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Anthony Mu\u00f1oz\u2014the greatest offensive linemen to ever play in the National Football League\u2014stood quietly in the middle of the sprawling field at the Oakland Raiders\u2019 training facility in Alameda on July 8, helping teach nearly 350 Bay Area children how to play the game he loves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great, it kind of takes me back when I was growing up with all of my cousins,\u201d said Mu\u00f1oz, reminiscing of his childhood in Southern California. \u201cSo when I see these kids that are out here learning the game and really enjoying it, I just kind of sit back and smile. It\u2019s nice, it\u2019s really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event marked the fifth consecutive year that Mu\u00f1oz has collaborated with the Raiders to host NFL Play 60 Character Camp, as part of the NFL\u2019s year-round Hispanic outreach initiative. The purpose of the event is to promote a healthy lifestyle among youth, encouraging children to stay active and eat healthy while building strong character and having fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is a great opportunity for the kids. They get to learn about the game and exercise, nutrition and character,\u201d said Mu\u00f1oz. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing just being out here on a beautiful day with all these kids and coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1oz, an 11-time Pro Bowler and former offensive tackle who played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1980-1992, is among only a handful of Latino\u2019s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, being inducted in 1998.<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1oz played in two Super Bowls, but had the misfortune of twice facing Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers in 1982 and 1989. Mu\u00f1oz and the Bengals came up just short both times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost twice,\u201d said Mu\u00f1oz. \u201cOf course I would\u2019ve loved to win one or both, but you don\u2019t get stuck on that. I don\u2019t think you get completely over it, but you don\u2019t get stuck. I just don\u2019t like seeing any of these players [he said jokingly]. But it\u2019s all good. Twice. I just have nightmares of Montana, that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, as decorated a career as Mu\u00f1oz has had, the 6-foot-6-inch Mexican-American giant from Ontario, California admits that his first love as a child was baseball. He explained how he would go to recreational parks and play as much baseball as he could during the summer. Unlike the children at the Play 60 Character Camp, Mu\u00f1oz as a child, never had the chance to go to instructional camps or meet any professional athletes.<\/p>\n
Also in attendance at the camp were former Raiders\u2019 offensive lineman Robert Jenkins and Karl Joseph, who was drafted by the Raiders this year. Both Jenkins and Joseph spoke to the children and gave out prizes at the end of camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s wonderful,\u201d said Jenkins, who is also a friend of Mu\u00f1oz. \u201cIn this day and age with some of the things that are going on in our society, Play 60, Anthony Mu\u00f1oz, the character building, the aspect of what is happening here, [it\u2019s] critical because we\u2019re living in a society of moral desensitization. This is a wonderful event\u2026brother Anthony Mu\u00f1oz, who is one of my contemporaries, who I modeled my game after. He\u2019s not only a tremendous role model for these kids, but he was for me. He\u2019s continuing to do exactly what the Lord has called him to do in reaching out and helping the youth of America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Various Bay Area youth groups attended the camp with their children, who realized their dreams of playing football and meeting a football legend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely means a lot [to these kids],\u201d said Thaleya Nickson of Berkeley Youth Alternatives. \u201cThe professional athletes are a huge influences on our young people. I coach the kids and they come in and they want to be the next Stephen Curry and Michael Jordan, so it\u2019s just big when we see the professional athletes come out and actually show the character they need to show, because it\u2019s that stuff that these kids have to learn to move on in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kids were excited even before arriving in Alameda, with some losing sleep the night before football camp from the anticipation.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my boys, his mom was like, \u2018He was telling me all week that he cannot be late,\u2019\u201d said Nickson. \u201cHe was there this morning at like 8:20 a.m. and was there before I got there and he said he had be here on time.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Mu\u00f1oz, he and the NFL will host four more NFL Play 60 Character Camps throughout the country by the end of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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