However, injuries had cut Muñoz's freshman and junior seasons short, forcing him to miss the team's Rose Bowl wins in both years.

Muñoz could have requested a medical redshirt, enabling him to play as a 5th year senior in 1980, or simply focused on getting ready for the upcoming NFL draft, but he insisted on coming back for the Rose Bowl.

His selection was viewed as a major risk by many pundits since knee problems limited the 6 ft. 6 in., 280-pound Muñoz to just a combined 16 games in his final two college seasons.

His rigorous workout routine included working out in the weight room he had installed in his home and running three to four miles every day.

Muñoz played in two Super Bowls during his time with the Bengals, XVI and XXIII, both narrow losses to the San Francisco 49ers.

At the time of his retirement, his Pro Bowl selections were tied with Tom Mack for the most ever by an offensive lineman in league history, and also set the Bengals franchise record.

The renaming ceremony was held on June 26, 1998, and was attended by Muñoz, his family, city officials, and Ontario residents.

On November 14, 2012, Allstate dedicated a Hometown Hall of Famers plaque to Muñoz at Chaffey High School.

He describes the event: The final touchdown pass, there were probably 30,000 people in that stadium viewing a bunch of old guys playing a flag football game, but to see (Montana) throw to (DeBartolo) for the final touchdown there and to hear the fans go crazy and to see the admiration from these former players like Ronnie Lott and Joe Montana; that to me was impressive... to me, that's what it's all about.

[17]Muñoz is of Mexican–American descent from the state of Chihuahua in Mexico and met his wife at USC; they married during his sophomore year in 1978.