Alejandro Villanueva shares memorable life experience, reflects on his 'hilarious' NFL career

Veteran's Day was a full-circle moment for Alejandro Villanueva. 

A former member of the United States Army and Pro Bowl left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Villanueva partnered with USAA to host a flag football tournament for military members stationed at Naval Station Rota in Spain ahead of Sunday's game in Madrid between the Commanders and Dolphins. 

"It was incredible," Villanueva said during an interview with CBS Sports. "Soldiers love competition. I think that's the reason why football and the military have such a connection, why USAA has found that niche to be able to promote their awesome products. 

"The base that we're in is in my hometown, so I've grown up in this base. Every single off season I worked out at the field where we held the flag tournament. For me, it was a huge boost to come see my parents and be able to work on behalf of USAA here at the base." 

Villanueva, who was joined at the military base by fellow former NFL players Joe Theismann and Ryan Tannehill, had arguably one of the most improbably careers in NFL history. 

Villanueva played rugby in high school before playing college football at Army. He started as left tackle before switching to tight for his senior season, catching 34 passes for 522 yards and five touchdowns. Villanueva then had an unsuccessful tryout with the Bengals after going undrafted. 

Shortly after his tryout with the Bengals, Villanueva was commissioned into the United States Army. During his five years of service, Villanueva served three tours of duty in Afghanistan and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for helping rescue wounded soldiers while under enemy fire. 

In 2014, Villanueva decided to give his NFL dream another shot. After attending the NFL super regional combine, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a defensive end. It was with the Eagles that Villanueva caught the attention of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin during a preseason game between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Steelers subsequently signed Villanueva to their practice squad shortly after he was waived by the Eagles. 

Villanueva spent that entire year on the practice squad and entered the 2015 season as Pittsburgh's swing tackle. Things quickly changed, however, after the Steelers suffered injuries to two players at his position. In Week 6, Villanueva came into Pittsburgh's home game against the Cardinals after Kelvin Beachum suffered a season-ending injury. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Pittsburgh's following game against the Chiefs would be the first of 114 consecutive starts for Villanueva, including 97 with the Steelers. During that span, he was named to two Pro Bowls and was an integral part of Pittsburgh teams that won three division titles and got to within a game of the Super Bowl in 2016. 

Villanueva was part of Steelers history, too. He helped Le'Veon Bell set the franchise regular and postseason single-game rushing marks and Ben Roethlisberger become the second quarterback to throw for over 500 yards in a postseason game. 

"Hilarious," Villanueva said when asked to sum up his NFL career in one word. "I think what's hilarious is the fact that I thought I could make it into the NFL. If you were to ask somebody who's been in the military for five years, who was not even that good at college, that they can go into the NFL. I think it takes a very incredulous personality, Michael Scott type, to be able to think that they can make it into the NFL.

 "Sometimes, I look back at the things that I wish would have gone right in my career, things that could have played out in so many different ways. And then I always end up saying, like, dude, you played in the NFL. You know how hilarious that is? A Spanish kid from outside of a U.S. military installation, just going to United States and playing football. ... I should be a spokesman for the NFL to encourage every single person around America to try out for the NFL no matter their circumstances." 

Regarding the current Steelers, Villanueva didn't want to speculate on what specifically is hindering Pittsburgh amid its current slump. After a 4-1 start, the Steelers have lost three of their last four games entering Sunday's big divisional showdown with the visiting Bengals. 

Villanueva did open up about Tomlin and his unique leadership skills, skills that have undoubtedly contributed to the Steelers never having a losing season under his watch.

"He's an extremely emotionally intelligent person," Villanueva said. "He gets to know the players, and he's somebody that you feel you can trust in certain ways, and he treats you in a way that allows you to see the National Football League for what it is, your career, for what it is, and in a very individualistic way, allows you to perform to the best of your abilities. 

"So I'm an extremely grateful person to have been coached by coach Tomlin. I have a lot of respect for him. I think he's an amazing person, and I think that as a player, I just could just listen to him for hours and hours and hours, because he's such a good communicator, such a good talker. And there's no messages that he reveals regarding the game of football that are not true, meaning he loves the game. It's everything to him. And so I think players understand that and recognize that. And you know, because of that, he gets the respect that he deserves."