC.
That was back in the day. One hundred and thirty guys.
You know, because you didn't start your freshman year, you
didn't transfer right, you were there because you knew you
were going to compete and you win games. You know
you're going to go to roase. Well, I think that's
the difference. And of course I think.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
That's killing the game. I was a college football. Do
you think that's hurt in college?
Speaker 3 (14:24):
I don't know if it's hurting it, but it's it's strange.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
I mean because now when kids are getting in the pros,
like right now, let's use an example.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I go back to La my wife and I there's five.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
Couples that we get together with we'll go to dinner
on anniversaries or birthdays or just go to dinner. All
five guys we were offensive linemen as freshman at USC.
Four of us were married in college. One shortly after college. Now,
I mean, you introduced a guy in an NFL game,
he started this college, he went to that college.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Where do you hang your hat?
Speaker 5 (14:58):
I mean, what guys do you hang with forty five
years later?
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
You know so?
Speaker 5 (15:03):
I think that's I mean, to me, that is so
special to be able to hang with guys that you
entered college with at seventeen, eighteen years old, that know you,
and that you might not see them every month of
the year, but you see them two three times a
year and you don't lose a beat.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
I don't think they care about that though, at this
pointent in time, right now, I think it's a very
interesting perspective of how you put that. I just don't
think the young, the young fellows are really looking at that.
They're more about I mean, I get you, you're trying
to make money for a family.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Right exactly, and the better yourself.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I just don't think for the most part, they're worrying
about Oh yeah, at eighteen, I want to be able
to go to dinner with you when I'm sixty two
or no.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
We have lived life, so we appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yes, and it is a unique experience where you have
these bonds you know where man, we got drafted or
you know one of my teammates want a super Bowl
and it's like special and so and it is like
when you get back with these people. I also think
it's something to be said about having a home to
go back to.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
You said, it's like, man, you're a se trojan. Yeah,
and so you rolle with him. You wrote, you know
what I mean, I'm Alabama.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I rolled right, so like you know when that's Ohio
State got wants to say something to me yesterday on
the golf course, like hold on, dog, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
So I'm gonna just throw this story out. I'm a
thirty second story where we go golf in here, so
we should have went golfing with you all. Rome Is
Roman is teeing up his tea. He's getting ready and
he's got his Alabama bag, you know, his golf bag.
And this guy says something like, uh, you know they
got they have more bags. I got some Ohio State bags.
And if you know Rome, he's a happy lucky goo.
(16:37):
Just he laughs. He cries when he laughs. He crying
all the time. He's got a tears RT right now
because he's laughing, like the one of the happiest guys
I know. And he just kind of looks at him
and this mean serious face, was like, you ain't in
a competition, like but he said it so rude, and
I'm looking at him like, bro, what did you do?
And he was just like, man, you can't come with
me like that first thing in the morning talk about
(16:58):
my school.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Like I just filling that.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Bro, I ain't feeling that.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
You can't just writen me like that first thing in
the morning.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Man.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
I was like, all right, man, I was like, he
gets testy when you talk about Alabama.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
He gets But this is amazing. I love that story
because so I know so many of us. It's the
band for about colleges.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, I mean, it's anything you want about a protein.
I don't bother me.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
It's like, you know, I get it.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
Of course, being in Big ten country, it's like, don't
you wish you a Gundo house state? And now there's
my comeback, I said, you know, what by of Gundo
house state, I would have been oh for USC, I
would instead of being ten and oh against the Big ten.
As if we were at USC, I would, I wouldn't
beat the Pac twelve. And they're like, okay, I guess
you're happy at us.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
So I get it.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
You know, you do it kind of in a joking way,
but it's like, hey, don't don't get that joking.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
When I said he it was too early, it was like,
this was like third in the morning. Then yes, that's how.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
We need so here.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
So we're watching the National Championship game between the SEC
and the Big ten because our house and with it,
Ted Gen Junior runs an opening kickoff back but touch
that and they're like okay because my son, okay, see.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Where's all the steed?
Speaker 5 (18:09):
After that, they didn't say a word the whole game
because I think they just smacked down.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
It was like crazy, Yeah, it was funny. But the
big tim one the last last two, so that's true.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
I give them the props.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Now we're going to take a short break and we'll
be right back. So we alluded to some of this
a little bit earlier. NFL Top one hundred player you know,
the NFL has been around since nineteen twenty and I
believe nineteen or I'm sorry, twenty twenties when they came
out with that team. And there's been thousands of players,
(18:42):
not just offensive lineman, there's been thousands of players that
have come through this league. And you were a top
one hundred player out of all the people that have
been in this league. What does that feel like like
when you got that? And I mean it's one thing
to get the gold jacket. Yeah, you got the maroon
like that, that that wine, Jackie.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
What did that feel like?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I mean, it was amazing.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
You know, we're down Miami for the Super Bowl and
they put us all in the same hotel.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
I'm just walking around, but you're right.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
I mean, we have three hundred and eighty two guys
in the Hall of Fame and there's just one hundred
guys in the all time hundred team. And you know,
the selectors were pretty impressive, I mean knowledgeable. So it's like, man,
so it was a compliment. I mean to be around
those guys, and you know, again, to me, I have
to look at the journey because I think about you know,
(19:32):
you have to do a look at my knees, and
you know the three knee operators in college. Playing one
game my senior year, got hurt, the first game surgery rehabit,
and I played in the Rose Bowl. That was the
only game I played. And everybody's saying, that's a great
way to end their career. Go on, find something else
to do. You know, you played in the Rose Bowl.
That's what you wanted to do with your guys. And
I said, well, I'm just going to keep busting it,
(19:53):
hopefully even as a free agent, because before my senior
year projected top ten.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
After that third d.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Operation, free agent, maybe not even the chance. So I
just want a chance to get in an NFL camp.
I wanted to compete. I just want to see if
I could compete. And so thinking about Hall of Fame
top one hundred, I just think about that support group
earlier you mentioned, and I kind of took it as
self made. You know, people taught, and I laugh when
they say this self made guy, self made late and
(20:21):
then all of a sudden they get an accolade. They're
going to give a speech and they have like five
pages of people they're thinking, and I'm thinking, if you're
self made, don't you get up to the podium and
say I want to thank myself.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
I want to thank myself.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
I did a great job. But now they're thinking high
school teachers, aunts and uncles, and that's the same way.
I mean, I'm thankful for the medical staff, the training staff,
my college teammates that encouraged me. Of course, my wife
that was with me every step of the way, and
family and just all the encouragement I had, even trying
to stay away from reading he's not going to play
in the NFL. And then for the Bengals to pick me,
(20:55):
not only draft me, but it's the third pick in
the draft and give me a chance to go to
an NFL camp, it makes that you know, Hall of
fame and then just even more like wow, humble because
here I was, I wasn't even to get a chance,
but half more than half the teams failed me in
the physical and the Bengals said, hey, we watched that
Rose Bowl. We're going to take you, and you know,
(21:16):
to be able to play for them, and to be
able to play for a few more games than I
did at USC it just but it's really humbling to
sit around with all these guys and guys that played
way before I played, a little before guys I played with,
and guys that played after I played, and to just
think about man, and you're right. You think about the
number of individuals that have played this game and that
(21:38):
they've taken one hundred all time, and they're going to say, Okay,
you're the one hundred top. It's just to be mentioned
with the other linement, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
We've all been humbled in this league at some point
or another. And I remember my you know, my rookie year,
my first training camp, I was humbled fairly quickly about
Olin Cruiz. You you have a welcome to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Moment, Yeah, I do. So.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
My first head coach Forrest Greg Hall of Fame tackle
Green Bay Packers. So we go up to Green Bay
to play where he played, and I'll never forget as
a rookie, I've been called out in front of my
teammates one time, and that was by my Hall of
Fame tackle head coach because their defensive end had a
really good game. And not only do they have a
(22:25):
good game against me, they pulled them out in the
last few minutes. And he's sitting on the bench real
close to the side and a fan handed him a
hot dog and he's eating a hot dog before the
game was over. So at our meeting Monday morning, man,
he got up and he's talking. He goes and you
our number one. Bit he goes touch and just had
his game and then he's in and he goes and
I'm like.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
That will be the last time that that's going to happen.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
So that was as a coach, and then I had
another one early in my career. We're playing the New
England Patriots and early on I showed that I could
pull so for a tackle.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
The pool is rare, but we had to play.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
And I still remember to play onto I release left tackle,
I would pull all the way around strong guard and
the on side backer. They have a backer that's about
six five two fifty Steve Nelson. Our sidelines here, and
my whole thing was when I pulled, get the shoulders,
turned up back and boom, then go up. I did
not get my shoulders. I come here, Steve Nelson, and
(23:21):
just as I started to turn, boom, he hit me in.
All my teammates on the side and go cause he unloaded. Man,
And I was like, and I tell people, you get
knocked out I don't care who you are as a
football player, Hall of Him. We all get knocked down. Yeah,
we get knocked down in life. How are you going
to get back up and believe me? I got up
in a hurry.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yeah, I got up in a hurry.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
I got back in the huddle and said, Okay, that's
not going to happen again.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
So after after all that happened, right, so my I
think my rookie year, I knew I was pretty good
after I made I made a play against Randy moss right,
I Randy Mosses in his prime.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
I go up, I get into.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
A reception and I'm telling myself like, damn, okay, I'm
from the small school, but I think I can. I
think I can plain in this league with these cass
I just did this ragne them most like it helped
my confidence. Was there a play that made you think
to yourself, oh, man, I could dominate this league? When
did you know you could be a dominant player.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
When I got to camp and I earned the starting
job three days in the camp because of what I
was doing, it was like, you know, I was going
against guys that have played at Notre Dame and they're
in the league for a while, and I was able
to pass block and run block, and I said, man,
I said, I'm thankful they drafted me. And the first
thing that came to my mind is that, Remember I
said I wanted a chance to go to camp to
(24:37):
see if.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
I could compete.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
I told myself, I can compete in this league. And
all of a sudden, I started saying, goes, I don't
only want to compete, I want to be the best.
I want to be a pro bowler every year. But
first three days in camp and then that first preseason game,
I said, okay, there you go. You got lee Roy
Salmon right across from Tampa Bay. And then three weeks
later I opened up with Tampa and I got le
Roy Salmon again, you know. And so it was early
(25:01):
on when I said I believe I can compete in
this league.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
So you're not the only tackle that has mentioned Lee
Roy Selvin. I want to get to that in a second,
but I want to kind of go back a little bit.
You know, you mentioned your college. You haven't hurt, you
were you had three knee surgeries. You're only healthy your
sophomore year. Your senior year, you played two games, and
so you only played sixteen games total in college?
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Was a few more so nine my freshman year twelve
twenty one, and then seven, so about twenty six games.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
Okay, about twenty six games total in.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
College out of about forty four to fifteen.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Okay, all that being said, you only missed ten when
you got to the NFL throughout your thirteen year career.
How much pride do you take in that, because, like
you said, it was all the doubt leading up to it,
and you said, you know, I put all that down
and then you.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Were able to stay healthy for your whole career.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
But jority of you, well, I think the key for
me was my workouts for alignment.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
I lifted, of course, lifted like crazy, but running was
a big part of my work and I ran.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
I ran a lot of distance. Like let's take my
rookie year.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
I took a day off after that last game and
I started running distance for about two months.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
I was like four to six mile a day guy.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
So I felt the better shape I was in and
the stronger I was, I was going to cut down
the risk of injury. So being physically as strong and
as you know, when I got to camp, I didn't
worry about my cardio. I could get through practice and
we'd do our gassers and I would just I would
breeze through them. And so when I got drafted, you know,
you have your team goals, Playoff, super Bowl, but a
(26:34):
lot of my personal goals were every time I put
the Bengal uniform on, I want to be there for
my teammates. I want to be there every Sunday for
my teammates, and I'm going to do whatever I can. Yeah,
you know, there's a lot of things out of your control,
getting hurt, stuff, But I want to be in the
best shape so when I'm going full speed, I can
bounce right back up. And you know, I had things
here and there. But you know, I'm very grateful that
(26:55):
I was able to play that many games. I missed
my first game year eleven, I had a dislocated you know,
linebacker hit me from behind after the play was whistled dead.
So I had dislocated elbosh. I missed the last two
games and that was my you know, fourteenth week fourteen,
my eleventh year, and so that was you know, to me,
not only was it my job, and I said, you.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Know, it's my job.
Speaker 5 (27:18):
So I'm gonna be ready and I'm gonna be out there.
I want my teammates to trust and believe that I'm
going to be ready every Sunday to go out there
with them, And that was my whole goal.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, you know, to say you were ready is probably
the understatement of the of the day.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
But I appreciate you being this humble shoar entity.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
You were either you were selected either first team or
second team All Pro every single season. I'm sure you
know this, but I want to make sure you were
two years except for two years out of your whole career,
which is your rookie year and your last year.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Like when you're saying.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
These stats, like I know you've heard them, but like,
how do you even kind of quantify the level of
success that you were able to have? Or like when
people tell you these things, you know you can't just
brush it off anymore. Explain this to me like a
normal person when we bring up stats like this that
nobody else has.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
What So I go right back to preparation.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
I think if you're a businessman and you're in the
top of your field, it's because if you're staying on
top of your craft, you're learning everything you need to
learn about your business. And that was what the approach
I took my off season was just not running and lifting.
It was lifting, running and then take some time to
do my technique. I wanted to go into camp work.
I did apply a metric. So when I got into
(28:30):
camp and my first one on one pass pro, I
didn't feel like I had two left feet. I felt
like I'd been passed proing all off season because of
the plios I did. So it was about and then
studying film insteading, Okay, you got to do this better,
you get so I really believe that was the key.
And every year I said, okay, you're five, it's four
Pro Bowls in a row. I got to turn up
(28:51):
preparation in the off season. I got to do even
more and focus more on the technique, get even stronger,
try to get stronger, stay on top of that and
my conditioning.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Run.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
I mean the test. We did an example my last year.
I'm thirty four years old and we have to do
a mile. So there's Tim Krumrai crazy the tackle who
did mini triathlons, and myself, so we had eight and
a half minutes to run a mile.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
O line d line together. Do we line up?
Speaker 5 (29:17):
And I looked at Tim, he looks at me, and
we win and we say do we take off? And
we do it like in six forty six point fifty,
and all the young linemen are complaining, say, hey, I'm
an older guy and I gotta I gotta show this
team that I can still. So that was the key
I prepared for that. And all the other position guys
were like, what are you guys doing. We have this
much time, We're not gonna I say, guys, we're getting
(29:38):
ready for a season. Man, if you want to win,
you go out and prepare to be the best. So
that was to me to stay on top of my craft.
I did everything from January to July that I possibly
could do, so when I went to camp, all I
had to worry about was my blocking combinations and just
you know with my linemen, my you know, the football part.
But I don't have to worry about my conditioning. I
(29:58):
didn't have, So I believe that's what allowed me to
go in year one, year ten, and even year thirteen,
even though I got I was on IR a couple
of times. I could probably run a lot more Year
thirteen than I could Year nine.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
You just kept turning it up.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, you just keep turning the vall. I just keep turning.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
One of the things my daughter, you know last weekcause
she was we call her the best athlete. You know.
You talk about our grandkids, but our daughter. She was
a two time Miss Basketball, two times D one player
that year. And know how I went to Tennessee and
of course I played cup, but I never gave her
any basketball. The only thing I would do during the
game is if I know something she would look, I
would go turn it up. I'd go turn it up.
(30:37):
And she jokes about that. Now she goes, that's all
that to her boys. Her boys fourteen and fifteen tore
like six eight. Now I'm looking up and that's all
she talks about is turning up the volume, the intensity.
And to me, that's what it was all about. Attitude.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
I love that for you. Just keep being a sports brand,
a sports parent.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Oh it's cool. I love it.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
So what do I want to I want to talk
about a Super Bowl real quick, super Bowl twenty three.
Where were you thinking when you were on the sideline
and you see Joe Montana come in with three minutes
left in the fourth quarter and they take the lead
sixteen to thirteen.
Speaker 5 (31:10):
So when he first came in, you know, a deep
eight yard line. Then they start down. I'm thinking, if
I only had Bruce Smith pass rushing ability to go
ahead and help my defense and get some pass rush
on him. You know, it's crazy because Jerry Rice had
I think over two hundred yards felt helpless there.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Just watch it.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
I know that feeling, unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
So I want to talk about, you know, another record
that you have and is that you were tied for
all time with four touchdowns for offensive linment. But I
want to talk about specifically your favorite, at least that's
what you've told people before, your first one.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
That's easy. Cleveland were part right down the street.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
Talk about it, tell me about it, call me all right,
Sam Weiss, rookie head coach Kenny Anderson started quarterback hurt
or back up the Boomerasias and rookie. He's left hander,
he's in. I mean, it's muddy, it's terrible. And so
we're up in Cleveland, and so we're down seventeen to ten,
forty some seconds left.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
They're punting.
Speaker 5 (32:12):
All they gotta do is punt it away. We have
no timeouts. They pinised deep. There's no way Rodney Holman
goes through tight end blocks the punt. Now we got
the ball, we had a little life, so we're going down.
Pass interference on the one, so we get at the
one yard line. And that was the first week, first
week that Sam put in. We called it our we
be goal line because when we've get in that formation,
(32:33):
we be scoring. So he put in two more linemen.
Then he put that was the first time he put
me at H back. It was always tight end h back.
But that was the first week that he had a
play designed twenty eight Anthony bounce touch down, and it
was on the play sheet. I said, there's no way
they'll ever call it. So, you know, Sam and the
(32:54):
quarterbacks always signal in plays, you know, they tell him,
tell them.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
How important, tell the people how important it is to
make sure you catch the ball when you actually call
this play.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Press Okay.
Speaker 5 (33:03):
So the importance being in Cleveland is that I either
fly home with the team or I walk home.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Okay, Yeah, that's how important. I mean, come on, that's
but no interstate rivalry.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
The Cleveland Browns, I mean, Paul Brown was what the
Cleveland brown started.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
The Bengals.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
The owner Borist Greig my coach, although this was afterwards
he was fired from Cleveland. But now this is Sam
Weish's first year, so it's very important. Yes, So I'm
saying the first time a practice for working.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
You know.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
I feel good about catching the Boomer a couple of time.
Boomer can throw the ball, you know, but Kenny kind
of real nice. And so we get in there and
we block it first and goal seven. Well, I didn't
know the signals for all the other plays, but I
knew the signal from Sam to Boomer.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
For this play.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
And I said, so we're in the huddle first and
goal no time not to the time. I look over
and Sam is signaling this play. Well, I'm the primary
receiver offensive tackle at h back, and I'm thinking, holy smokes,
I said, this guy does not want to be a
head coach in the NFL. Long say, okay, time to
catch it. So we line up. If I'm on the
right h back, I hit, Well, it's ankle deep MUDs
(34:06):
his bat. We go to the ground and Boomer takes it.
He's rolling because he's faking, and he's rolling the right
as a lefty. Well, I fall and he's going that way.
I go nope, I'm staying right here because boom So.
The defense gets up. They start chasing, and I just
settled right here. Boomer stops. Boom, I catch it, touchdown,
(34:27):
We kick the extra point. Now we're going overtime. That
takes as an overtime Jim Breach all time leading scorer
for the Bengals nine for nine and ot kicks x
field goal. We beat him twenty seventeen in overtime. But
it was funny, so I gotta share a fast forward now.
So I grabbed the touchdown the first one, and my lineman, man,
they're grabbing me, and I was gonna spike it. I
(34:47):
thought they're gonna rip my shoulder out, so I waited
for them to leave and then I went boom the
ball boom So. A couple of years ago, on that date,
they usually play that video and this young man and
I rarely answer social media, and I was on Twitter
and some guy rights, he goes, wow, look at Munyos.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
He grunked at the spike and I looked back.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
I said, excuse me, I said, Gronk Munyas is his
spikes and the guy goes, oh, I'm so sorry, right right,
but yeah, that was the first one. And uh, I
mean it was as an old line. We just were
and and I give a lot of credits. So Monday,
you go in, you lift, we had everybody would leave
the facility and we would have our fat man football game.
(35:32):
We would have between the numbers tag football and it
would be the older guys. Again. In fifth year, I
was an older guy, so we play the younger guys
in a touch football game. Well, Max Montoya, the starting
right guard, was a quarterback and I was a receiver,
and you know, we'd get a young guy, say I
got Muniyas, I got Munyas. I look at Max and
we you know, we torched him and stuff. And so
(35:53):
Sam's office was right on the corner there, and I
think he would watch us, and maybe that's kind of
what led to you know, throw it to me. But
uh yeah, so that was and you'll appreciate. I gotta
share this story too. So we're playing at home against
Seattle and now I'm on the left tight end seven
D eight eligible. You know, Refree announces it, so I'm
supposed to hit the guy and I go to pieline boom. Well,
(36:15):
Boomer gets flushed even in goal line. So I kind
of cut across and the in line's right here and
the linebacker's right here, and I see Boomer, so I'm thinking, disreact.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
I stopped. Boomer throws it in the door. I go up.
There's no I but this guy goes over my back. Yeah,
past interference. We get another play.
Speaker 5 (36:36):
So I just it was just like I said, Now,
I've watched my gu I just watched my guy.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
You know, I just watch my guys. What they do.
Speaker 5 (36:42):
You know, you just stop and let them go over
your back because there's no more room to get running.
And then one other one weren't Houston, and I'm the
right this time. I'm the right tight end. Bruce Coslet's
up in the box and we call, you know, hit
and go to the pieline well and whistle goes dead.
So what I do is I hooked locked that defensive end,
drive them inside. I said, was not good. Next play,
(37:05):
get in the huddle. He calls the same play. I
hit the guy, go touchdown by getting the planet.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Said Bruce.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
He says, I saw you hooked the guy. You ran,
you know you ran blocked him. I said, yeah, because
I saw that you didn't give it away. So yeah,
sot a couple against Houston, one against Seattle, and then
of course the big Clayland I.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
Was it was all four were boomer, All four were boomer.
Speaker 4 (37:29):
In the sync. I like that. I did look man
first of all, I love big man football. It was
that was a.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Most like when DB's excuse me, It's like when d
Lineman get interceptions.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
Were so happy.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Everybody's happy, and everyone's trying to get them in the
end zone. Everybody's everyone's trying to get them an in zone.
Come on, let's go, keep it.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Going, keep going.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
Everybody loves big Man with ball. It's hilarious. This is great, Okay.
I love the stories.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
We will be right back.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Two thousand and thirteen, in New York, I won the
one Walter Payton Man of the Year, very precedious award
that the NFL has nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
You won the award.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
What does that mean to you?
Speaker 5 (38:11):
So that to me is right up there with the
Hall of Fame. And I got the Athletes and Action
Bart Star Award, which is similar to Walter Payton, because
that's not all football. It's who you are as an
individual with your family in the community. And to me,
that has so much more impact than the thirteen years
I played in And I'm talking lifetime impact with people
(38:33):
that you're working with, and so you know that Walter
Payton NFL Man of the.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Year is very very special.
Speaker 5 (38:40):
In fact, I got the I got the jersey frame
in my man cave with the you know the.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Little old patch. Yeah, the patch on it, and oh
you gott I ain't got the patch.
Speaker 4 (38:50):
I gotta get you got so you got to get
the patch. I ain't got the I got to talk
to somebody. I gotta get the patch.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Talk to I think Tracy, Tracy, Tracy, I need my patch.
Speaker 5 (38:59):
Anthony mentioned jersey with the Men of the Year patch.
They went back and got you what to what happened?
So in Minnesota Super Bowl the Eagles were they Yeah,
So Chris Carter noticed that the players on the field
had the He goes, hey, all those former winners man. Yeah, yeah,
and you didn't get the jersey. I thought they put
a jersey in all her rooms.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
So I have a jersey when we do appearances and
things like that. But I don't have like my own
personal like I need.
Speaker 5 (39:26):
I got to get the patch like your game jersey
with the but they have it sold on so I
gotta get that. Yeah, but yeah, that that award I mean,
and had a chance, of course to be around Walter.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
I mean, what a guy.
Speaker 5 (39:39):
I mean, we're in a round table in DC one year.
My daughter's six years old. And what I'd do when
they were young, I'd take them to an event, just myself,
my son, myself, my daughter, and we'd go. And I
took her to DC and we're doing these round tables
and one of them, Walter and I sat out. So
we were in the out there sitting down and Michelle
was sitting between Walter and I. We left, and she
felt like a princess after spending time with Walter Man.
(40:01):
She would ask how's Walter Payton doing when.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
She was a little girl?
Speaker 5 (40:05):
But you know, to carry his name and to be
so that is a very right up there at the
top with anything I've been awarded with.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
All right, do you tell us more about your anthey
Munhos Foundation. You have been able to affect more than
fifty seven thousand youth throughout the Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (40:22):
And Ohio area.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
You've given over two million dollars away in scholarship funds.
Speaker 3 (40:27):
We started in two thousand and two.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
Of course, I retired, you know, ten years prior to that,
and I understand, when you're playing, you have leverage, you
have relevance to start, and a lot of young guys
start foundations. Husband bother and an NFL football player, I
didn't have time to be involved in a foundation, I mean,
so I helped a lot of other groups what they
were doing. Because when I do something, I want to
be totally engaged. I want to be hands on impact.
(40:51):
So in two thousand and two, after putting a game
plan together and you know, talking to corporate people, our
kids were like sophomores in college, I said, now's the
time to start it. So I started the Anti Munius
Foundation to engage the Tristate area to impact youth mentally, physically,
and spiritually. So we have eight programs, the scholarship being
one of the programs we have. We work with young
(41:11):
people from kindergarten through seniors in high school, everything from
mentoring program from k through five and then we don't
want to lose them after fifth grade, so we have
another mentoring program for middle school and then.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
So that's two of the programs.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
We have overnight character camps we take away in the spring,
pretty multicultural We take them about one hundred and fifty
young men to three three nights to a camp and
they just show up.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
We have we teach them a little football, man.
Speaker 5 (41:35):
We can't take them to camp, but a lot of
it is character team building. And then we have a
chapel in the character of talk every day and we
have a coaching staff that leads them through discussion. So
that's we do that one in the spring, and then
the fall we do one that's one hundred percent of
Hispanic kids. Take them away for three days and to
feed them, give them swag. I mean, like I said
(41:55):
that all they do is bring their change of clothes
and whatever they need to bring.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
So that's two more.
Speaker 5 (42:00):
Then in June, I have a dinner in golf and
then two days right about that time, we have it's
the same template as the overnight camps, but it's a
day camp at the Bengals Stadium. We have about four
hundred young people. Twenty percent of those four hundred young ladies,
same thing. We teach them a little football, but it's
character team building. And I have a coach that coached
high school football forever, was an educator and he could
(42:23):
probably write a book on and you could use it
for young people corporations on team building activities, and we
do that. We utilize that. So we do those three camps.
In October, we have what we call our Youth Leadership Seminar.
We bring in anywhere from eighty five to one hundred
high schools full day. We have motivational leadership speakers, we
have breakout sessions. We have key stakeholders in the community
(42:45):
that lead these young this high school through conversation of
things they might not want to discuss, you know, other
and we have we've been you know, we'll do entrepreneurs young,
we do mental health, which has been a big hit
for these young people. So we bring in speakers and
at the end of the day, after this full day event,
we do a community service challenge and these young people
will initiate and put them together. And we've had some
(43:06):
great community service projects. They put together projects and then
we kind of track them and I give money to
the top two. You know, maybe like redoing a school,
you know, a playground, or doing this that we had
an inner city school, very little resources. They initiated and
it's still going. Not only came up with an ideal,
but built brick and Mortar a school in Sierra Leone,
(43:28):
really and then the next year this was an inner
city school. They did a fundraiser with the suburban school.
So you're talking ninety nine percent black, ninety nine percent white.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
They had a walk.
Speaker 5 (43:38):
They raised about thirty thousand dollars. It costs a dollar
a year to put a kid through school, so they
sent us pictures of these kids that had ach in
high school, these little kids in Sierra Leone because that
was the school. But we have things like that, So
that's our leadership seminar. We have two types of scholarships.
Ones in the spring, we do nine male nine female finalists.
It's called our straight A Academics, Athletics, Attitude Achievement, but
(44:03):
a big criteria is overcoming adversity and that's a one
time two to five thousand dollars scholarship. We have an
amazing steakhouse in Cincinnati. The guy donates it, They bring
their most influential teacher and then so we award that
the mail winner gets a custom made ring foundation ring
mcgal gets a nice pendant and then so they get
to come up to the podium with their teacher.
Speaker 3 (44:25):
We take pictures.
Speaker 5 (44:26):
That's our straight a and then in the summer when
we do our event, we have our scholarship fund, so
we award twenty thousand dollars scholarships to individuals. We just
gave out five last month in June, and two days
after that, one of my board members, who two board
members and myself, we interview these young people that we
do interview and we had fifteen finalists and we had
(44:47):
fun for five but after each interview, my buddy said, man,
I wish we had fifteen scholarships because everyone of them
was deserving. So two days afterwards, this board member calls
and says that, you know, I'm so thankful to be
on this committe. We interview these young people and you
know how passionate I am about we have a chance
to change LiveShare. When we're talking first generation kids, they graduate,
(45:07):
they come back and help. He says, you know, they
run him and his wife and the family foundation. He says,
we just had a meeting board meeting, and we're gonna grant.
We're gonna write your foundation of grant list plan. We
have ten scholarships for next year already stroke to check
for two hundred grand.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
But right now a year in advance. We already have
ten scholarships that we're gonna give next year. So that's
the foundation.
Speaker 5 (45:30):
Like you said, we deal with about twenty five to
three hundred young people. And I love it because I'm
there at the camps and.
Speaker 4 (45:37):
We can tell your fault, the way you're able to.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
Provide so much information, the passion in which you speak about, like,
we can tell you care. And so this goes a
lot back to what you're saying when you're coaching your
old son. When you're coaching and you're doing all these things,
I appreciate you for being who you are. I can
tell everything you do it matters.
Speaker 5 (45:54):
To you, but does And you know, it's funny. I went,
I was meeting with.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
My CEO tour.
Speaker 5 (46:01):
I go, and I'm the guy that I share my
passion and mission and hopefully they write checks. I write
with a ride with the guy for four hours in
a golf cart. Don't ask a penny, and he here,
you need some money. So I was talking to CEO
in Cincinnati in about twenty minutes and it he goes, man,
you know what's going on with your foun day? I said,
you know what I said, everything's public. You can check
our audits. The last six years, we've given ninety five
(46:23):
cents to a dollar on the kids. And he goes,
I'm on the board of this was a few years agause,
I'm on the board of one of the players. He goes,
they don't know what's going on with their names on
I said, well, I said, well, I that's why I
waited ten years after, because I wanted to be engaged.
I run our board meetings. You know, I don't know
everything about it, but I know our numbers. I know
where it's all going, you know. I make decisions on
(46:43):
staff payment. We have four staff. We're leaning staff for
what we do, but they get it done. And I
have seventeen unbelievable board members. I mean I could call
him right now for some advice and if they didn't
pick up the phone, they'd call right back. And then
we one thing we started which is pretty cool twenty
four years ago. We have an internship program with local
(47:04):
college students. We have four to eight a year that
come in and it's non paid. It's part of what
they do at school and they learn everything about the
non for profits. They're not just running off copies, man,
They're they're learning and working and so and then we
have a database of about one hundred and fifty volunteers.
So it's truly it has my name on it, but
it's a team effort. I mean, it's that's where it
(47:24):
ends with my name. But so yeah, we're we're rolling.
And of course at my age, you know you're thinking, Okay,
how much longer do you do this? And every year
my wife and I go, Man, it keeps energizing us,
and here you keep going.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
So you've given us some gyms. Well, just how humble
you are. And clearly you are not a self made person. No,
So if I gave you four people to put on
your amount rushmore of who made you the man you
are today, who would those four people be?
Speaker 5 (47:54):
Right in the middle would be Estra Munos, my mom,
who raised five by ourself, working two three jobs.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
I never knew my dad. He was in prison, and.
Speaker 5 (48:02):
She just he taught us work ethic, not by shitting
us down, but just by watching her walk over the
tracks to work at seven in the morning, coming home
at four, picking dinner, washing clothes and everything. She taught
us and then literally teaching us what responsibility is. Because
if I wanted to play baseball in the summer. We
had to do our chores. And it wasn't just dust.
We had to wash clothes, wash dishes, iron clothes, clean
(48:25):
the house. So she would be right there. I'd have
to put my wife right there, Dedi, like I said,
I got married when I was nineteen, so she's been
on the journey for a lot of years. And I
mean just a great supporter, you know, a woman of
great insight and great faith. And so I put Dedi there.
I'd have to put Jesus right there. You know, he'd
(48:48):
be right there. I think it'd be between my mom
and him, but I'd still put my mom.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
He'd be right next to her.
Speaker 4 (48:54):
You can put them all the time.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
He's got his own, Okay, that's so that's he's his own.
Speaker 4 (49:00):
He got his own.
Speaker 3 (49:02):
Yeah. The fourth would be a team of support.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
You're such a team player you can't even pick right.
Is hard, And I did that specifically. It's like, no,
I need you to pick four people.
Speaker 4 (49:13):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (49:14):
Yeah, but that just goes into character, like no, I've
a lot of people have poured into you.
Speaker 3 (49:21):
It's uh, it's been a great journey, just uh.
Speaker 5 (49:24):
I mean, you know when DDE and I pray in
the morning, we pray about for our family family, then
we pray about our college friends. We pray about our
friends in Cincinnati. And it's just like I mean, and
I sit there at times just overwhelmed by just you know,
because you know, men don't have you know, it's hard.
Ladies have close friends, but you talk to men, it's like,
(49:44):
give me your top three four best friends, and they're like,
I think most guys struggle with that.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
I can.
Speaker 5 (49:50):
I can give you like close to ten, like guys
that are just tight, you know, like minded. I can
call those four guys in California and at least four
minimums since that I have that.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
So I'm blessed man, I tell you what.
Speaker 5 (50:02):
That's why I can't come up with just you know,
because there's so many people in my life that have
been just impactful.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
Half of that, though, Anthony, is because you give that.
And so when you give that emotion, you give that
you're open. And when you're open like that, you're usually
able to receive more as well.
Speaker 4 (50:19):
And so when you.
Speaker 2 (50:20):
Put it out there and to the earth and to
the world and to the universe, that's when you get it.
Speaker 3 (50:24):
You know.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
We always talk about You know what, when you want something,
you need to start praying for others to get it
as well. Yeah, that's when you receive it, you know
what I mean. So you got to put it out
there to receive it all tomately. And we can tell
by your passion, your words how much of a team
guy you are and how I get it listening to
you and the way you describe things about who you
(50:45):
truly genuinely are, and I hope the rest of us
can pick they're gonna be able to pick up on
that as well.
Speaker 4 (50:50):
It's just interesting.
Speaker 2 (50:51):
Because you know, for a lot of years when Cincinnati
wasn't on top of everything, the one player that always
stood and they talked about was Anthony Munyo. And now
that I've got to sit down and meet you and
humbly and just spend some time with you, the last
person that Anthony Munyos talks about is Anthony Munyo.
Speaker 4 (51:10):
And so it's just really.
Speaker 2 (51:11):
Cool kind of putting all that together, being this young
man that watched they learned all these great things about you,
then getting to meet you and then it's like, you know,
actually he wants to talk about everybody.
Speaker 4 (51:20):
Else in his life. I like that. Yeah, I hate him.
Speaker 5 (51:23):
Well, I appreciate that. And my wife and I always talk
about us. You know what, we're both from Montaro, California,
and I mean, we don't forget where we came from.
We were doing an event the other last year and
it was there's a place where they take addicts and
bring them in and they house them and they feed
them and they train them, get them jobs. And the
(51:43):
guy that's directing, he's a recovered addict and his wife
is the same thing.
Speaker 3 (51:47):
And she's talked to my wife.
Speaker 5 (51:48):
She's, I know you guys are here to talk to us,
but I'm sure you guys don't understand what a lot
of us are going And I'm like, he's know, you know,
we both come from dysfunctional My brother oded in my
arms when he was a senior in high school. Thank
god he survived. I got three cousins doing life in prison.
I communicate with them and I said, no, we we
(52:09):
know what you all are going through. You know, we've
had addiction, and you know I paid for a couple
of funerals of my young cousins that were shot to
death drive by shooting.
Speaker 3 (52:17):
So no, we get it.
Speaker 5 (52:18):
That's why we're doing what we're doing because we want
to be a part of the solution. But yeah, Dede
and I, you know, we h he's very smart, but
we have that you know, background that we'll never forget,
uh and very thankful that you know where we came from.
You know, we talked about my college adversity. I never
trade that in for what I learned. I mean it
was tough at the time. I mean to be watching
(52:41):
my guys every year on the sideline, you know. I
you know, that's one thing I told my son. He
was a four year starter, but he sat out his
second year. And the first thing I told him, I said,
don't isolate yourself. Stay engaged with your team. They're preparing
the coaches, so it's going to be a natural separation,
you know, someone that's hurt with I said, but you
(53:01):
got to make it your initiative to be engaged. One
of the things I did for three years I became
the official spatter. I'd carry my tape. But you know
that sc you had to spray paint your spat black.
So if Charles White wanted a little extra tape, I'd
have to have a spray can. If my lineman wanted
a spat I would do it for him, but I
had to spray it black because no white tape on
your shoes. So that's how I kind of stayed engaged,
(53:22):
you know, with my guys and hung out with them.
But you know, because it is it's.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
Your niche role exactly right, be a team player.
Speaker 3 (53:29):
Yeah, I got.
Speaker 1 (53:31):
Nothing else for Anthony human. You've been amazing, awesome. Thank
you for just the wisdom and just everything you've said.
I took it all in and I really do appreciate it.
And then as Room said, you you really are passionate
and you get out what you receive.
Speaker 3 (53:47):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (53:48):
And it is an organic feeling. And yeah, I'm I'm
taking that with me today, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (53:53):
Man, you are a light.
Speaker 2 (53:54):
You got to keep shining, Anthony Munjos, because you shine
so bright you allow others to be seen. And so
hat you man for stopping by taking time. And I'm
gonna get us out of here. For all of our
viewers and listeners out there, make sure you give us like, share, subscribe,
believe a couple of comments. You can check us out
on the NFL Pages YouTube channel. Whether you pick up
(54:15):
your podcasts at Apple Podcasts iHeartRadio app. Make sure you
continue to tell a friend to tell a friend to
do what Peanut tell a friend us out man, yes, man,
get us out of here.
Speaker 4 (54:25):
I'm Peanut.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
That's wrong, that's Anthony. And this is the NFL Player's
Second Acts podcast
What's up, everybody. I'm Peanut Tooman and this is the
NFL Player's Second Act podcast and with me as always
as my trusty co host, Roman the Elder Harper.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Appreciate that, thanks, Peanut, even though you're older than me.
I want to jump right into our guests. I mean
we've already been talking.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Introduced who he is, First Ballot Hall of Famer, NFL
Top one hundred players, Walter Payton, Man of the Year
Award winner. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Anthony Munos to
the show.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Want to thanks having me. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I'm gonna just say this, like, I know who you are.
I played my thirteen years. I've seen you Super Bowls
and all the events that the league does, and having
done the research on you, I didn't know how dominant
you were. I don't pay attention to the lineman as
much per se because we I'm a dB, so I'm
(00:57):
you know, receivers maybe uh maybe tight ends.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
But like you was, you were a dog.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Like you were you were, you were great.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You were.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
He told me this this morning.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It was like, with all due respect, I said, dude,
he's considered the best tackle.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Of all I know. I just didn't just paid attention. Obviously,
I did.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I appreciate that our follows your son when he was
at college on meers.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Thank.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
I appreciate that, And I mean it's still very humbling.
I mean, you know, I'm an old guy. You know,
I got I got a son your age, I got
grandkids are in high school, and uh, you know, I
still pinch myself. I live in Cincinnati, so it's a
three hour drive to Canton. Uh, and I've been in
twenty seven years, and I still pinch myself every time.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
I drive up.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
I have to watch it because I daydream a little
bit while I'm driving, you know, about coming up and
being with all the guys, and uh, thinking about the
guys I've I've gotten to know over the years that
are no longer with us when I got in. You know,
it's just one of those things where my wife and
I we got married my sophomore in college, where we
knew each other when I was in high school in
our hometown, and you know, we both just kind of say, man,
(01:58):
this is this is unbelievable that to be able to
come up here.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
So I played thirteen years in the league.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
After I retired, we moved we moved into built a
new house, and that was thirty two years ago. And
I found my freshman playbook from USC that was, you know,
seventeen years after I left USC. I found this freshman
my freshman playbook, and I said, I'm going to read
through it to see what kind of plays we ran. Well,
I knew we ran student body right, student body left,
student body right.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Call it student body back then.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Well, no, we called it twenty eight. But everybody that
was the name, name, that was the name.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
But I opened it up in the first page, just
written in block letters, just one word on that first
page said dominate. Opened the next page and said, we
will dominate our opponent the first play of the game,
and they will give up by the end of the third,
early fourth quarter. So that's how I was trained in college.
And the pros had the same line coach for thirteen years.
(02:52):
We had shirts at camp that said finished. You know,
play goes from the snap to the whistle, absolutely, And
I understand some defensive line don't like to go to
the end. And we were like, let's see how many
times we can make those d line have to get
off the ground. But that was our whole philosophy, not
that it's going to happen every play, but that was
our attitude. And I talk about you know, I still
(03:13):
coach sometimes and talk about old line play and it's
all about one word attitude. If you have the attitude
attitude to dominate, you're gonna get out there and that's
going to be your primary goal. And that's why I
was taught and not only in football, but I have
two older brothers. They taught me to do that in life.
Baseball is my first love. I started playing baseball at
(03:33):
seven years old and I was going to be a
Major League baseball player. And then my brothers took me
under their winging man and it was like I competed
with them two years older, eight years older. And that's
what they taught me. They said, don't you don't have
to talk. Don't talk about your game. If your game
is good enough, people will.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Talk about it.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
So that's a little that I know. I was learning
humility at the age of seven. Yeah, but that was
my approach and that's everything I do. I'm gonna let
what I do, my body will work speak for itself.
So I appreciate you guys saying them.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I want to just applaud you because you mentioned all
these things. And I've been doing a lot of reading
this off season for myself for growth purposes. And you
truly learned that you are a product of your whole environment.
It's not just the college you choose. It's usually your upbringing,
you your birth order, you being the youngest of two
older brothers, trying to keep up, Like, all these things
(04:21):
kind of make you who you are at the end
of the day. The reason why you want to dominate, oh,
is college what I learned? And you were on the
national championship baseball team at Southern Cal Like because you
maybe tell us some stats we couldn't find them, give
us a breakdown. I saw you with a bat. You're
on the website. I mean, you look like a huge
(04:42):
guy in the batter's box. But this is great. Maybe
he kind of tell us about that story because you
have some really good players and teammates on that team
as well.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
So I always wanted to play baseball, and you know,
at six six, three hundred a senior in high school,
I tell people, you know, football is going to be
my meal plan, and that was going to be my
way out of Ontario, California. But I wanted to make
sure that I could continue to play baseball in college
because I loved it. I was a third basement pitcher
at two seventy five and USC. It wasn't only a
recruiting pitch. They had done that with a lot of
(05:13):
guys prior to me going there, so I mean pretty
much a done deal once USC came after me. But
the crazy thing about it is that in four years
at USC had three knee operations freshman year, junior year,
senior year. The only healthy year I played in football
was my sophomore year, and that was the year I
played baseball because I was rehabbing the other three years.
So I went out and I was my sophomore year
in school, but I was a freshman in baseball, so
(05:35):
they looked at me as a relief pitcher, so I
get out there. When I went home my fresh after
my freshmanyear, I played little summer baseball just to keep
throwing the ball. So I went in there and on
the side, I was getting my arm in shape and
they were letting me play a little first base. Little
DH played a couple that was back there at JV team,
so I played two to three games on the JV team.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Then they moved me up to the varsity.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
And you know, I was hitting the ball pretty well,
but once my arm got into shape, I was in
the pen.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
No more hitting.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
I was a fungo hitter, you know, hitting the outfielders,
which was fine. So we were loaded. I mean, we
won the World Series. We you know, we went to
Omahan and just swept everything. The entire team got drafted,
and I'm thinking there was two of us, two freshmen
on the pitching staff. Man, I'm gonna get a lot
of time next year. Then I get hurt again. But
so stats, you know, it was the only year I played,
so I had one win. We're in Texas during Easter.
(06:23):
Starting pitcher takes the line driving the arm, so I
warm up, I pitch, I get the win. So I
was want to know in college, uh, And I didn't
know my stats either. I know that that was the
first time that I threw a fastball and it hit
the parking lot over the fence faster and it got
Oh my goodness, I guess I'm in the big times.
But I think I threw like eleven or twelve innings
(06:44):
and had like thirteen strikeouts. But the thing is, you know,
I was undefeated, so I was wanting to know. But
and like I said, the team was loaded. I still
have contact with a lot of those teammates. I mean
there was number one picks for the Giants. There was
you know, you Chill the outfielders for the Astros, and
all star catcher for the Twins, and you know, so
there was a lot of great guys. In fact, our
stud pitcher was a left hander. He played two years
(07:07):
at SC than he was number one pick for the
Giants twenty six and two at SC's two years.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Oh now, you're so close to it.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Tell me the biggest difference from like, because I know
we all have our own little things that we'd like.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
To do before the games. We talked to John Superstitions.
The Superstittion got you between baseball and football. I know
baseball has.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
More, right Yeah, oh yeah, that's tell me the.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Biggest difference in the locker rooms going from football to
baseball locker rooms because it's got to be night day.
Speaker 5 (07:37):
Well, first of all, baseball locker room is so much
more about stats. I mean, the guys are like fixated
about stats. They're all about stats. You know, and it's
I mean, I enjoyed that. I still have some great friends,
but football, to me is more. I think it's you
get more of a true brotherhood. I mean I got
(07:58):
some great friends from baseball, don't get me wrong, and
our locker room was great.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Maybe it's because the physical aspect of the game and
the camps we go through. Uh, you know baseball, I
mean you get a good workout and it's a few
sprints after you throw a few you know. It's just yeah,
maybe that's the difference because it is such a physical
sport and you go through so much more in camp
than you do in baseball. But I noticed that guys
are constantly looking okay, it's my batt and ever maybe
(08:23):
that's I don't know, maybe that's the dB wide receiver thing.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
If we don't do that, I say that's probably the
biggest difference I noticed. Do you think baseball helped you
with football?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Definitely? I think all three sports.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I played football, basketball, and baseball in high school and
as a big kid. Think about it, I was a
third basement at two hundred and seventy five pounds. Now
I had I had to hit a ball twice as
far as my teammates to get around the bases. I
mean not until my senior year freshman did my speech start.
But you could not bun on me at two seventy five.
I could move forward later that you couldn't get the
(09:02):
line on me. I was blessed with being able to
sit down, yeah, and move. Think about that, sitting down
and moving at two seventy I was garden guys that
are one to seventy in basketball. If I had to
move my feet right football, what do you do as
an old lineman?
Speaker 3 (09:15):
You sit down and you gotta move.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
You gotta move, you gotta have you out in space
left tackle you got so Yeah. I think baseball really
helped me out, And I think that's why I'm such
a big and I know it's tough for now. I'm
so big on multiple sports guys, because you're working different muscles.
You know my age. I can still sit down in
that stin. I can't get up right away, but I
can still sit down like I needed to playing third, Yeah,
(09:38):
and sit down like what I needed to when I
was pass blocking.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Why did you wear number seventy eight? You were number
seventy seven in college? Why did you wear number seventy eight?
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, I got to Cincinnati.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
I didn't have enough money to buy seventy seven from
the veteran offensive lineman reason. You know, you hear about that.
Guys get to another team and say I'll offer you
this much for that number. So seventy eight was available,
which is pretty cool because seventy eight. There's so much
significance in that number in that year. And you know,
I look back to college. I was a sophomore, you know,
in nineteen seventy eight, sophomore, you know, and then going
(10:11):
into my junior year.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, that was a year.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
We got married in nineteen seventy eight, so we've been
married seventy year. Eight is a year, h I started
my spiritual journey, you know, That's when I trusted Jesus.
And it's been forty seven years, so that and you know,
so it was a lot of significance. And I'm thinking, Okay,
that's pretty cool number seventy eight. And of course I
was the one healthy year I played and I got
(10:35):
to throw this south there. I'm a big sec guy.
But on you you mentioned best road trip, and I
thought we would talk about I don't know if you
just meant overall or football. And I have to share
this with it was my junior year nineteen seventy eight,
week two best road trip we had. We ran student
body right, student body left all day long, twenty four
(10:56):
and we beat Alabama in Alabama.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I'm sorry the role with it that changed, that changed.
That was a big thing for us.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Oh man, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
You guys were loaded in and then got loaded reloaded
again for many years.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
But well, how fun was it?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I mean because Alabama was not used to having teams
on the West coast come into briand.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
It was huge because they came to Since or to
La my sophomore year, you know, so that started. So
twenty one to twenty we go make it and we
go for two. Of course, you know, we want to win.
So we didn't make it so because there was no overtime,
no overtime, so we lose twenty one twenty. Then we
go to Alabama and that was my sophomore year. I
tell people had a terrible year or nine to three.
We didn't go to Rose Bowl. So now we go
(11:39):
into you know Alabama.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
My junior year, who was the head coach State in.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
John Robinson, John Robinson, Okay, and then we go in
I mean, you.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Know, Dwight Stevenson and Marty Lyons, Barry Krause, I mean Tony,
I mean loaded, We had Marcus at fullback, Charles White,
we had Ronnie, Dennis Smith, Joey Brown.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
So both teams were just like yeah, And so we go.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Down there and I'll never forget it, and I was
a week side tackle, so on student body, right, you.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Know, we flip flopped out me and the back.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
Guard pulled and we pulled and it was the first
time I'd ever been exposed to humidity.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
I like that.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
But we ran that all day long and so that
was that was really pretty cool. I mean Bear Bryant
was still there, and I mean that was huge to
go into Alabama. So we split one on one and
uh but yeah, earlier I mentioned the SEC we went
to L s U.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
That that uh that next year we went to L.
S U.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Baton Rouge, and I mean what an atmosphere there. So yeah,
I mean I had I had a blast, even though
I spent a lot of time rehabbiting college. I mean
some of the guys I played with are amazing. I
see four of them here in the Pro Football Hall
of Fame from my senior year team.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
That's wild. Ain't anything wild?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah? We had Ronnie A.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
Lott, we had Marcus, Bruce Matthews and myself and off
that last team we had I think fifteen first round
picks and I mean we were It's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
There's a lot of fun. Think about it.
Speaker 5 (13:03):
Marcus Allen, our full back at about two hundred and
ten pounds maybe dripping wet.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I want to know, like, is it is it because
you think recruiting has changed so much because you had
a son and go through the Cole college experience, he
was highly recruited. You have grandkids now that are about
to get going through this stuff, right, I'm sure, And
so I know, like for you to have four Hall
of Famers on one team and any college now would
be in my mind, like I just don't see it,
(13:31):
Like talent is so much more spread out and so
back then, like was it just sc like that's you know.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
While you had, oh, you had Ohio State, Notre Dame,
you had a handful. I think the difference now is
I look at my sophomore year when we didn't go.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
To the Roseball.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
We went to the Blue Bonnet Bone and played A
and M. Charles White was our starting tail back. He
had about one hundred and eighty yards that game. But
we had two backup running backs. One was probably the
fastest guy on the team, but he was hurt. One
of the guys had one hundred and fifty yards who
had been hurt but fast. See what happens now, if
you don't start, you're not there.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You leave lead.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
We were three four deep when I was at SC.
That was back in the day. One hundred and thirty guys.
You know, because you didn't start your freshman year, you
didn't transfer right, you were there because you knew you
were going to compete and you win games. You know
you're going to go to roase. Well, I think that's
the difference. And of course I think.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
That's killing the game. I was a college football. Do
you think that's hurt in college?
Speaker 3 (14:24):
I don't know if it's hurting it, but it's it's strange.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
I mean because now when kids are getting in the pros,
like right now, let's use an example.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I go back to La my wife and I there's five.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
Couples that we get together with we'll go to dinner
on anniversaries or birthdays or just go to dinner. All
five guys we were offensive linemen as freshman at USC.
Four of us were married in college. One shortly after college. Now,
I mean, you introduced a guy in an NFL game,
he started this college, he went to that college.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Where do you hang your hat?
Speaker 5 (14:58):
I mean, what guys do you hang with forty five
years later?
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
You know so?
Speaker 5 (15:03):
I think that's I mean, to me, that is so
special to be able to hang with guys that you
entered college with at seventeen, eighteen years old, that know you,
and that you might not see them every month of
the year, but you see them two three times a
year and you don't lose a beat.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
I don't think they care about that though, at this
pointent in time, right now, I think it's a very
interesting perspective of how you put that. I just don't
think the young, the young fellows are really looking at that.
They're more about I mean, I get you, you're trying
to make money for a family.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Right exactly, and the better yourself.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I just don't think for the most part, they're worrying
about Oh yeah, at eighteen, I want to be able
to go to dinner with you when I'm sixty two
or no.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
We have lived life, so we appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yes, and it is a unique experience where you have
these bonds you know where man, we got drafted or
you know one of my teammates want a super Bowl
and it's like special and so and it is like
when you get back with these people. I also think
it's something to be said about having a home to
go back to.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
You said, it's like, man, you're a se trojan. Yeah,
and so you rolle with him. You wrote, you know
what I mean, I'm Alabama.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I rolled right, so like you know when that's Ohio
State got wants to say something to me yesterday on
the golf course, like hold on, dog, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
So I'm gonna just throw this story out. I'm a
thirty second story where we go golf in here, so
we should have went golfing with you all. Rome Is
Roman is teeing up his tea. He's getting ready and
he's got his Alabama bag, you know, his golf bag.
And this guy says something like, uh, you know they
got they have more bags. I got some Ohio State bags.
And if you know Rome, he's a happy lucky goo.
(16:37):
Just he laughs. He cries when he laughs. He crying
all the time. He's got a tears RT right now
because he's laughing, like the one of the happiest guys
I know. And he just kind of looks at him
and this mean serious face, was like, you ain't in
a competition, like but he said it so rude, and
I'm looking at him like, bro, what did you do?
And he was just like, man, you can't come with
me like that first thing in the morning talk about
(16:58):
my school.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Like I just filling that.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Bro, I ain't feeling that.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
You can't just writen me like that first thing in
the morning.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Man.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
I was like, all right, man, I was like, he
gets testy when you talk about Alabama.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
He gets But this is amazing. I love that story
because so I know so many of us. It's the
band for about colleges.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, I mean, it's anything you want about a protein.
I don't bother me.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
It's like, you know, I get it.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
Of course, being in Big ten country, it's like, don't
you wish you a Gundo house state? And now there's
my comeback, I said, you know, what by of Gundo
house state, I would have been oh for USC, I
would instead of being ten and oh against the Big ten.
As if we were at USC, I would, I wouldn't
beat the Pac twelve. And they're like, okay, I guess
you're happy at us.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
So I get it.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
You know, you do it kind of in a joking way,
but it's like, hey, don't don't get that joking.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
When I said he it was too early, it was like,
this was like third in the morning. Then yes, that's how.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
We need so here.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
So we're watching the National Championship game between the SEC
and the Big ten because our house and with it,
Ted Gen Junior runs an opening kickoff back but touch
that and they're like okay because my son, okay, see.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Where's all the steed?
Speaker 5 (18:09):
After that, they didn't say a word the whole game
because I think they just smacked down.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
It was like crazy, Yeah, it was funny. But the
big tim one the last last two, so that's true.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
I give them the props.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Now we're going to take a short break and we'll
be right back. So we alluded to some of this
a little bit earlier. NFL Top one hundred player you know,
the NFL has been around since nineteen twenty and I
believe nineteen or I'm sorry, twenty twenties when they came
out with that team. And there's been thousands of players,
(18:42):
not just offensive lineman, there's been thousands of players that
have come through this league. And you were a top
one hundred player out of all the people that have
been in this league. What does that feel like like
when you got that? And I mean it's one thing
to get the gold jacket. Yeah, you got the maroon
like that, that that wine, Jackie.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
What did that feel like?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I mean, it was amazing.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
You know, we're down Miami for the Super Bowl and
they put us all in the same hotel.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
I'm just walking around, but you're right.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
I mean, we have three hundred and eighty two guys
in the Hall of Fame and there's just one hundred
guys in the all time hundred team. And you know,
the selectors were pretty impressive, I mean knowledgeable. So it's like, man,
so it was a compliment. I mean to be around
those guys, and you know, again, to me, I have
to look at the journey because I think about you know,
(19:32):
you have to do a look at my knees, and
you know the three knee operators in college. Playing one
game my senior year, got hurt, the first game surgery rehabit,
and I played in the Rose Bowl. That was the
only game I played. And everybody's saying, that's a great
way to end their career. Go on, find something else
to do. You know, you played in the Rose Bowl.
That's what you wanted to do with your guys. And
I said, well, I'm just going to keep busting it,
(19:53):
hopefully even as a free agent, because before my senior
year projected top ten.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
After that third d.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Operation, free agent, maybe not even the chance. So I
just want a chance to get in an NFL camp.
I wanted to compete. I just want to see if
I could compete. And so thinking about Hall of Fame
top one hundred, I just think about that support group
earlier you mentioned, and I kind of took it as
self made. You know, people taught, and I laugh when
they say this self made guy, self made late and
(20:21):
then all of a sudden they get an accolade. They're
going to give a speech and they have like five
pages of people they're thinking, and I'm thinking, if you're
self made, don't you get up to the podium and
say I want to thank myself.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
I want to thank myself.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
I did a great job. But now they're thinking high
school teachers, aunts and uncles, and that's the same way.
I mean, I'm thankful for the medical staff, the training staff,
my college teammates that encouraged me. Of course, my wife
that was with me every step of the way, and
family and just all the encouragement I had, even trying
to stay away from reading he's not going to play
in the NFL. And then for the Bengals to pick me,
(20:55):
not only draft me, but it's the third pick in
the draft and give me a chance to go to
an NFL camp, it makes that you know, Hall of
fame and then just even more like wow, humble because
here I was, I wasn't even to get a chance,
but half more than half the teams failed me in
the physical and the Bengals said, hey, we watched that
Rose Bowl. We're going to take you, and you know,
(21:16):
to be able to play for them, and to be
able to play for a few more games than I
did at USC it just but it's really humbling to
sit around with all these guys and guys that played
way before I played, a little before guys I played with,
and guys that played after I played, and to just
think about man, and you're right. You think about the
number of individuals that have played this game and that
(21:38):
they've taken one hundred all time, and they're going to say, Okay,
you're the one hundred top. It's just to be mentioned
with the other linement, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
We've all been humbled in this league at some point
or another. And I remember my you know, my rookie year,
my first training camp, I was humbled fairly quickly about
Olin Cruiz. You you have a welcome to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Moment, Yeah, I do. So.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
My first head coach Forrest Greg Hall of Fame tackle
Green Bay Packers. So we go up to Green Bay
to play where he played, and I'll never forget as
a rookie, I've been called out in front of my
teammates one time, and that was by my Hall of
Fame tackle head coach because their defensive end had a
really good game. And not only do they have a
(22:25):
good game against me, they pulled them out in the
last few minutes. And he's sitting on the bench real
close to the side and a fan handed him a
hot dog and he's eating a hot dog before the
game was over. So at our meeting Monday morning, man,
he got up and he's talking. He goes and you
our number one. Bit he goes touch and just had
his game and then he's in and he goes and
I'm like.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
That will be the last time that that's going to happen.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
So that was as a coach, and then I had
another one early in my career. We're playing the New
England Patriots and early on I showed that I could
pull so for a tackle.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
The pool is rare, but we had to play.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
And I still remember to play onto I release left tackle,
I would pull all the way around strong guard and
the on side backer. They have a backer that's about
six five two fifty Steve Nelson. Our sidelines here, and
my whole thing was when I pulled, get the shoulders,
turned up back and boom, then go up. I did
not get my shoulders. I come here, Steve Nelson, and
(23:21):
just as I started to turn, boom, he hit me in.
All my teammates on the side and go cause he unloaded. Man,
And I was like, and I tell people, you get
knocked out I don't care who you are as a
football player, Hall of Him. We all get knocked down. Yeah,
we get knocked down in life. How are you going
to get back up and believe me? I got up
in a hurry.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yeah, I got up in a hurry.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
I got back in the huddle and said, Okay, that's
not going to happen again.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
So after after all that happened, right, so my I
think my rookie year, I knew I was pretty good
after I made I made a play against Randy moss right,
I Randy Mosses in his prime.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
I go up, I get into.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
A reception and I'm telling myself like, damn, okay, I'm
from the small school, but I think I can. I
think I can plain in this league with these cass
I just did this ragne them most like it helped
my confidence. Was there a play that made you think
to yourself, oh, man, I could dominate this league? When
did you know you could be a dominant player.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
When I got to camp and I earned the starting
job three days in the camp because of what I
was doing, it was like, you know, I was going
against guys that have played at Notre Dame and they're
in the league for a while, and I was able
to pass block and run block, and I said, man,
I said, I'm thankful they drafted me. And the first
thing that came to my mind is that, Remember I
said I wanted a chance to go to camp to
(24:37):
see if.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
I could compete.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
I told myself, I can compete in this league. And
all of a sudden, I started saying, goes, I don't
only want to compete, I want to be the best.
I want to be a pro bowler every year. But
first three days in camp and then that first preseason game,
I said, okay, there you go. You got lee Roy
Salmon right across from Tampa Bay. And then three weeks
later I opened up with Tampa and I got le
Roy Salmon again, you know. And so it was early
(25:01):
on when I said I believe I can compete in
this league.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
So you're not the only tackle that has mentioned Lee
Roy Selvin. I want to get to that in a second,
but I want to kind of go back a little bit.
You know, you mentioned your college. You haven't hurt, you
were you had three knee surgeries. You're only healthy your
sophomore year. Your senior year, you played two games, and
so you only played sixteen games total in college?
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Was a few more so nine my freshman year twelve
twenty one, and then seven, so about twenty six games.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
Okay, about twenty six games total in.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
College out of about forty four to fifteen.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Okay, all that being said, you only missed ten when
you got to the NFL throughout your thirteen year career.
How much pride do you take in that, because, like
you said, it was all the doubt leading up to it,
and you said, you know, I put all that down
and then you.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Were able to stay healthy for your whole career.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
But jority of you, well, I think the key for
me was my workouts for alignment.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
I lifted, of course, lifted like crazy, but running was
a big part of my work and I ran.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
I ran a lot of distance. Like let's take my
rookie year.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
I took a day off after that last game and
I started running distance for about two months.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
I was like four to six mile a day guy.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
So I felt the better shape I was in and
the stronger I was, I was going to cut down
the risk of injury. So being physically as strong and
as you know, when I got to camp, I didn't
worry about my cardio. I could get through practice and
we'd do our gassers and I would just I would
breeze through them. And so when I got drafted, you know,
you have your team goals, Playoff, super Bowl, but a
(26:34):
lot of my personal goals were every time I put
the Bengal uniform on, I want to be there for
my teammates. I want to be there every Sunday for
my teammates, and I'm going to do whatever I can. Yeah,
you know, there's a lot of things out of your control,
getting hurt, stuff, But I want to be in the
best shape so when I'm going full speed, I can
bounce right back up. And you know, I had things
here and there. But you know, I'm very grateful that
(26:55):
I was able to play that many games. I missed
my first game year eleven, I had a dislocated you know,
linebacker hit me from behind after the play was whistled dead.
So I had dislocated elbosh. I missed the last two
games and that was my you know, fourteenth week fourteen,
my eleventh year, and so that was you know, to me,
not only was it my job, and I said, you.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Know, it's my job.
Speaker 5 (27:18):
So I'm gonna be ready and I'm gonna be out there.
I want my teammates to trust and believe that I'm
going to be ready every Sunday to go out there
with them, And that was my whole goal.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, you know, to say you were ready is probably
the understatement of the of the day.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
But I appreciate you being this humble shoar entity.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
You were either you were selected either first team or
second team All Pro every single season. I'm sure you
know this, but I want to make sure you were
two years except for two years out of your whole career,
which is your rookie year and your last year.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Like when you're saying.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
These stats, like I know you've heard them, but like,
how do you even kind of quantify the level of
success that you were able to have? Or like when
people tell you these things, you know you can't just
brush it off anymore. Explain this to me like a
normal person when we bring up stats like this that
nobody else has.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
What So I go right back to preparation.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
I think if you're a businessman and you're in the
top of your field, it's because if you're staying on
top of your craft, you're learning everything you need to
learn about your business. And that was what the approach
I took my off season was just not running and lifting.
It was lifting, running and then take some time to
do my technique. I wanted to go into camp work.
I did apply a metric. So when I got into
(28:30):
camp and my first one on one pass pro, I
didn't feel like I had two left feet. I felt
like I'd been passed proing all off season because of
the plios I did. So it was about and then
studying film insteading, Okay, you got to do this better,
you get so I really believe that was the key.
And every year I said, okay, you're five, it's four
Pro Bowls in a row. I got to turn up
(28:51):
preparation in the off season. I got to do even
more and focus more on the technique, get even stronger,
try to get stronger, stay on top of that and
my conditioning.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Run.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
I mean the test. We did an example my last year.
I'm thirty four years old and we have to do
a mile. So there's Tim Krumrai crazy the tackle who
did mini triathlons, and myself, so we had eight and
a half minutes to run a mile.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
O line d line together. Do we line up?
Speaker 5 (29:17):
And I looked at Tim, he looks at me, and
we win and we say do we take off? And
we do it like in six forty six point fifty,
and all the young linemen are complaining, say, hey, I'm
an older guy and I gotta I gotta show this
team that I can still. So that was the key
I prepared for that. And all the other position guys
were like, what are you guys doing. We have this
much time, We're not gonna I say, guys, we're getting
(29:38):
ready for a season. Man, if you want to win,
you go out and prepare to be the best. So
that was to me to stay on top of my craft.
I did everything from January to July that I possibly
could do, so when I went to camp, all I
had to worry about was my blocking combinations and just
you know with my linemen, my you know, the football part.
But I don't have to worry about my conditioning. I
(29:58):
didn't have, So I believe that's what allowed me to
go in year one, year ten, and even year thirteen,
even though I got I was on IR a couple
of times. I could probably run a lot more Year
thirteen than I could Year nine.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
You just kept turning it up.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, you just keep turning the vall. I just keep turning.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
One of the things my daughter, you know last weekcause
she was we call her the best athlete. You know.
You talk about our grandkids, but our daughter. She was
a two time Miss Basketball, two times D one player
that year. And know how I went to Tennessee and
of course I played cup, but I never gave her
any basketball. The only thing I would do during the
game is if I know something she would look, I
would go turn it up. I'd go turn it up.
(30:37):
And she jokes about that. Now she goes, that's all
that to her boys. Her boys fourteen and fifteen tore
like six eight. Now I'm looking up and that's all
she talks about is turning up the volume, the intensity.
And to me, that's what it was all about. Attitude.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
I love that for you. Just keep being a sports brand,
a sports parent.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Oh it's cool. I love it.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
So what do I want to I want to talk
about a Super Bowl real quick, super Bowl twenty three.
Where were you thinking when you were on the sideline
and you see Joe Montana come in with three minutes
left in the fourth quarter and they take the lead
sixteen to thirteen.
Speaker 5 (31:10):
So when he first came in, you know, a deep
eight yard line. Then they start down. I'm thinking, if
I only had Bruce Smith pass rushing ability to go
ahead and help my defense and get some pass rush
on him. You know, it's crazy because Jerry Rice had
I think over two hundred yards felt helpless there.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Just watch it.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
I know that feeling, unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
So I want to talk about, you know, another record
that you have and is that you were tied for
all time with four touchdowns for offensive linment. But I
want to talk about specifically your favorite, at least that's
what you've told people before, your first one.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
That's easy. Cleveland were part right down the street.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
Talk about it, tell me about it, call me all right,
Sam Weiss, rookie head coach Kenny Anderson started quarterback hurt
or back up the Boomerasias and rookie. He's left hander,
he's in. I mean, it's muddy, it's terrible. And so
we're up in Cleveland, and so we're down seventeen to ten,
forty some seconds left.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
They're punting.
Speaker 5 (32:12):
All they gotta do is punt it away. We have
no timeouts. They pinised deep. There's no way Rodney Holman
goes through tight end blocks the punt. Now we got
the ball, we had a little life, so we're going down.
Pass interference on the one, so we get at the
one yard line. And that was the first week, first
week that Sam put in. We called it our we
be goal line because when we've get in that formation,
(32:33):
we be scoring. So he put in two more linemen.
Then he put that was the first time he put
me at H back. It was always tight end h back.
But that was the first week that he had a
play designed twenty eight Anthony bounce touch down, and it
was on the play sheet. I said, there's no way
they'll ever call it. So, you know, Sam and the
(32:54):
quarterbacks always signal in plays, you know, they tell him,
tell them.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
How important, tell the people how important it is to
make sure you catch the ball when you actually call
this play.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Press Okay.
Speaker 5 (33:03):
So the importance being in Cleveland is that I either
fly home with the team or I walk home.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Okay, Yeah, that's how important. I mean, come on, that's
but no interstate rivalry.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
The Cleveland Browns, I mean, Paul Brown was what the
Cleveland brown started.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
The Bengals.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
The owner Borist Greig my coach, although this was afterwards
he was fired from Cleveland. But now this is Sam
Weish's first year, so it's very important. Yes, So I'm
saying the first time a practice for working.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
You know.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
I feel good about catching the Boomer a couple of time.
Boomer can throw the ball, you know, but Kenny kind
of real nice. And so we get in there and
we block it first and goal seven. Well, I didn't
know the signals for all the other plays, but I
knew the signal from Sam to Boomer.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
For this play.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
And I said, so we're in the huddle first and
goal no time not to the time. I look over
and Sam is signaling this play. Well, I'm the primary
receiver offensive tackle at h back, and I'm thinking, holy smokes,
I said, this guy does not want to be a
head coach in the NFL. Long say, okay, time to
catch it. So we line up. If I'm on the
right h back, I hit, Well, it's ankle deep MUDs
(34:06):
his bat. We go to the ground and Boomer takes it.
He's rolling because he's faking, and he's rolling the right
as a lefty. Well, I fall and he's going that way.
I go nope, I'm staying right here because boom So.
The defense gets up. They start chasing, and I just
settled right here. Boomer stops. Boom, I catch it, touchdown,
(34:27):
We kick the extra point. Now we're going overtime. That
takes as an overtime Jim Breach all time leading scorer
for the Bengals nine for nine and ot kicks x
field goal. We beat him twenty seventeen in overtime. But
it was funny, so I gotta share a fast forward now.
So I grabbed the touchdown the first one, and my lineman, man,
they're grabbing me, and I was gonna spike it. I
(34:47):
thought they're gonna rip my shoulder out, so I waited
for them to leave and then I went boom the
ball boom So. A couple of years ago, on that date,
they usually play that video and this young man and
I rarely answer social media, and I was on Twitter
and some guy rights, he goes, wow, look at Munyos.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
He grunked at the spike and I looked back.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
I said, excuse me, I said, Gronk Munyas is his
spikes and the guy goes, oh, I'm so sorry, right right,
but yeah, that was the first one. And uh, I
mean it was as an old line. We just were
and and I give a lot of credits. So Monday,
you go in, you lift, we had everybody would leave
the facility and we would have our fat man football game.
(35:32):
We would have between the numbers tag football and it
would be the older guys. Again. In fifth year, I
was an older guy, so we play the younger guys
in a touch football game. Well, Max Montoya, the starting
right guard, was a quarterback and I was a receiver,
and you know, we'd get a young guy, say I
got Muniyas, I got Munyas. I look at Max and
we you know, we torched him and stuff. And so
(35:53):
Sam's office was right on the corner there, and I
think he would watch us, and maybe that's kind of
what led to you know, throw it to me. But
uh yeah, so that was and you'll appreciate. I gotta
share this story too. So we're playing at home against
Seattle and now I'm on the left tight end seven
D eight eligible. You know, Refree announces it, so I'm
supposed to hit the guy and I go to pieline boom. Well,
(36:15):
Boomer gets flushed even in goal line. So I kind
of cut across and the in line's right here and
the linebacker's right here, and I see Boomer, so I'm thinking, disreact.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
I stopped. Boomer throws it in the door. I go up.
There's no I but this guy goes over my back. Yeah,
past interference. We get another play.
Speaker 5 (36:36):
So I just it was just like I said, Now,
I've watched my gu I just watched my guy.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
You know, I just watch my guys. What they do.
Speaker 5 (36:42):
You know, you just stop and let them go over
your back because there's no more room to get running.
And then one other one weren't Houston, and I'm the
right this time. I'm the right tight end. Bruce Coslet's
up in the box and we call, you know, hit
and go to the pieline well and whistle goes dead.
So what I do is I hooked locked that defensive end,
drive them inside. I said, was not good. Next play,
(37:05):
get in the huddle. He calls the same play. I
hit the guy, go touchdown by getting the planet.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Said Bruce.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
He says, I saw you hooked the guy. You ran,
you know you ran blocked him. I said, yeah, because
I saw that you didn't give it away. So yeah,
sot a couple against Houston, one against Seattle, and then
of course the big Clayland I.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
Was it was all four were boomer, All four were boomer.
Speaker 4 (37:29):
In the sync. I like that. I did look man
first of all, I love big man football. It was
that was a.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Most like when DB's excuse me, It's like when d
Lineman get interceptions.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
Were so happy.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Everybody's happy, and everyone's trying to get them in the
end zone. Everybody's everyone's trying to get them an in zone.
Come on, let's go, keep it.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Going, keep going.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
Everybody loves big Man with ball. It's hilarious. This is great, Okay.
I love the stories.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
We will be right back.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Two thousand and thirteen, in New York, I won the
one Walter Payton Man of the Year, very precedious award
that the NFL has nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
You won the award.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
What does that mean to you?
Speaker 5 (38:11):
So that to me is right up there with the
Hall of Fame. And I got the Athletes and Action
Bart Star Award, which is similar to Walter Payton, because
that's not all football. It's who you are as an
individual with your family in the community. And to me,
that has so much more impact than the thirteen years
I played in And I'm talking lifetime impact with people
(38:33):
that you're working with, and so you know that Walter
Payton NFL Man of the.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Year is very very special.
Speaker 5 (38:40):
In fact, I got the I got the jersey frame
in my man cave with the you know the.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Little old patch. Yeah, the patch on it, and oh
you gott I ain't got the patch.
Speaker 4 (38:50):
I gotta get you got so you got to get
the patch. I ain't got the I got to talk
to somebody. I gotta get the patch.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Talk to I think Tracy, Tracy, Tracy, I need my patch.
Speaker 5 (38:59):
Anthony mentioned jersey with the Men of the Year patch.
They went back and got you what to what happened?
So in Minnesota Super Bowl the Eagles were they Yeah,
So Chris Carter noticed that the players on the field
had the He goes, hey, all those former winners man. Yeah, yeah,
and you didn't get the jersey. I thought they put
a jersey in all her rooms.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
So I have a jersey when we do appearances and
things like that. But I don't have like my own
personal like I need.
Speaker 5 (39:26):
I got to get the patch like your game jersey
with the but they have it sold on so I
gotta get that. Yeah, but yeah, that that award I mean,
and had a chance, of course to be around Walter.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
I mean, what a guy.
Speaker 5 (39:39):
I mean, we're in a round table in DC one year.
My daughter's six years old. And what I'd do when
they were young, I'd take them to an event, just myself,
my son, myself, my daughter, and we'd go. And I
took her to DC and we're doing these round tables
and one of them, Walter and I sat out. So
we were in the out there sitting down and Michelle
was sitting between Walter and I. We left, and she
felt like a princess after spending time with Walter Man.
(40:01):
She would ask how's Walter Payton doing when.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
She was a little girl?
Speaker 5 (40:05):
But you know, to carry his name and to be
so that is a very right up there at the
top with anything I've been awarded with.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
All right, do you tell us more about your anthey
Munhos Foundation. You have been able to affect more than
fifty seven thousand youth throughout the Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (40:22):
And Ohio area.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
You've given over two million dollars away in scholarship funds.
Speaker 3 (40:27):
We started in two thousand and two.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
Of course, I retired, you know, ten years prior to that,
and I understand, when you're playing, you have leverage, you
have relevance to start, and a lot of young guys
start foundations. Husband bother and an NFL football player, I
didn't have time to be involved in a foundation, I mean,
so I helped a lot of other groups what they
were doing. Because when I do something, I want to
be totally engaged. I want to be hands on impact.
(40:51):
So in two thousand and two, after putting a game
plan together and you know, talking to corporate people, our
kids were like sophomores in college, I said, now's the
time to start it. So I started the Anti Munius
Foundation to engage the Tristate area to impact youth mentally, physically,
and spiritually. So we have eight programs, the scholarship being
one of the programs we have. We work with young
(41:11):
people from kindergarten through seniors in high school, everything from
mentoring program from k through five and then we don't
want to lose them after fifth grade, so we have
another mentoring program for middle school and then.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
So that's two of the programs.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
We have overnight character camps we take away in the spring,
pretty multicultural We take them about one hundred and fifty
young men to three three nights to a camp and
they just show up.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
We have we teach them a little football, man.
Speaker 5 (41:35):
We can't take them to camp, but a lot of
it is character team building. And then we have a
chapel in the character of talk every day and we
have a coaching staff that leads them through discussion. So
that's we do that one in the spring, and then
the fall we do one that's one hundred percent of
Hispanic kids. Take them away for three days and to
feed them, give them swag. I mean, like I said
(41:55):
that all they do is bring their change of clothes
and whatever they need to bring.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
So that's two more.
Speaker 5 (42:00):
Then in June, I have a dinner in golf and
then two days right about that time, we have it's
the same template as the overnight camps, but it's a
day camp at the Bengals Stadium. We have about four
hundred young people. Twenty percent of those four hundred young ladies,
same thing. We teach them a little football, but it's
character team building. And I have a coach that coached
high school football forever, was an educator and he could
(42:23):
probably write a book on and you could use it
for young people corporations on team building activities, and we
do that. We utilize that. So we do those three camps.
In October, we have what we call our Youth Leadership Seminar.
We bring in anywhere from eighty five to one hundred
high schools full day. We have motivational leadership speakers, we
have breakout sessions. We have key stakeholders in the community
(42:45):
that lead these young this high school through conversation of
things they might not want to discuss, you know, other
and we have we've been you know, we'll do entrepreneurs young,
we do mental health, which has been a big hit
for these young people. So we bring in speakers and
at the end of the day, after this full day event,
we do a community service challenge and these young people
will initiate and put them together. And we've had some
(43:06):
great community service projects. They put together projects and then
we kind of track them and I give money to
the top two. You know, maybe like redoing a school,
you know, a playground, or doing this that we had
an inner city school, very little resources. They initiated and
it's still going. Not only came up with an ideal,
but built brick and Mortar a school in Sierra Leone,
(43:28):
really and then the next year this was an inner
city school. They did a fundraiser with the suburban school.
So you're talking ninety nine percent black, ninety nine percent white.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
They had a walk.
Speaker 5 (43:38):
They raised about thirty thousand dollars. It costs a dollar
a year to put a kid through school, so they
sent us pictures of these kids that had ach in
high school, these little kids in Sierra Leone because that
was the school. But we have things like that, So
that's our leadership seminar. We have two types of scholarships.
Ones in the spring, we do nine male nine female finalists.
It's called our straight A Academics, Athletics, Attitude Achievement, but
(44:03):
a big criteria is overcoming adversity and that's a one
time two to five thousand dollars scholarship. We have an
amazing steakhouse in Cincinnati. The guy donates it, They bring
their most influential teacher and then so we award that
the mail winner gets a custom made ring foundation ring
mcgal gets a nice pendant and then so they get
to come up to the podium with their teacher.
Speaker 3 (44:25):
We take pictures.
Speaker 5 (44:26):
That's our straight a and then in the summer when
we do our event, we have our scholarship fund, so
we award twenty thousand dollars scholarships to individuals. We just
gave out five last month in June, and two days
after that, one of my board members, who two board
members and myself, we interview these young people that we
do interview and we had fifteen finalists and we had
(44:47):
fun for five but after each interview, my buddy said, man,
I wish we had fifteen scholarships because everyone of them
was deserving. So two days afterwards, this board member calls
and says that, you know, I'm so thankful to be
on this committe. We interview these young people and you
know how passionate I am about we have a chance
to change LiveShare. When we're talking first generation kids, they graduate,
(45:07):
they come back and help. He says, you know, they
run him and his wife and the family foundation. He says,
we just had a meeting board meeting, and we're gonna grant.
We're gonna write your foundation of grant list plan. We
have ten scholarships for next year already stroke to check
for two hundred grand.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
But right now a year in advance. We already have
ten scholarships that we're gonna give next year. So that's
the foundation.
Speaker 5 (45:30):
Like you said, we deal with about twenty five to
three hundred young people. And I love it because I'm
there at the camps and.
Speaker 4 (45:37):
We can tell your fault, the way you're able to.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
Provide so much information, the passion in which you speak about, like,
we can tell you care. And so this goes a
lot back to what you're saying when you're coaching your
old son. When you're coaching and you're doing all these things,
I appreciate you for being who you are. I can
tell everything you do it matters.
Speaker 5 (45:54):
To you, but does And you know, it's funny. I went,
I was meeting with.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
My CEO tour.
Speaker 5 (46:01):
I go, and I'm the guy that I share my
passion and mission and hopefully they write checks. I write
with a ride with the guy for four hours in
a golf cart. Don't ask a penny, and he here,
you need some money. So I was talking to CEO
in Cincinnati in about twenty minutes and it he goes, man,
you know what's going on with your foun day? I said,
you know what I said, everything's public. You can check
our audits. The last six years, we've given ninety five
(46:23):
cents to a dollar on the kids. And he goes,
I'm on the board of this was a few years agause,
I'm on the board of one of the players. He goes,
they don't know what's going on with their names on
I said, well, I said, well, I that's why I
waited ten years after, because I wanted to be engaged.
I run our board meetings. You know, I don't know
everything about it, but I know our numbers. I know
where it's all going, you know. I make decisions on
(46:43):
staff payment. We have four staff. We're leaning staff for
what we do, but they get it done. And I
have seventeen unbelievable board members. I mean I could call
him right now for some advice and if they didn't
pick up the phone, they'd call right back. And then
we one thing we started which is pretty cool twenty
four years ago. We have an internship program with local
(47:04):
college students. We have four to eight a year that
come in and it's non paid. It's part of what
they do at school and they learn everything about the
non for profits. They're not just running off copies, man,
They're they're learning and working and so and then we
have a database of about one hundred and fifty volunteers.
So it's truly it has my name on it, but
it's a team effort. I mean, it's that's where it
(47:24):
ends with my name. But so yeah, we're we're rolling.
And of course at my age, you know you're thinking, Okay,
how much longer do you do this? And every year
my wife and I go, Man, it keeps energizing us,
and here you keep going.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
So you've given us some gyms. Well, just how humble
you are. And clearly you are not a self made person. No,
So if I gave you four people to put on
your amount rushmore of who made you the man you
are today, who would those four people be?
Speaker 5 (47:54):
Right in the middle would be Estra Munos, my mom,
who raised five by ourself, working two three jobs.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
I never knew my dad. He was in prison, and.
Speaker 5 (48:02):
She just he taught us work ethic, not by shitting
us down, but just by watching her walk over the
tracks to work at seven in the morning, coming home
at four, picking dinner, washing clothes and everything. She taught
us and then literally teaching us what responsibility is. Because
if I wanted to play baseball in the summer. We
had to do our chores. And it wasn't just dust.
We had to wash clothes, wash dishes, iron clothes, clean
(48:25):
the house. So she would be right there. I'd have
to put my wife right there, Dedi, like I said,
I got married when I was nineteen, so she's been
on the journey for a lot of years. And I
mean just a great supporter, you know, a woman of
great insight and great faith. And so I put Dedi there.
I'd have to put Jesus right there. You know, he'd
(48:48):
be right there. I think it'd be between my mom
and him, but I'd still put my mom.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
He'd be right next to her.
Speaker 4 (48:54):
You can put them all the time.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
He's got his own, Okay, that's so that's he's his own.
Speaker 4 (49:00):
He got his own.
Speaker 3 (49:02):
Yeah. The fourth would be a team of support.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
You're such a team player you can't even pick right.
Is hard, And I did that specifically. It's like, no,
I need you to pick four people.
Speaker 4 (49:13):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (49:14):
Yeah, but that just goes into character, like no, I've
a lot of people have poured into you.
Speaker 3 (49:21):
It's uh, it's been a great journey, just uh.
Speaker 5 (49:24):
I mean, you know when DDE and I pray in
the morning, we pray about for our family family, then
we pray about our college friends. We pray about our
friends in Cincinnati. And it's just like I mean, and
I sit there at times just overwhelmed by just you know,
because you know, men don't have you know, it's hard.
Ladies have close friends, but you talk to men, it's like,
(49:44):
give me your top three four best friends, and they're like,
I think most guys struggle with that.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
I can.
Speaker 5 (49:50):
I can give you like close to ten, like guys
that are just tight, you know, like minded. I can
call those four guys in California and at least four
minimums since that I have that.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
So I'm blessed man, I tell you what.
Speaker 5 (50:02):
That's why I can't come up with just you know,
because there's so many people in my life that have
been just impactful.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
Half of that, though, Anthony, is because you give that.
And so when you give that emotion, you give that
you're open. And when you're open like that, you're usually
able to receive more as well.
Speaker 4 (50:19):
And so when you.
Speaker 2 (50:20):
Put it out there and to the earth and to
the world and to the universe, that's when you get it.
Speaker 3 (50:24):
You know.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
We always talk about You know what, when you want something,
you need to start praying for others to get it
as well. Yeah, that's when you receive it, you know
what I mean. So you got to put it out
there to receive it all tomately. And we can tell
by your passion, your words how much of a team
guy you are and how I get it listening to
you and the way you describe things about who you
(50:45):
truly genuinely are, and I hope the rest of us
can pick they're gonna be able to pick up on
that as well.
Speaker 4 (50:50):
It's just interesting.
Speaker 2 (50:51):
Because you know, for a lot of years when Cincinnati
wasn't on top of everything, the one player that always
stood and they talked about was Anthony Munyo. And now
that I've got to sit down and meet you and
humbly and just spend some time with you, the last
person that Anthony Munyos talks about is Anthony Munyo.
Speaker 4 (51:10):
And so it's just really.
Speaker 2 (51:11):
Cool kind of putting all that together, being this young
man that watched they learned all these great things about you,
then getting to meet you and then it's like, you know,
actually he wants to talk about everybody.
Speaker 4 (51:20):
Else in his life. I like that. Yeah, I hate him.
Speaker 5 (51:23):
Well, I appreciate that. And my wife and I always talk
about us. You know what, we're both from Montaro, California,
and I mean, we don't forget where we came from.
We were doing an event the other last year and
it was there's a place where they take addicts and
bring them in and they house them and they feed
them and they train them, get them jobs. And the
(51:43):
guy that's directing, he's a recovered addict and his wife
is the same thing.
Speaker 3 (51:47):
And she's talked to my wife.
Speaker 5 (51:48):
She's, I know you guys are here to talk to us,
but I'm sure you guys don't understand what a lot
of us are going And I'm like, he's know, you know,
we both come from dysfunctional My brother oded in my
arms when he was a senior in high school. Thank
god he survived. I got three cousins doing life in prison.
I communicate with them and I said, no, we we
(52:09):
know what you all are going through. You know, we've
had addiction, and you know I paid for a couple
of funerals of my young cousins that were shot to
death drive by shooting.
Speaker 3 (52:17):
So no, we get it.
Speaker 5 (52:18):
That's why we're doing what we're doing because we want
to be a part of the solution. But yeah, Dede
and I, you know, we h he's very smart, but
we have that you know, background that we'll never forget,
uh and very thankful that you know where we came from.
You know, we talked about my college adversity. I never
trade that in for what I learned. I mean it
was tough at the time. I mean to be watching
(52:41):
my guys every year on the sideline, you know. I
you know, that's one thing I told my son. He
was a four year starter, but he sat out his
second year. And the first thing I told him, I said,
don't isolate yourself. Stay engaged with your team. They're preparing
the coaches, so it's going to be a natural separation,
you know, someone that's hurt with I said, but you
(53:01):
got to make it your initiative to be engaged. One
of the things I did for three years I became
the official spatter. I'd carry my tape. But you know
that sc you had to spray paint your spat black.
So if Charles White wanted a little extra tape, I'd
have to have a spray can. If my lineman wanted
a spat I would do it for him, but I
had to spray it black because no white tape on
your shoes. So that's how I kind of stayed engaged,
(53:22):
you know, with my guys and hung out with them.
But you know, because it is it's.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
Your niche role exactly right, be a team player.
Speaker 3 (53:29):
Yeah, I got.
Speaker 1 (53:31):
Nothing else for Anthony human. You've been amazing, awesome. Thank
you for just the wisdom and just everything you've said.
I took it all in and I really do appreciate it.
And then as Room said, you you really are passionate
and you get out what you receive.
Speaker 3 (53:47):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (53:48):
And it is an organic feeling. And yeah, I'm I'm
taking that with me today, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (53:53):
Man, you are a light.
Speaker 2 (53:54):
You got to keep shining, Anthony Munjos, because you shine
so bright you allow others to be seen. And so
hat you man for stopping by taking time. And I'm
gonna get us out of here. For all of our
viewers and listeners out there, make sure you give us like, share, subscribe,
believe a couple of comments. You can check us out
on the NFL Pages YouTube channel. Whether you pick up
(54:15):
your podcasts at Apple Podcasts iHeartRadio app. Make sure you
continue to tell a friend to tell a friend to
do what Peanut tell a friend us out man, yes, man,
get us out of here.
Speaker 4 (54:25):
I'm Peanut.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
That's wrong, that's Anthony. And this is the NFL Player's
Second Acts podcast
Hosts And Creators
Jamie Erdahl
Jason McCourty
Kyle Brandt
Peter Schrager
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