Ronnie Lott, Anthony Munoz elevated USC's NFL draft reputation
It's not often that one school produces two top-10 NFL draft picks who face each other in a Super Bowl, but that's what happened in Super Bowl XVI
USC football made history on a significant scale in Super Bowl IX in January of 1975. Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh Steelers played Steve Riley of the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl one year after they were drafted. Two USC rookies, both first-round NFL draft picks, met in the Super Bowl.
This doesn't include Minnesota's Ron Yary, the No. 1 pick in the 1968 NFL draft. The quick rise of USC rookies from the first round to the Super Bowl was the story attached to the Swann-Riley plot line.
Several years later, USC greats Ronnie Lott and Anthony Munoz met in Super Bowl XVI between the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals. Yes, this was not a meeting of USC first-round rookies. Munoz was in his second year with the Bengals after being drafted in 1980.
Lott was a rookie, coming out of the 1981 NFL draft class. Nevertheless, Super Bowl XVI -- at the conclusion of the 1981 NFL season -- gave USC's NFL draft reputation (which was already sterling) an even bigger boost. Both Lott and Munoz were top-10 picks in the NFL draft -- Lott at 8, Munoz at 3.