Alejandro Villanueva’s NFL career was one of the more unlikely in recent memory. After playing multiple positions, including wide receiver, at Army, Villanueva served three combat tours in Afghanistan as a decorated Army Ranger. Returning to football with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014 as a defensive lineman, Villanueva was released in the preseason before catching on with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who signed him as an offensive tackle. During his seven-year career in Pittsburgh, Villanueva became the Steelers’ starting left tackle and was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
On this week’s episode of the NFL Players Second Acts podcast, Villanueva joined hosts Pat Tillman and Roman Harper to discuss his career. Every player, whether they’re a high pick from an SEC school or an undrafted Army veteran fighting for their career, has a “welcome to the NFL” moment.
Villanueva’s came in 2015 when he was thrust into the starting lineup against the Arizona Cardinals because of an injury to Kelvin Beachum.
“My first start was against the Arizona Cardinals, and I had to go against Dwight Freeney, Calais Campbell, LaMarr Woodley,” Villanueva said. “And I remember [Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak] was a head coach for the Titans. So he had gone against Dwight Freeney for many, many years when he was playing with the Indianapolis Colts. And he said, ‘Listen, be very careful with the spin move.’”
Dwight Freeney was a 13-year NFL veteran at that point and known for his signature spin move, one with which he tortured offensive linemen on the way to 125.5 career sacks. Villanueva said he could “hear coach [Todd] Haley screaming from the sidelines” warning him about the spin move but felt confident that he had the situation under control.
“Again, he did the spin move. Beat me clean,” Villanueva continued. “The guard was not looking. And thankfully, the quarterback got the ball out. But that’s when I started realizing that even if you prepare, you have to give an incredible amount. You have to almost become the hero and beat the legend in order for you to thrive in the NFL.
“You have to get these old NFL legends, and you have to be able to beat them somehow by proving that you can also think just like them. That you can also think outside the box and come up with something he’s never seen before. And for him to reconsider whether he should be playing in the NFL. [Freeney] did not do it that game. He continued on to play for the rest of the year very happily.”
Villanueva clearly has a vivid recollection of the lesson that Dwight Freeney taught him that day. Even though it didn’t cost the inexperienced Villanueva on that play, he learned a valuable lesson that day that he carried with him as he was beginning his time as a starter on the Steelers’ offensive line.
After that first outing against Arizona, and in part because of Beachum’s season-ending ACL injury, Villanueva became a stalwart at left tackle. The former undrafted free agent started the final 10 games of that regular season, and he didn’t miss a game for the next five seasons. When Beachum departed in free agency following the 2015 season, Villanueva became the full-time starter at left tackle.
During the mid-to-late 2010s, the Steelers’ offensive line was one of the best in football, as Villanueva and fellow Pro Bowlers Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro allowed the Steelers’ offense to flourish and exploit their abundance of skill-position talent. Possessing a talented offensive line along with Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell allowed the Pittsburgh offense to soar to new heights.
On an offensive line made up of two first-round picks (Pouncey, DeCastro) and a second rounder (Marcus Gilbert), an unheralded tackle with an inspiring career path was the final piece to the collection of talent that allowed the Pittsburgh offense to achieve top-10 status each for four straight seasons from 2015-18. There is no singular path to becoming a star player in the NFL. Alejandro Villanueva’s circuitous path to prominence is proof of that. His willingness to learn from his first moments on the field surely contributed to his fast rise with the Steelers.
