Houston Sports - Mike Munchak

Mike Munchak

Born: March 5, 1960

Sport: Football (All American, 9-time Pro Bowl, 8-time All Pro, Hall of Fame) 

The current Houston professional football team played the former Houston professional football team today, and for the second time this season the Texans ended up on top, beating the Titans.  Plenty of figures have been involved on both sides of the rivalry, or have at least called both locations "home" during their careers.  It has been a sore point for many years that an organization in Nashville can claim the legacies of Houston's best players, but that just adds to a hard-fought rivalry that has a historical head-to-head record of exactly 24 wins apiece.  This week we'll get to learn about a great player who spent his entire playing career in Space City but landed in rival territory when it came time to have a coaching career.  It should be noted, however, that only the Houston portion of the resume of Mike Munchak was worthy of being enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  So yeah, that's one more way we beat the Titans...

The Astrodome during Munchak's 1982 rookie season

Mike Munchak was born in 1960 to Michael "Mooney" Munchak and his wife, Paula, in the Rust Belt city of Scranton, Pennsylvania.  As the only son in a family of six children, young Mike was active in multiple sports while growing up and lettered in football, baseball, and track during his time at Scranton's Central High School.  Penn State was just a 2.5 hour drive away from home, and when he graduated in 1978 the Nittany Lions recruited Munchak to play defensive line.  After his freshman season, however, he was switched to the offensive side of the ball and it would turn out to be a fateful decision.  Munchak was a starter during his sophomore and senior seasons, but lost his entire junior year to a knee injury.  Although his time was limited, Munchak made an impact early and often, earning second team All American honors as a senior and garnering enough national recognition to climb into the first round of the 1982 NFL Draft.  The Houston Oilers called his name with the 8th pick, the first offensive lineman to be selected and also the first of four names in the class that would eventually make it into the Hall of Fame.

As Mike Munchak began his professional career, one of the first things he realized was that he would get to block for Earl Campbell, the star running back of the Oilers.  But first he had to prove himself enough in training camp to get on the field.  Munchak did that, and more, by earning a starting spot at left guard before the preseason was over.  Unfortunately, after playing just two games of the season a players' strike began which lasted two months.  Once that was over, Munchak sustained a broken ankle during his first game back.  The Oilers would lose every one of the remaining games on the schedule, but their rookie offensive lineman surprised everyone by pressing through recovery in time to play in the final game of the season.  It may have been a meaningless game in the standings, but Munchak proved to everyone that he had the heart and drive to match his obvious talent.  Because of their poor record, the Oilers got the first pick in the 1983 NFL Draft and they used it on Bruce Matthews.  Munchak and Matthews were both offensive linemen and became best friends and teammates for 11 seasons, and each of them introduced the other when they were inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Munchak also married his college girlfriend, Marci, in 1983 and the couple eventually had two children.  After playing every game during his second season in the league, arthroscopic knee surgery during the offseason threatened his ability to play in the 1984 opener.  But just as he had before, Munchak worked hard to get back on the field and not only played in every game of year three but earned Pro Bowl honors for the first time.  In fact, the 1983 season was the only one of his career that he played at least 10 games without making the Pro Bowl or All Pro teams.

The Oilers had made a commitment to build their offensive line through the draft and Mike Munchak was the first piece - in fact, some would suggest he was the anchor to the entire offense.  After several losing seasons, the group finally began to gel and the rest of the team finally came together to play winning football in 1987.  That year they advanced to the playoffs for the first of seven consecutive seasons, each of which would end with Munchak getting both Pro Bowl and All Pro honors.  His ability to play a total of 159 games during his 12 seasons belied the reality that the demands of his position had taken their toll on his aging body.  Munchak had nine knee surgeries, an elbow surgery, chronic shoulder injuries, and a neck strain that cost him the end of the 1992 season, and by the end of 1993 he was ready to step away from the game that had made him famous, in spite of his constant habit of avoiding the spotlight and focusing on the efforts of his teammates.  The Oilers didn't let him get too far away, however, and hired him as an offensive assistant just a year after his retirement.  After retiring his number in 1996, the team then promoted him in 1997 to offensive line coach, where he stayed for a total of 14 seasons.  Munchak remained with the team as they moved to Tennessee and then changed their name to the Titans two years later.  He enjoyed their playoff run to the Super Bowl in 1999, the same year they added him to the team's Ring of Honor, only to see them come up short in a loss to the St. Louis Rams.  Munchak was honored with induction into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, followed by being honored by the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.  After the conclusion of the 2010 season, longtime head coach Jeff Fisher resigned and the organization decided to hire Munchak as their new head coach.  After three seasons, during which he compiled a 22-26 record, a dispute with the front office led to his dismissal after over 30 years with the team.  He spent five seasons as offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by three seasons at the same position for the Denver Broncos, but was never again hired as a head coach or brought back into a role with the Titans organization.  Although he has consulted with the Los Angeles Rams under head coach Sean McVey, Munchak is currently not affiliated with any team but has expressed an interest in returning to football.  Time will tell if this fan favorite will get his wish.

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