Bengals Booth Podcast: Hey Joe

the NFL's all time team, offensive lineman Anthony Munio's. All of that is straight ahead, but first, here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.

It's the greatest thing since the movie Parasite. Parasite is a Korean movie that won the top prize and supposedly received an eight minute standing ovation at the Khan Film Festival, and it's one of nine Best Picture nominees for this year's Academy Awards. Despite the name, it's not a horror movie. It's a dark comedy with some chilling twists, and in my opinion, it's outstanding. So if you don't mind movies with subtitles, I highly recommend Parasite. Now, let's get to football.

The most influential source of advanced statistics in football is the website Pro Football Focus. It was founded in the United Kingdom more than a decade ago, and then in twenty fourteen, former Bengals wide receiver Chris Collinsworth purchased a majority stake in the company and moved it to downtown Cincinnati. PF now has more than eighty full time employees and provides data to all thirty two NFL teams, as well as fans, fantasy football players, and people who are into

the NFL Draft. This week, I met with one of PF's top analysts about the draft, free agency, and Sunday Super Bowl. We are hanging out in a downtown coffee shop with Pro Football Focus analyst Austin Gale. There's construction going on at PF and downtown Cincinnati, so we've moved a few blocks away to talk about the draft, about the Senior Bowl, and about the Bengals. Let's start with a topic that's on every Bengals fans mind. Joe Burrow. He had the highest rated season by a college quarterback

ever in the Pro Football Focus era. And we've all seen the traditional stats seventy six percent completion percentage, sixty touchdown passes, six interceptions. But how about some of the Pro Football Focus stats that demonstrate just how great he was this year. Yeah, I mean to start with that highest graded season ever in the PF college era. That's dating back to twenty fourteen when we first started grading college quarterbacks. And what really stands out for me is

that that grade came against SEC competition. You look at this list of top fifteen seasons in the college era, so much of it is in the Group of five, so much of it is in the Big twelve. Joe Burrow is one of two quarterbacks in the top fifteen from the SEC Joe Burrow to Attack of Bloa. That's what's really incredible for me, that level of competition. Doing

it against that level of competition is incredible. And as for the stats that kind of go into that, really, how you grade well in PFF system at the college and NFL level is being accurate. Joe Burrow is the most accurate college quarterback we've ever seen. Looking at throws of ten plus are yards he had who was accurate on target over sixty five percent of the time. The previous record was Baker Mayfield at fifty six percent of the time. This is absurd. You just don't see this

level of accuracy at the college level. Yes, he's an older prospect, Yes he's kind of you know, doing it in a very good something that Joe Brady had. But man, this guy's really accurate, and that's really what put him in another level from a grading perspective. We have coffee beans being ground in the background. I'm glad you brought up that ten air yards statistic because so many times in college football we see these ridiculous completion percentages and

it's because they're throwing bubble screens, they're throwing sideways. Joe Burrow pressed the ball down the field, Oh absolutely. And talking to NFL guys, scouts and analysts and also media, you know, Daniel Jeremiah, guys from the athletic they love what PF data can do and what we can see by separating that accut remove screens, remove play action. Look at these throws on standard dropbacks ten plus yards down

the football field, and how does he grade out? Joe Burrow, hands down the best quarterback in college football on these NFL level throws. And you go beyond that, we can sort and look at tight window throws. When he's fitting it in two tight windows. How on target is he

again the most accurate quarterback in college football? And talking to our data scientists here at PFF, George Johurri and Air Eager, these guys see that accuracy at the college level on target percentage or things that translate the most most recently or most frequently to the NFL level. So being accurate is so important and why it really ranks high in our grading system. Our guest is Austin gayale An analysts from Pro Football Focus. Are there any red

flags where Joe Burrow is concerned? Yeah, I think there's two that come to mind. One, it's the age. He's an older prospect. I think he'll turn twenty four here pretty soon. But and that's a concern because you're going to get some younger guys and like that experience in that age and that maturity plays a factor in how you develop. You compare him to a guy like to a tongue of maloa who's had NFL ready pocket present since he was eighteen years old. With Joe Burrow, that

can be a little bit of a concern. It's not Brandon Weedon level of concerns he was coming out like twenty eight, twenty nine, but age is something. If you had to pull a red flag on a guy who's going to be the number one overall bit come twenty twenty draft, that is where I kind of sit. The other one is the system. I mean, Joe Brady, there's a reason he's coaching in the NFL right now. He put together a system that really elevated Joe burrows game.

I think, however, accuracy, regardless of system, shows up when you're accurate, not with the supporting cast or those things. That's why we really feel comfortable pushing those red flags a bit away, because if you're as accurate as Joe Burrow is, I think that's really what's most impressive. How does Joe Burrow compare to Tuah or Justin Herbert are the other quarterbacks in this draft? Yeah? In this draft, he's the best, and all the drafts that we really covered,

I think he's the best. He's the best college football quarterback from a prospect perspective we've ever really seen. And I think the comparisons between Tuah and Joe Burrow, it's hard to not bring up the injury. There's so much injury risk with to a tongue of iloa. I think he's a great quarterback. He's the only quarterback and PFF college era that's created above ninety point zero in back to back seasons. That's how good this guy is. The injury risk, however, puts him a tier. Blow also doesn't

have the arm talent that Joe Burrow has. There's some inconsistent he's not as accurate. No one is as accurate as Joe Burrow. And as for Justin Herbert, the concerns the red flags in his game really are. It does not rise to the occasion against good competition. I mean, I think he's not a game or in that regard. I think he grades well on air. He looks great and pads and should I in shorts and things like six foot six, great hair, good looking kid, very smart dude.

But when you look at games against Utah, you look at games against Arizona, these games were like, hey, this is a muscle. The Auburn games start the season, he does not rise to the occasion. He's not the reason these organ Ducks win. But with Burrow, he's the reason. I think that's why you feel more comfortable translating him to the next level. Does PFF have a great hair metric? We don't, But I mean, if I had to put Justin Herbert's on a scale, it's above ninety. I mean,

I saw him at the Senior Bowl. This guy's got a good head of hair. We're talking to Ousten Gale from Pro Football Focus. Is there a case to be made for Chase Young number one overall? Part of me wants to kind of dodge us a bit, but I'm gonna go ahead and say it. No, there is not a case for Chase Shown to go number one overall. One. We think Joe Burrows a better prospect. Two. Positional value matters.

It's something you cannot ignore. In the NFL, the quarterback position moves the needle more than any other position on the football field. It's the picture of the NFL. But he plays every game, unlike your number one picture in baseball.

I mean, the positional value is again very similar to goalies in the NHL, like you just don't get better looking at PF's wins above replacement metric war and something that we're selling the NFL and college teams now these days looks at positional value and see ow that weighs in the quarterback position oftentimes is eight to ten times better than the best edge defender in football. That's like

the needle movers are quarterbacks. You don't a single defensive player does not move the needle in the upward direction, even if he is this generational talent, everyone thinks he is like a quarterback does, even an average quarterback does compared to a guy like Chaw And that shows in the number one overall pick in the draft, and four out of the last five years it's been a quarterback Kyler Murray last year, Baker Mayfield two years ago. You had Miles Garrett in there the year before that, but

then Jared Goff and Jamis Winston. How does Joe Burrow compare to those guys? Again, and I don't say this lightly, but he is the best college football prospect we've seen him better than Baker Mayfield. And PFF was high on Baker Mayfield the October before that draft, really loved what he did and reason why we like Baker Mayfield where a lot of the same reasons we like Joe Burrow. Good inside and outside of structure, very accurate with the

football on these NFL throws. What's different is Joe Burrow did it better, better from an accuracy standpoint, better on those NFL throws, and he did it against SEC competition. I don't say that lightly. Like I said, of the top fifteen graded seasons at the college level, I want to say only there's only two players in that top fifteen that are from the SEC. It's Joe Burrow into

a tongue of bailo. I think other guys like Will gree are Big twelve, Mason Fine, Group of five, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, those other guys are going against what is unquestionably lower level competition. SEC is a different breed. More NFL talent comes out of that conference than any other conference. I think that's why we're really so high on Burrow. We're talking to Austin Gale from Pro Football Focus. You were in Mobile, Alabama for the Senior Bowl. Let's look

at this from a Bengals perspective. Who are some of the guys who would be a good fit for Cincinnati. Yeah, I think that's a good question. I think there's some offensive line helped down Inmobile that really impressed me. Jonah Jackson, the guard out of Ohio State who's a Rutger's transfer, so not a lot of people knew about him till he went Ohio State. Then he goes to Ohio State,

really really impresses down. Immobile guy is like really top heavy, looks like he's got a mini fridge under his shoulder pads and you're kind of scared of his lower half. But he's got great balance, great in pass protection, a malla in the run game. I think Bengals need offensive line help. I know they have Jonah Williams coming back, but they still need offensive line help. I think Jonah Jackson was a name that stood out for me others there.

This receiving class is deep and it's very good. Michael Pittman, junior of USC as a guy I think in the second round starts to make sense for the Cincinnati Bengals. kJ Hill Ohio State, had himself a week Inmobile, and Denzel Mims. Of all three of those guys broke our top one hundred after the Senior Bowl. I mean those guys were really special players as well. So there were guys that were not at the Senior Bowl for a wide variety of reasons, maybe eligible juniors, things like that.

So when we're looking at the number one pick in the second round, number thirty three overall, who do you think might be there? Who are some of the guys that you think the Bengals could be possibly targeting at number thirty three? Yeah, I think I jumped to the cornerback position. I think after Jeffrey Akudo, who I think is a lock for the top five, the Ohio State kid, former five star dude. It's got all the length, athleticism,

ball production off the charts. After that, the cornerback position is going to go quick because there's not a lot of true number one guys. Christian Fulton accepted his invite to the Senior Bowl but did not attend for reasons I think that were unclear. I think because he knows he's going high in this draft. I think there's a chance because I think he's not super scheme burstyle, wants to play a kind of a man heavy scheme. I think he could have success at the top of round two.

He's the guy that I like. And then as for others, think Justin Jefferson. If you wanted to pair Joe Burrow with this guy out of LSU, Justin Jefferson. He's very close to Tyler Boyd. I think they're very similar players and that they can play inside and outside, but maybe are better off on the inside. I think give Tyler Boyd Justin Jefferson, two guys that catch everything, create separation and against zone, very crafty, mindful receivers, you start to

get even better with Joe Burrow in your one. Did the Bengals coaching staff make an impression in any way with how they handled the South roster at the Senior Bowl? Yes, one, because I think they handled the practice is better. I think you saw a handful of things on Twitter and other analysts say like why are the Detroit Lions doing some things they do? They were doing blocking drills and

things like that. They didn't really give as many opportunities as the Bengals coaching staff did to see how these players performed in one on ones. You talk to scouts, you talk to media, you talk to the players one on ones or where the money is made. I talked to kJ Hill, Ohio State receiver, right after practice one. He said, I know I need to be good in the one on ones. That's all I'm really focusing on

this week. And I think the Bengals did a really good job of putting so many one on ones on tape so they could really evaluate the players as well. We're talking to Austin Gale from Pro Football Focus. I want to turn the clock back to my first year's the Bengals announcer twenty eleven. Early in that season, Pro Football Focus had a story where they referred to Geno Atkins as a secret superstar, and I remember thinking at the time, nobody was saying that yet about Geno Atkins.

At the end of that year, he went to the first of his eight Pro Bowl. So I really thought that Pro Football Focus helped get the word out that Geno Atkins was going to be a great player. Are there any breakout candidates on the Bengals current roster? I have a handful. I mean I do like a handful of the younger players on the Bengals roster. I'm still going to say, Carl Lawson, if this guy could just get healthy, I do think he's one of the better

pass rushers in the NFL. Throw arm lengthd out the window. I'm telling you, this guy has it. I think in the small sample sizes he's grated very well for PFF use, effectively and healthy. He's a breakout candidate for me and Jonah Williams. I mean, Jonah Williams didn't get a chance to play this year due to an injury, which you did not expect coming out of Alabama. This guy was a workhorse, played a ton of snaps for the Crimson Tide. We loved his tape coming out again. Throw the arm

length out the window. He was asked that question a handful of times in the draft process. But super smart kid. I don't know if you know this, but I had a chance to to him before the draft. Before the Bengals did draft him. This guy charts every single player that he's about to go against how they win his pass rushers outside inside bullrush and creates an Excel and a Spider chart of how they win and studies that at four games. This guy's PF legend. I mean, we

love what this guy does. From a data perspective. He uses data to analyze and get better on film. He's so smart between the years that I just can't imagine this guy not having a good NFL career because he's just too smart, athletically gifted and great production at Alabama. When his career is over, he could be working with you and gantn Cincinnati. Absolutely I would welcome it. I mean, I interview I probably interviewed probably twenty five to fifty

prospects every year. Jonah Williams in the five six years I've been doing this is the most is the best interview I've ever had. He's just such a smart guy, and smart smart is very important at the offensive line position. You need tackles and even guards centers to be smart to understand protections, different play calls, et cetera. But he's on another level of smart comparing to the other guys I talked to. I think Jonah Williams again that commitment

to getting better. This guy wants to be the best in the league and has all the tools, mind, physical, all that stuff to really be it for sure. Let me follow up on the offensive line. Pro Football Focus ranked all thirty two offensive lines. The two Super Bowl teams I was surprised are not at the top, San Francisco number fourteen, Kansas City number sixteen. So I guess if you have a great quarterback like Patrick Mahomes or an incredible scheme like San Francisco, you can get around

that a little bit. But the Bengals were number thirty. The only two teams that graded lower were the Rams and the Dolphins. When you look at the Bengals offensive line, you plug in Jonah Williams at left tackle. Next year. They gave a contract extension to Trey Hopkins, so he'll be the center. Are they good enough anywhere else on the offensive line? I would I would argue no, And I know that's aggressive and throwing you know, throwing somewhat level of shade at John Miller, Billy Price, the kid

at Michael Jordan of Ohio State. Right tackle. Bobby Hart is not great well for us. He has not great well for us really in his entire NFL career. And seeing when they did give him that contract extension last year, I mean, I remember being in the office, real head scratch was across the spoort. Did not see that coming. And I think the problem the problem with that is, I think you mentioned the Super Bowl teams good quarterbacks

don't welcome pressure like bad quarterbacks. We've seen that sack sacks and pressures and pressure rate can often be a quarterback stat more often than it is an offensive line stat. We talk to current and former NFL offensive lineman and they bang the table for that kind of data analysis, knowing that there are quarterbacks like Deshaun Watson that welcome pressure bring pressure more often than you know at Patrick

Mahomes or things like that. But I will say this, Joe Burrow, if he does actually get picked number one overall, which I think all signs point to, he is very good under pressure and he does not welcome it. That's why I feel comfortable with the Bengals maybe going other directions at the top of the draft and maybe even in free agency, because Joe Burrows a guy that does

not make an average offensive line look worse. He's a guy that makes an average offensive line looks so much better with what he does, what he does inside outside of structure, in terms of going through his progressions, etc. We're picking the brain of Austin Gale from Pro Football Focus based on PFF dada, where else should the Bengals be looking to upgrade cornerback, cornerback, cornerback, cornerback, because I mean, you cannot have a good enough good cornerbacks in this league.

And I know William Jackson had a very good season in twenty seventeen, But what we've seen at PF, cornerback is the second most valuable position on the football field, right behind quarterback. It's distant after quarterback, but it is number two. But it's also one of the most volatile

year over year. You do not you rarely see cornerbacks like a Durrell Reeves, Patrick Peterson, Jillen Ramsey have the consistency from a production standpoint because and a lot of this is because a bad play at cornerback is a touchdown, a bad play at tackle is just a sack. And I think you see that production, that volatility in those big, big plays have a factor and really good cornerbacks dropping

year or whatever it may be. But again, stepping away from the volatility of the position, the value of position rings true. I think there are a ton of cornerbacks in this class. There's also some cornerbacks on the free agent market that the Bengals should be looking to grab because your defense gets better with coverage you look at the Chiefs defense they're playing in the Super Bowl. Big question mark in the offseason is can their defense get better?

It was not because they added to the pass rush. It was because guys like Tyronne Matthew, Juan Thornhill and stepping up from Kendall Fuller that made this defense better, made the quarterback hold the ball longer. And therefore now they're, you know, up there with a top sixteen defense going into the Super Bowl with a really good offense. And this is really interesting to me because when I asked the question, where does the data show the Bengals need

to upgrade, you said cornerback. Cornerback, cornerback. Every Bengals fan listening would have anticipated you would have said linebacker. Linebacker, linebacker. So here here, I'll say it right now, off bowl. Linebacker is not a valuable position on the football field. It's not one of which that you need to fill necessarily and ignore positional value, ignore you know the best player available and fill that need largely because they don't have as big of an impact on coverage and they

do not rush the passer. They are oftentimes picked on schematically, it's hard to you know, there are coverage linebackers in the NFL that make a difference. One was Luke Keekley I know, a Cincinnati guy, and another one is now Bobby Wagner. After that, it's a scrum. There are not a ton of otball linebackers that really are difference makers, and for that reason, trying to fill that need at the top of day two would be horrendous. I mean, it's close to the running back position from a positional

value standpoint. That's why having a good cornerback that doesn't get beat deep is more important in my opinion than outball linebacker. Fill that position in the later rounds. Fill that position in free agency with bargain deals. Talking to Austin Gayale, you mentioned free agency, so let's get to that next. The Bengals have not historically gone after the highest priced free agents. Maybe that changes this year. We'll see. But are there any current free agents, especially mid level guys,

who could help. I think a name to keep an eye on, and I know he's mulling retirement a bit, but as Anthony Costanzo, he's played a lot of left tackle in his career. But if he does not want to hang up the cleats and he wants to play right tackle, potentially for the Bengals. I think that's a

guy that could come at a relative bargain. He's not going to ask for a long term deal, obviously, He's a name that I like it As a free agent in the offseason, I think it's hard not to bring up the big name guys, the guys that will draw a lot of money. But if they can dig through the couches and find enough money. Bringing Byron Jones of

the Dallas Cowboys, that's a difference maker. At the cornerback position, I think you're better off spending two at certain positions like cornerback, Like offensive line, we see at PF filling needs with rookies rarely pans out. The only position that we see like rookies really excel at out of the gate is running back. For obvious reasons, it's a position that ages quickly. But offensive line you don't really get

plus production until year two, year three. You don't get plus production from cornerbacks even sometimes receivers until those years as well. So looking at free ancy to fill a positions of need is more important than looking to fill positions of need in the draft. So I think offensive line, maybe finding a tackle opposite of Jonah Williams and then cornerback again. To dig through these guys. Anthony Harris to eight in Minnesota. To pair him up with looks of

my name, I'm wake Forest guys. Second year Jesse Bates, Jesse Bates. Yeah with Jesse Bates. Pair him up with Jesse Bates. Invest in the defensive backs in best in the offensive line if you can find them interior annex here. All right, this has been excellent. Let's get to Sunday Super Bowl San Francisco, Kansas City. Who wins and why I'm going the Kansas City Chiefs. So I think the better quarterbacks, the better passing offenses win in the postseason,

and that's really what we've seen. I think the San Francisco forty nine ers are fantastic. We've seen them get into a shootout with the New Orleans Saints and win. But this Chiefs team goes up. They can go up quickly, and I don't think they let their foot off the gas pedal. Look at this Houston Texans game. They come back in that game, I think they're up twenty points at a certain point, they continue to throw the football.

They continue to push down the field. Aggressiveness again, Aggressiveness passing the football really wins in the postseason. I think Andy Reid is calling masterfully down on the sideline. Patrick Mahomes playing some of his best football of his career, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelsey matches across the board. This forty nine Ers team, if they get a lead, keeps this close.

But I think if Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs fine way to go up fourteen, go up even ten early in this game, and they keep the gas pedal down, I think this Chiefs team wins pretty handily. I'm big on the Chiefs. Wow. Now, I'm thinking San Francisco's running game at least gives them a chance to keep Mahomes off the field enough. He's still gonna throw three touchdown passes, but maybe you can prevent him from throwing four or five by holding onto the ball for thirty five minutes. No,

and I would agree with you. So the Chiefs have the thirtieth ranked run defense and EPA per play their thirty second against outside zone. The forty nine Ers are licking their chops at this defense. However, you get Patrick Mahomes the ball first and running the football though effective takes time piece by piece, time of possession those things, and with more opportunity comes randomness of turnovers and things

like that. You miss a play when a run heavy offense and then Patrick Mahomes comes by a score seven in two minutes. I think that's what makes things difficult to lean on this run game. But again, San Francisco's in this game for a reason, and they've been able to dominate the trenches all year long offensively and defensively. It's up to Kansas City again. The way they win this game is score early. They don't. I think San Francisco can really keep that, you know, push down on

them and run through them and win this game. This has been awesome. I can't thank you enough. I was in on Pro Football Focus early and I read it religiously. For those who do not subscribe, here's your opportunity to tell them why they should. Yeah, I mean, go to PF dot com even if you're not a subscriber. We do come out with a ton of content every day

that's covering NFL, college football, betting, fantasy football. And if you do subscribe, that's where you really unlock the advanced statistics, the grades, the predictive power that PF brings to the table, like highlighting breakout candidates or picking who's going to win

the Super Bowl. I really do think what PFF offers within their subscription makes you a smarter, better NFL fan, regardless of interest, whether you're just trying to figure out who's the Bengal is going to take or who should they take, or playing fantasy football. There's a lot to offer from PFF. Appreciate your time, of course, Thank you. Hi. Thanks to Austin and you can follow him on Twitter

at PF Underscore Austin Gail. Again, that's PF Underscore Austin Gail and he spells his last name g A y l E. In celebration of the NFL's one hundredth season, the league unveiled an all time team, and two Bengals were selected. Paul Brown was one of ten head coaches, and Anthony Munio's was among the one hundred players selected. Anthony is widely considered to be the greatest offensive lineman

in pro football history. He was an eleven time Pro Bowler, the starting left tackle on both of the Bengal Super Bowl teams, and a first ballot Hall of Famer. Perhaps you knew all of that, but in this fun facts conversation you might learn something new about the greatest player enfranchise history. Time for some fantastic fun facts with Hall of Famer Anthony Munos, and let's start with something fun for this one. Do you have the gold Hall of Fame jacket at home? Or do they keep those in

a closet in Canton? It is in my closet at home, so yes, I have it hanging with all my other sport coats in the suits in my closets, so I have control of it. Do you ever let anybody try that on? Or is that a strict no. No? I have not actually let anybody try. Nobody's asked, so I haven't been faced with saying no to anybody. All right, let's turn the clock back a little bit. There's a picture of you on the internet as a twelve year old little leaguer and you are about a foot taller

than your teammates. You're as tall as your coach. Were you comfortable being the biggest kid or were you self conscious about your size? Well? I think my family really made it comfortable for me. I mean, there's kids are kids. So you know, kids are gonna say things when they see your feet twice as big as there's. But for the most part, I'd have to say I was pretty comfortable. You know. It's funny you mentioned that Little League picture. My mom actually had to sew some extra material so

I could keep my jersey tuched in. But yeah, it was you know, I thought it was kind of cool at times. Most of the times, I really thought it was nice that I was large because my friends, my really close friends, really it didn't matter that I was, you know, head taller than them. They they accepted me just as a friend. We're doing fund Facts with Anthony Munio. Is Is it true though, that you were too big

to play youth football as a kid. I was. I would have never met the you know, the height and weight restriction, so I never really tried because I knew that I wouldn't be able to. So really, baseball is my first love, and you know the extent of my football playing days before I started playing organized which was flag football, was just on our home field and that

was the street in front of our house. Yeah, so it was one of those things where you know, I heard that I really couldn't because of my size, so I really didn't make that attempt to go play. You mentioned baseball. You went to USC, and some people might not realize that you were a pitcher. I'm in nineteen seventy eighteen to one a national championship for the College World Series. You strike me as a closer. How are

you used and what did you throw? I didn't play my freshman year because of injuries, so that was actually my sophomore year at school there. Because it was my first year, a lot of I'm going to admit, you know, I don't have an ego. It was mop up jobs, and you know, so I got one win. I got to pitch about eleven innings that year. The year, as you mentioned, we won the World Series and we had four guys that were in double figure wins that year, so, you know the I was thrilled to get that many

innings that year. Anthony, your college football career was severely limited in terms of games played by knee injuries. You had three surgical procedures on your knees at USC. Did you ever think this football thing just isn't meant to be? You know what, I really didn't even that third knee operation.

I'm laying in the bed the day after that operation, and I'm doing a live interview in fact, with the NBC and it was Bryant Gumbel, and he asked me that same question the day after my third knee operation, when is it enough? When are you going to give it up? And even then I said, I still have the passionate desire to come back at least one more time, because I wanted to play in the Rose Bowl. I

hadn't played in. We played in two up to that time, and I hadn't played in one, So it really never entered my mind that, man, this is crazy, it's my third one. Let's find something else to do. I was determined to come back and just give it one more shot. You succeeded. You came back and played in that Rose Bowl, and that was one of the reasons why the Bengals were willing to take you with a third pick in

the nineteen eighty draft. But just to make sure your knee was okay, they sent Forrest Greg out to work you out. Describe what happened. Well, anybody that followed the NFL, especially the Green Bay Packers, knows about Forest Gregg. I mean, he was an All Pro guard and tackle Hall of Fame offensive tackle. I knew at the time Vince Lombardi's last book, he said that Forrest was the finest player he ever coached. Now here's a guy coming to work

me out at Hall of Fame Tackle. He wants to see you know where I am physically after that third knee operation and playing that game. So I was gonna go one hundred percent on everything he asked me to do. And it was for about an hour and a half and he was putting me through, I mean, a great workout. And finally at the end he said, he goes, Okay, I'm gonna make a few moves as a defensive end. You just react. So I said, man, you know, I gotta watch the fakes. Because he was early forties and

still capable of moving a little bit. He actually faked outside and started and darted inside, and of course I took that step out and came back in. And one of the things that I did learn at usc cutting Edge with Hudson, how we used our hands a lot run blocking, pass blocking, So the punch was very instrumental in our technique. Didn't have a whole lot of game

experience with it, but a lot of camp experience. And he went inside and I planted both hands, I mean just perfectly into his chest and I extended and as he went down, my heart just dropped. He literally hit the ground and the back of his head kind of hit first, and I stood over him and I apologized and I extended my hand and he basically looked up and he kind of chuckled and said, no problem, that's

all right, and I said, man, thank you. And you know, it was one of those things where I needed to show them that I could still, you know, move, and then I was coming. I'd come back completely from that third knee operation. We're doing fun facts with Anthony. Munio's most offensive linemen don't have career stats, but you had seven catches with the Bengals, including four for touchdowns. Do you remember when the coaches first decided to put in

a passing play for you? I sure do. In fact, we had a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, and Sam Weiss's first year, we started to put extra linemen in and two big linemen at tight end, shortyards, goal line, and of course our goal line with the big guys. It was called the web formation because we be scorned when we get in that formation. And you know, I gotta go back a little bit and really give the person the credit that deserves the credit for me

catching those passes. Because on Monday, after our run, our left and viewing. The old lineman would stay after and we would have our fatman football game and uh, of course my quarterback. All the time, it was the old guys against the young guys with Max Montoya so and we would play right outside of the coaches windows. You know, on that it's old spinny field, and you know, Max and I would have fun taking those young linemen apart,

you know, with our you know Montoya Demuno's connection. But it was, you know, Sam's rookie year, and he started putting in not only putting big guys at the tight end, but all of a sudden saying, okay, we're gonna start running some pass plays. And that first catch, if I remember correctly, I was a primary receiver and we had to score to take in an overtime. I'm thinking, this is crazy. This guy isn't gonna last long in the NFL coaching like that. But you know, Kenny Anderson was hurting.

We had a you know, big left hand or a rookie at quarterback, and I mean I remember it like it was yesterday. And in fact, you know, part of the play was you know, fake halfback bounds twenty eight pass or something like that, where I hit my guy and go. And so I mean he made it fun because after that, every week we had a play in where I was gonna, you know, go out for a pass. Not that we ran it every time, but I did

get a chance to catch four touchdowns. I assume this did not happen from catching the football, but you have a messed up little finger that points sideways. Did it happen in a specific incident or just the wear and

tear of all those years on the old line. It's just over the years, you know it happened, and you just, you know, every week you just tape your I take my fingers up, and then all of a sudden, I retired, and you know, you kind of reassess your hands and your fingers and you look and you, oh, my goodness, it's not going the way it started out when I

first got in the NFL. But you know, because everything we did was with our hands, and you know, run blocking, you're punching, and guys are coming to him pass block and you're trying to punch them. So you're hitting face masks, you're hitting shoulder pads or hitting hitting just about everything. So it happened from the years and years, and I know a lot of people ask me, was it one specific play, was it one specific game? And with that pink, you know it was an accumulation, all right. A couple

more fun facts with Anthony Munos. If you look at the cast of the nineteen eighty three movie The Right Stuff about the Mercury seven Astronauts, it includes Scott Glen, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, and Anthony Munios as Gonzalez. How did that happen? That? It was a funny Super Bowl sixteen? I had my right after the game. I had my elbow cleaned out, my right elbow. I had some bone spurs and the doctor that cleaned it out was the same doctor who did all three of my knee operations

in college. He was the orthopedic surgeon for the Raiders. Raiders located in Oakland, but his office was in Beverly Hills, and he was known as the orthopedic surgeon for the movie stars, and we had a blast because I would go in on you know, I saw him a lot in three years, and you know, I got to listen to the Gobor sister on the phone when we're in the examining room as he was talking to him, got

to meet Sylvester Stallone and Bubba Smith. Smith was actually in their former you know, NFL football player and my final examination with my elbow that year. We used to call him crazy Doc because he was a little on the edge. He said, Anthony, I might have something for them, Doc, what you have? He said, Doc. Rosenfeld said, I got two really good friends and they're getting ready to make a movie and they might have a part for you. And I said, Doc, I've never acted, I mean, you know.

He says, no, really. He goes and he gave me their numbers. And at that time I didn't know who or when Winkler and Bob shard Off were, you know. So he goes, go here, they want to see you. So I go to their office and I'm walking in. There's Raging bullposters and Rocky posters and all these big time movies. But I walk into the conference room and they're sitting there. They each have a script and there's an extra script. So I asked me to read a couple of lines and I did that and they said

thank you, and I left. About a month goes by and I figured I blew that one. I didn't get the part. So it was a Tuesday morning. I get a phone call and it's the casting director for the movie and they said, can you be in San Francisco on Saturday morning? We're starting to film the movie. And so I got the part and they said nobody called you and I said no. They said you are a member of SAG, right, and I said no. They said

I'll call you right back. So a few minutes later do they call back and they said, we need you to show up at this, you know, the SAG office Thursday morning. Certain time, you pay initiation fee, fill out an application you'd be a SAG member. And then he says you want the part, and I said, oh, you bet. So I went and filled it out. I became a SAG member in DD and I and Michael flip to San Francisco for a week and it was a blast. I tell you what. I didn't realize how big the

movie was at the time. But I got to interact with Ed Harris and Scott Glenn and all the guys, you know, going back and forth, and of course got to meet a lot of the other actors and actresses that would film at the desert for the desert scenes. And but if you remember, I did have long hair coming to Cincinnati, and that was my second year. I didn't completely have it cut down. So I show up on the set and they said, well, you got to go see you know, the costume and you know, makeup

and stuff. And I'm thinking, you gotta be kidding. I sit down and they draped the big sheet on me, and they pull out the clippers and they started up, and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, this movie took place like a long time. I'm a good Man's short and she just started going and I'm thinking, oh, well, but you know, it was worth it. So I had a pretty short haircut in the movie. But it was fun, all right, final fun factor, Anthony Munios and I really

appreciate your time. Ted Williams famously said, when I walked down the street, I want people to go, there goes the best hitter that ever lived. You are frequently referred to as the greatest offensive lineman that's ever played this game. When you hear that, how does it make you feel? Well? It still makes me pinch myself. It's still very humbling. And you know, when I hear that, it's like, man,

how great is that? I wouldn't mind just being mentioned with you know, the forest graves and the art shells and the Jim Parkers. But when I hear that, it's it's amazing because of what we just talked about in my college career and people had said I'd never play

again after that Rose Bowl. People said that there's no way I would last this season, and the fact that I played thirteen years and didn't miss a game of my eleventh year, and to have people say that, it's humbling, but it's I mean, it really goes to show that if if you don't listen to the naysayers and you still have a passionate design in your heart and you just bust your tail, that's good things happen. That's going

to do it for this episode of the podcast. If you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and if you have a minute, give it a rating, or share a comment. Five star ratings help more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast