Alejandro Villanueva

Villanueva also served in the 75th Ranger Regiment, earning a Bronze Star.

After finishing his last tour with the 75th Ranger Regiment, Villanueva decided to pursue his NFL career again and began working out at Savannah State University.

Alejandro Villanueva Martín (born September 22, 1988) is a Spanish-American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football for the Army Black Knights and fulfilled his service commitment after graduation, where he reached the rank of captain.

His height, while reported by Army Football in 2009 to be 6 ft, was given by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014 as 6 ft.

Although he went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft, he received a tryout with the Cincinnati Bengals as a tight end, but did not make the team and went back into military service.

Two years later, he made a second attempt to play in the NFL as a tight end.

He was given a tryout and practiced with the Chicago Bears, but was not signed.

After serving three tours of duty in Afghanistan, he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014, but was waived prior to the season.

He then signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers and played for them for six seasons until signing with the Baltimore Ravens in 2021 for his final season.

Villanueva was born on Naval Air Station Meridian in Meridian, Mississippi, to Ignacio Villanueva, a Spanish Naval officer who worked for NATO, and his Spanish wife Matilde Martín.

Both his mother and father are over 6 ft tall.

Alejandro is the eldest of the family's four children, including siblings Carmen, Iñaki and Paloma.

During his childhood, he lived in Rhode Island, Spain, and Belgium.

In Spain he learned to play rugby, which, for a time, he preferred to football, which he began to play in Belgium.

It was while he was attending SHAPE High School in Casteau, Belgium that he was recruited to play American football.

Villanueva's childhood friend whom he'd met at SHAPE was recruited to play football for the Army Black Knights and his friend told the Army coaches about Villanueva.

They kept in touch and Villanueva told him that he was considering attending West Point, where he later enrolled.

His brother Iñaki Villanueva is a professional rugby union player.

He plays with the Spain national rugby union team and with the sevens team.

In March 2014, he paid $245 to attend a regional NFL combine in Flowery Branch, Georgia.

During this time, the NFL held 10 regional combines nationwide and had over 3,000 prospects attend.

In April 2014, he was one of 240 prospects invited to the NFL super regional combine in Detroit and met with representatives from the Philadelphia Eagles.

On May 5, 2014, he was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles for an undisclosed contract to play as a defensive end.

His signing marked the second time the Eagles had signed a military veteran in recent years, having previously had Chad Hall, a wide receiver from the Air Force, as a member of the team.

Villanueva said that if he did not make an NFL roster, he planned to serve a fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan.

He commented, "I see this as a win-win situation. Obviously, I'm trying to get to a team and contribute. But if I can't, then I can't wait to get back to the Army and serve in the same manner that I have."

During training camp, Villanueva gained 40 lb, noting that he is eating a consistent diet, which contrasted with his military career insofar as while in the military, he often did not have time or inclination to eat, whereas with the Eagles, he was getting "plenty to eat".

It was announced on August 23 that he was one of 14 players cut from the team.

On August 21, 2014, during a pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Villanueva was spotted by Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin, who was impressed with his size and athleticism.

Eight days after he was waived by the Philadelphia Eagles, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed him to their practice squad on August 31, 2014.

Upon joining his new team, he was immediately changed from a defensive end to an offensive tackle, as it was thought to better suit him.

As a defensive end for the Eagles, Villanueva weighed 250 lb. Within a year of becoming an offensive tackle, he rose up to 340 lb. Throughout the 2014 season, Villanueva was kept on the practice squad to learn the position, put on more weight, and develop his abilities.

On January 6, 2015, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed him to a two-year, $960,000 reserve/futures contract.

He was in the squad that qualified for the 2016 Olympics, and he played in the Olympic tournament.

Villanueva played college football for the Army Black Knights at several positions, including left tackle, defensive lineman, and wide receiver.

Though originally recruited as a tight end, he played defensive end during his freshman season, mostly on special teams.

In his sophomore season offensive line coach John Tice lobbied to have Villanueva converted to an offensive tackle which occurred near the end of his sophomore year.

By his junior season he started every game at left tackle.

Voted a team captain before his senior year, he reluctantly converted once more to become a 290 lb wide receiver; a feature story in the Army football program read, "Already touted as the tallest football player in the country, Villanueva completed the transformation from being an offensive lineman for the past two years, to running routes on the field with the starting offense last Saturday night."