Pro Football Historian (PFH) is a blog page written by Flint Given. Pro Football Historian or PFH is a page to inform people on prior NFL events that people might not know about. Learning about teams from the 1920s or even the first few NFL World Championships in the 1930s fascinates me. It's these kinds of events that I want to discuss in this blog. Hopefully you are interested and will continue to check up on my blogs. Check out the website at https://profootballhistorian.lovable.app/
Bruce Rankin Matthews is an American former professional football player who played as a guard, center, offensive tackle, and long snapper in the National Football League for 19 seasons, from 1983 to 2001. He spent his entire career playing for the Houston / Tennessee Oilers / Titans franchise. Highly versatile, Matthews played every position on the offensive line throughout his NFL career, starting in 99 games as a left guard, 87 as a center, 67 as a right guard, 22 as a right tackle, 17 as a left tackle, and was the long snapper on field goals, PATs, and punts. Having never missed a game due to injury, Matthews' 293 NFL games started is the third most of all time, behind quarterbacks Brett Favre and Tom Brady.
Matthews played college football for the University of Southern California, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American for the USC Trojans football team as a senior. Matthews was selected in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft by the Oilers and was a 14-time Pro Bowl selection, tied for the second-most in NFL history, and a nine-time first-team All-Pro. Matthews was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007, and his number 74 jersey is retired by the Titans.
After retiring as a player, Matthews served as an assistant coach for the Houston Texans and Titans. A member of the Matthews family of football players, he is the brother of linebacker Clay Matthews Jr.; father of center Kevin Matthews and tackle Jake Matthews; and uncle of linebacker Clay Matthews III and linebacker Casey Matthews.
Matthews is considered to be one of the most versatile offensive linemen to play in the NFL. He started in 99 games as a left guard, 67 as a right guard, 87 as a center, 22 as a right tackle, 17 as a left tackle, and was the snapper on field goals, PATs, and punts. Matthews was selected to 14 Pro Bowls, which at the time tied a league record set by Merlin Olsen. Matthews was also named a first-team All-Pro nine times and an All-American Football Conference selection 12 times. An extremely durable player, Matthews retired after the 2001 season having played more games (296) than any NFL player, excluding kickers and punters, and played in more seasons (19) than any offensive lineman. He never missed a game due to injury, and started 229 consecutive games. Matthews is the only player who played against the Baltimore Colts in their last game at Memorial Stadium in 1983 and against the Baltimore Ravens in their last game at Memorial Stadium in 1997.
The Houston Oilers drafted Matthews with the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft. During his first two seasons, Matthews blocked for future Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell. As a rookie, Matthews played guard and was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. Before his second season, Matthews was moved from right guard to center, snapping to rookie quarterback Warren Moon. However, Matthews played multiple positions that season due to injuries on the offensive line; at one point he played center, guard, and tackle in successive weeks. In 1985 and 1986, Matthews alternated between right and left tackle.
Matthews sat out of the first eight games of the 1987 season due to a contract dispute. When he returned, Matthews was moved back to right guard. He remained at the right guard position in 1988, 1989, and 1990, being named to the Pro Bowl each season. Matthews also earned first-team All-Pro recognition each year from the Associated Press (AP), Pro Football Weekly, and The Sporting News. He thrived in the run and shoot offensive scheme adopted by the Oilers around this time, which required linemen to be exceptionally agile. The holes Matthews opened up helped running back Mike Rozier to consecutive Pro Bowls in 1987 and 1988.
The Oilers placed Matthews at center for the final game of the 1990 season in an effort to bolster the team's running game. Of the move, Matthews said, "I'd like to stay at guard, but forces greater than myself make these adjustments." Behind blocking by Matthews and fellow future Hall of Fame guard Mike Munchak, Oilers quarterback Warren Moon led the league in passing yards in 1990 and 1991, and running back Lorenzo White was a 1992 Pro Bowl selection. Matthews remained the team's center through the 1994 season, being named to the Pro Bowl each year.
Prior to the 1995 season, Matthews signed a four-year, $10.3 million contract extension with the Oilers. That year, the Oilers signed free agent center Mark Stepnoski, and as a result, Matthews moved to left guard. He spent the majority of the rest of his career at the position, occasionally filling in for injured players along the offensive line. During this time, the Oilers left Houston for Tennessee after the 1996 season. Matthews' blocking helped running back Eddie George to four straight Pro Bowl seasons.
In 1999, at age 37, Matthews signed another four-year contract to remain with the Oilers. That season, the Oilers rebranded as the Tennessee Titans. The team won 13 games, plus three more in the playoffs before losing to the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Matthews retired from football prior to the 2002 season at the age of 40.
On February 27, 2009, Matthews returned to Houston where he was signed on as an offensive assistant with the Houston Texans after volunteer coaching at his children's high school, Elkins High School.
On February 9, 2011, Matthews was hired as offensive line coach by new Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak. Both were Hall of Fame linemen for the Houston Oilers. Regarding his new job, Matthews stated, "For me this is an opportunity of a lifetime. It is such a unique opportunity to work with Mike because I think he will do a great job. It is just one of those things I couldn't pass up."
After the Titans finished the 2013 season with a 7–9 record, general manager Ruston Webster and president/CEO Tommy Smith met with Munchak and gave him the option to fire a large contingent of assistant coaches, which included Matthews, in exchange for an extension and a raise, or lose his job as head coach. Munchak was not willing to fire everyone they were ordering him to fire, so Munchak parted ways with the Titans, along with Matthews and the other assistant coaches they wanted him to fire.
In his first year of eligibility, Matthews was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2007. He was inducted during the Enshrinement Ceremony on August 4, 2007, with the unveiling of his bust, sculpted by Scott Myers. Matthews was the first player from the Tennessee Titans to be given this honor since the relocation from Houston. He was the fifth player from the 1983 NFL draft class to be enshrined, joining Dan Marino, Eric Dickerson, John Elway, and Jim Kelly; Darrell Green, Richard Dent, and Jim Covert later became the sixth, seventh, and eighth members. Matthews was selected as a guard on the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1990s. In 2010, he was ranked 78th on The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players by the NFL Network. At the 2020 Super Bowl, Matthews was named to the NFL 100 All-Time Team as one of the top 100 players of the first 100 years of the NFL.
Matthews comes from a football family. A devout Christian as evidenced in his Hall of Fame Speech, Matthews is the son of Clay Matthews Sr., who played in the NFL in the 1950s. His brother, Clay Jr., also played 19 seasons in the NFL. Bruce is the uncle of linebacker Clay Matthews III, former NFL linebacker Casey Matthews, and Kyle Matthews of USC football. Bruce and his wife, Carrie, have seven kids: Steven, Kevin, Marilyn, Jake, Mike, Luke, and Gwen. Kevin Matthews played center for Texas A&M until the 2009 football season and then played in the NFL for five years as a member of the Titans and Carolina Panthers. Jake Matthews played offensive tackle for Texas A&M and is currently the starting left tackle of the Atlanta Falcons. Mike Matthews played on the offensive line for Texas A&M, where he was the starting center. His youngest son, Luke, is currently a senior at Texas A&M. Matthews is also the uncle of tight end Troy Niklas by way of his wife's sister.
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Michael Anthony Munchak is an American former professional football player and coach. After playing college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, Munchak played as a guard for the Houston Oilers of the National Football League, from 1982 until 1993 and was a nine-time selection to the Pro Bowl. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
After his retirement, Munchak continued his association with the Houston franchise by becoming an assistant coach. He joined the staff in 1994 as an offensive assistant and quality control coach and stayed with the franchise after it moved to Tennessee and became known as the Tennessee Titans, eventually becoming its offensive line coach in 1997 and serving in that position for 14 years.
Munchak became the Titans head coach in 2011 but was fired after the 2013 season, ending his 31-year association with the franchise. Munchak then served as offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers for five years before becoming the offensive line coach for the Denver Broncos until 2021.
During the 1982 NFL draft, Munchak was chosen as the Houston Oilers' first round draft pick (8th overall), making him the first offensive lineman drafted that year. In his rookie season, Munchak quickly earned a starting position at the left guard position. He remained in that position for 12 seasons. During that time, Munchak garnered nine Pro Bowl nominations, twice first-team All-Pro, seven All-AFC, and six second-team All-Pro selections. He was also selected for the 1980s All-Decade Team. Munchak's 12-year tenure tied for the second most seasons played with the Houston Oilers.
In 1994, only a year after retiring as a player, Munchak joined the Houston Oilers staff as an offensive assistant/quality control coach. In 1997 Munchak was named offensive line coach of the newly relocated Tennessee Oilers, a position he held for the next fourteen seasons. Following Jeff Fisher's departure as head coach, Munchak was named head coach of the Titans on February 7, 2011. The 2011 season marked his 30th season with the organization. The 2013 season, Munchak's third as head coach, yielded a record of 7–9. That offseason, franchise CEO Tommy Smith and general manager Ruston Webster requested Munchak to replace at least six assistant coaches. Munchak disagreed with some of these requests and refused to fully enact those changes in his staff. Munchak was consequently relieved of his position on January 4, 2014.
The 2014 season marked the first season since 1982 that Munchak had no involvement (as a player or coach) with the Oilers/Titans franchise. He eventually became the offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a 2015 NFL playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Munchak yanked Bengals player Reggie Nelson's hair, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Munchak was subsequently issued a $10,000 fine by the NFL for the incident that was later rescinded after it was determined that the incident was inadvertent.
After being a finalist for the Denver Broncos' head coach position, the team hired Munchak to be their offensive line coach on January 14, 2019. Munchak missed the team's Week 8 game in 2020 against the Los Angeles Chargers due to COVID-19 protocols. On February 2, 2022, it was announced that the Broncos would be parting ways with Munchak.
Munchak was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001, along with Nick Buoniconti, Marv Levy, Jackie Slater, Lynn Swann, Ron Yary, and Jack Youngblood.
In June 2003, Munchak was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.
The street in front of Scranton High School is named for Munchak.
The United Way of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania has a charity golf tournament named after Munchak. Each year, the tournament is held the last week of June at The Country Club of Scranton in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania.
Munchak and his wife, Marci, have two daughters: Alex and Julie.
"Hall of Famers » MIKE MUNCHAK". Profootballhof.com. Retrieved February 11, 2011. Named 16th head coach at Penn State.
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