Despite being away from the game for so long, National Football League (NFL) Hall of Famer Anthony Muñoz and his philanthropic Muñoz Agency continue to be a huge part of the league as part of the NFL's year-round Hispanic outreach initiative focused on offering youths opportunities to play and experience the game of football.

"I saw it first-hand how well-known American football is, how much they love it, how much they coach and play it when I went down [in 2005] to see the [Arizona] Cardinals and [San Francisco] 49ers play down there in Mexico City," said Muñoz to Latin Post. "To have 100,003 people packed in, in a Super Bowl-like atmosphere for a regular-season game, it's obvious that the fanbase is there and it continues to grow. I'd love to see the fanbase increase [league-wide] over the years like it has for the [Dallas] Cowboys and [Oakland] Raiders, but it's exciting to be a part of that. And now with the outreach we're having along with the NFL, it's exciting to get an even younger fanbase and introduce them to American football and bring those fans into the fold."

Muñoz has hosted his non-contact football camps in NFL market cities such as Kansas City, Charlotte, and Dallas with the support from their respective local teams, welcoming boys and girls ranging in the ages 9 to 13 years old with little or no familiarity for the game. The camps hope to not only teach fundamental football skills and address the need for more daily exercise, but also aim to reinforce the importance of building character in both athletics and in life.

"I take about 150 inner-city kids for four days and we don't just teach them football. We just use football as a platform," said Muñoz. "Football is about 50-55 percent of the time spent, the other 45-50 percent we teach them about character and leadership, life skills like working together as a team."

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Muñoz started the program alongside his son, Michael -- who earned his MBA at Miami University in Ohio after his playing days at the University of Tennessee had ended, and started a full-service marketing agency. While hesitant about getting involved in sports marketing, the Muñozes decided to pool their resources together to build something that was more community-orientated compared to what other agencies were doing.

"I tell people 'I'm not a genius but I'm smart enough to surround myself around a lot smart guys like my son and my team,'" said Muñoz. "I've been out of the league for 22 years but I stayed engaged with a lot of committees and a lot of initiatives. I said 'Michael, what we gotta do is take this "Play60" Program, which is a great program, and we have to incorporate the character and the team-building and it'll be a win-win.' And we really have to do an outreach to the Hispanic community."

Muñoz is enjoying watching his camp grow, not only attaining sponsorship money from Procter & Gamble, but also hosting a camp this year that attracted 500 children who came out to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a non-NFL market.

"We're thankful to have a partnership with the NFL but also having sponsors on-board as well," said Muñoz. "We're excited about the outreach to the Hispanic community. It's something where I tell people I'm an old guy now and I've done a lot of football camps but if it wasn't for this camp incorporating the character aspect, the life skills and the team-building, I would not be involved and flying all over the country to teach this great game of football and to teach them what it means to be a person of character, to stay healthy, be well and exercise. That motivates me as a person."

Muñoz was an 11-time All-Pro offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals who went to two Super Bowls (Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XXIII) protecting the blindside for quarterbacks such as Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason from opposing defensive ends and blitzing linebackers, winning "Offensive Lineman of the Year" honors three times.

The Cincinnati Bengals icon was also noted for how he carried himself off the field of play, having won the "Bart Starr Award" in 1989 -- given to the NFL player who exemplifies character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community -- as well as the "Walter Payton Man of the Year" honors in 1991 -- recognizing his off-the-field community service and charity work.

Being one of only a handful of Hispanic players in the league during his active years in the league (1980 to 1992), Muñoz was extremely proud of his heritage.

"I played my college football in SC [University of Southern California] which had a pretty big Hispanic population and I took a lot of pride being one of the few Latinos in the NFL," said Muñoz. "It meant a lot I was a role model not only for all young people, but especially for young Latinos that, hey, you can dream and you can dream big. It was something that was in the back of my mind and when I was asked, I let people know that my grandparents and my great-grandparents were from Mexico and that was my culture. Coming into the league in the late 70s and early 80s, with my hair down to my shoulders everyone thought I was Hawaiian because I was so big. I really believed in who I was and I believed in my culture and my background. It was an important part for me."


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