THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1998

IMPACT The Bengals' Heart and Soul BY CHRIS HAFT The Cincinnati Enquirer Anthony Munoz talks with Bengals founder Paul Brown at Spinney Field in 1984. (Enquirer photo) The best way to measure Anthony Munoz's impact on the Bengals is to remember something simple: He is a measuring stick himself -- the performer against whom all other Bengals shall be judged. Just ask the most authoritative Bengals expert of all. "Anthony, I do believe, was the best player we had here," said Mike Brown, the team's president and general manager who has been associated with the franchise since his father, Paul, founded it. In virtually the same breath, Brown added that Ken Anderson was the team's most important player in its 31-year history. After all, Anderson nurtured Cincinnati from expansion-franchise infancy, directed the squad to its first Super Bowl and spent 16 years at quarterback, arguably the most crucial position on the field. "But Anthony was better at his position than any other player was at his, and we've had a lot of good ones," Brown said. THE MUNOZ YEARS 1989 Started all 16 games again and was named Offensive lineman of Year by NFLPA and the NFL Alumni Association. . . . Named All-Pro by almost every publication and organization that selects a team. . . . Ninth straight Pro Bowl selection. 1990 Played through a variety of injuries, including a shoulder separation, torn rotator cuff and swollen left eye as he started every game for seventh straight year . . . . Did not leave the lineup until AFC Division Playoff game against LA Raiders (Jan. 13, 1991), the only playoff game he missed. . . . Consensus All-Pro and voted AFC's top offensive lineman by USA Today. . . . Pro Bowl No. 10. 1991 Missed final three games of season with an elbow injury, first non-strike games he missed in his career, breaking a string of 177 consecutive games. . . . Named to 11th straight Pro Bowl. . . . Wins prestigious NFL Man of the Year Award. Boomer Esiason has been known to differ with Brown occasionally, but not this time. Esiason, himself one of the premier players in club annals as its quarterback from 1984-92 and 1997, shares Brown's opinion that no player wore the Bengals' stripes as grandly as Munoz. "He's the greatest I've ever played with and seen. Nobody comes close," Esiason said. The relative anonymity of playing offensive line, said Esiason, prevented Munoz from earning greater public recognition. "It's too bad he's not a quarterback, because if he were a quarterback, he would be known as the heart and soul of the franchise. Those of us who played with him truly believe that," Esiason said. "He wasn't Kenny Anderson, who played with the Bengals for 16 years, or Bob Johnson, the Œoriginal Bengal,' or Tim Krumrie, who broke his leg in the Super Bowl. He wasn't a wide receiver, so what statistics do you put to him? Other than you're listening to everybody who played with him say he was the greatest." The only other Bengal who would rival Munoz for best-in-franchise-history status is Anderson, who still holds numerous club passing records and is now the team's offensive coordinator. And the way he speaks of Munoz suggests that there's no doubt who the club's No. 1 man was -- the teammate who protected his blind side. "Everybody said he's the best that ever played that position," Anderson said of Munoz."To have somebody say that about you and have it be common knowledge . . . Who's the greatest quarterback? Terry Bradshaw, Johnny Unitas? The debate goes on and on. Who's the best left tackle of all time? Anthony Munoz. That's remarkable." Six years after leaving the Bengals, Munoz continues to contribute to the team. As the club's first full-time player to reach the Hall of Fame, his enshrinement gives the franchise a certain legitimacy. "I guess it puts you with the old-time teams, to a certain extent," Anderson said."The Bengals are still relatively new to the NFL. You go back with the Giants, Bears, Eagles, Cleveland Browns . . . Now we have somebody in the Hall of Fame. Maybe the franchise has arrived more, to a certain extent." "There have been so many great players who have played for Cincinnati; it's amazing there hasn't been one (earlier)," Esiason said."Why isn't Kenny Anderson in the Hall of Fame? It's just mind-boggling he's not. But it's so deservingly given to Anthony. The fact that he is the first makes it that much more exciting and worthwhile." Perhaps all this happened because Munoz and the Bengals were a perfect match from the beginning, like a couple that falls in love at first sight. Though Munoz struggled with knee injuries throughout his college career at the University of Southern California, the Bengals decided he was the player they wanted with the third overall selection in the 1980 draft, months before they would make their pick. Dr. George Ballou, then the Bengals' team physician, examined Munoz and declared him fit for pro football, contradicting many of his counterparts on other clubs. "Anthony was a really huge risk," Brown said."There wasn't some kind of unified opinion that he was the guy you should pick. It was as likely as not that he wasn't going to be able to play at all." Brown vividly recalled watching USC's Rose Bowl victory on television with his father and brother, Pete, the team's personnel director. Munoz's blocking paved the way for the Trojans' late, game-winning touchdown drive. "I would say that was when the decision was made for us," Mike Brown said. It was a decision the Bengals never regretted. "He actually turned out to be what we hope they all will be," Brown said,"and few of them are."