Bill Munson

William Alan Munson (August 11, 1941 – July 10, 2000) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 through 1979. He also played college football for the Utah State Aggies where he set multiple passing records as a senior in 1963.

Drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the first round of the 1964 NFL draft, Munson was the Rams' starting quarterback in 1964 and 1965 and a backup to Roman Gabriel in 1966 and 1967. In 1968, Munson was traded to the Detroit Lions where he remained for eight seasons (1968–1975), competing all the while for the starting quarterback position with Greg Landry. Munson concluded his career as a backup quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks (1976), San Diego Chargers (1977), and Buffalo Bills (1978–1979).

In 16 NFL seasons, Munson appeared in 107 games, 66 of them as a starting quarterback. His teams compiled a 27–34–5 record in the 66 games he started. Munson completed 1,070 of 1,982 passes for 12,896 yards, 84 touchdowns, and 80 interceptions. He also accumulated 548 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 130 carries.

Early life Munson was born in Sacramento, California, in 1941. He moved to Lodi, California, as a boy and attended Lodi High School.

Munson attended Utah State University where he played college football for the Utah State Aggies football team. As senior in 1963, he led the Aggies to an 8-2 record and broke multiple school passing records, completing 120 of 201 passes (.592 completion percentage) for 1,699 yards, 12 touchdowns, and three interceptions. He was also named Utah State's athlete of the year for the 1963–64 academic year.

Professional football Los Angeles Rams Munson was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the first round, seventh overall pick, of the 1964 NFL draft. ranking as the longest pass play in the NFL during the 1964 season. The following year, he started the first 10 games for the Rams, compiling a 1–9 record, but missed the final four games due to a knee injury. Munson eventually lost the starting quarterback job to Roman Gabriel and saw only limited action as a backup for the Rams in 1966 and 1967.

Detroit Lions In May 1968, Munson was traded by the Rams to the Detroit Lions along with a third round draft pick in exchange for Pat Studstill, Tom Watkins, Milt Plum, and Detroit's first round draft pick in the 1969 NFL/AFL draft. For the next eight years, Munson competed for the Lions' starting quarterback job with Greg Landry, who the Lions had selected with their first round pick in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft.

In his first season in Detroit, Munson started 10 games for the Lions, leading them to a 4–6–2 record and completing 181 of 329 passes for a career-high 2,311 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His 2.4% interception percentage was the best in the NFL in 1968. and Munson started 11 of 14 games for the Lions, completing 166 of 292 passes for 1,874 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. Munson spent the 1976 season as a backup for the Seahawks. He concluded his career serving as a backup for the San Diego Chargers (signed as a free agent) in 1977 and for the Buffalo Bills (traded by the Chargers) in 1978 and 1979.

Career statistics Munson played for five NFL teams over 16 years from 1964 to 1979. He appeared in 107 games, 66 of them as a starting quarterback. His teams compiled a 27-34-5 record in the 66 games he started. Munson completed 1,070 of 1,982 passes for 12,896 yards, 84 touchdowns, and 80 interceptions. He also accumulated 548 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 130 carries.

NFL career statistics Legend Led the league Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks 1964 LA 11 8 2–4–2 108 223 48.4 1,533 6.9 95 9 15 56.5 19 150 7.9 33 0 42 307 1965 LA 10 10 1–9 144 267 53.9 1,701 6.4 47 10 14 64.2 26 157 6.0 38 1 30 244 1966 LA 5 0 – 30 50 60.0 284 5.7 25 2 1 80.7 4 3 0.8 2 0 6 32 1967 LA 5 0 – 5 10 50.0 38 3.8 18 1 2 53.3 2 -22 -11.0 - 0 1 12 1968 DET 12 12 4–6–2 181 329 55.0 2,311 7.0 86 15 8 82.3 25 109 4.4 20 1 39 279 1969 DET 8 7 4–2–1 84 166 50.6 1,062 6.4 62 7 8 64.9 7 31 4.4 13 0 12 93 1970 DET 8 8 5–3 84 158 53.2 1,049 6.6 56 10 7 76.7 9 33 3.7 11 0 10 66 1971 DET 4 0 – 21 38 55.3 216 5.7 34 1 1 69.6 3 9 3.0 6 0 1 5 1972 DET 2 0 – 20 35 57.1 194 5.5 29 1 1 70.4 1 0 0.0 0 0 1 0 1973 DET 10 7 4–3 95 187 50.8 1,129 6.0 54 9 8 67.8 10 33 3.3 11 0 14 94 1974 DET 11 11 6–5 166 292 56.8 1,874 6.4 56 8 7 75.3 18 40 2.2 9 1 24 172 1975 DET 5 3 1–2 65 109 59.6 626 5.7 32 5 2 83.4 4 -3 -0.8 2 0 8 65 1976 SEA 5 0 – 20 37 54.1 295 8.0 44 1 3 55.6 1 6 6.0 6 0 3 29 1977 SDG 4 0 – 20 31 64.5 225 7.3 28 1 1 83.4 1 2 2.0 2 0 1 11 1978 BUF 4 0 – 24 43 55.8 328 7.6 43 4 2 92.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1979 BUF 3 0 – 3 7 42.9 31 4.4 16 0 0 56.2 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Career 107 66 27–34–5 1,070 1,982 54.0 12,896 6.5 95 84 80 71.5 130 548 4.2 38 3 192 1,409

Playoffs Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks 1967 RAM 1 0 – 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1970 DET 1 0 – 2 8 25.0 44 5.5 39 0 1 10.4 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Career 2 0 – 2 8 25.0 44 5.5 39 0 1 10.4 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0