| No. 11 | |||||
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| Position: | Placekicker /Punter | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born: | (1937-11-05)November 5, 1937 Tucumcari, New Mexico, U.S. | ||||
| Died: | June 18, 2015(2015-06-18) (aged 77) Ventura, California, U.S. | ||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Calexico | ||||
| College: | New Mexico State | ||||
| Undrafted: | 1960 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Daniel Dario Villanueva (November 5, 1937 – June 18, 2015) was anAmerican football professional player, television andMajor League Soccer executive. Villanueva was aplacekicker andpunter who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theLos Angeles Rams and theDallas Cowboys. Villanueva, who was of Mexican American descent, playedcollege football atNew Mexico State University.
A news director and broadcasting executive, Villanueva was a co-founder ofUnivision, a majorSpanish-languagetelevision network in the United States.[1]
Villanueva graduated in 1956 from Calexico Union High School (the Bulldogs) and attendedReedley College, before accepting a scholarship to play college football atNew Mexico State University. As a senior, he made 7 out of 8 field goal attempts, including a long one of 47 yards. While at NMSU he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.
He was part of the teams that won back to backSun Bowl games in 1959 and 1960, as well as going undefeated his senior season. These were significant accomplishments, considering that more than 50 years have passed without another postseason appearance for the New Mexico State University football teams.
In 1970, he was inducted into the New Mexico State University Athletics Hall of Fame.
Villanueva was signed as anundrafted free agent by theLos Angeles Rams after the1960 NFL draft, becoming one of the earliest players of Mexican descent in theNFL, and one of the last straight-away style placekickers. Villanueva was both a placekicker and a punter, so he kept two different pairs of shoes on game day.
During his time with the Rams he was nicknamed "El Kickador" and "El Toe-reador", with bullfighting music being played whenever he walked onto the field at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In 1962, he led the NFL in punting, set the Rams' record for the longestfield goal (51 yards) and the single-season record for punting average (45.5), which lasted for 45 years until it was broken in 2007 by Donnie Jones.[2] In 1963, he ranked third in the NFL in punting with a 45.4-yard average.
He led the team in scoring from 1960 to 1963, untilBruce Gossett won theplacekicker starting job in 1964. On May 14, 1966, the Rams traded him to theDallas Cowboys, in exchange forwide receiver and future hall of famerTommy McDonald.[3] He left as the Rams career gross average punting leader with 44.3 yards, a record that was broken byDonnie Jones in2009.
In 1965, he had an instant impact improving thespecial teams unit, eventually setting the franchise record with 100 consecutiveextra point conversions (1965–1967). In 1966, he ranked second in the league in scoring, with a career-high 107 points, while setting the Cowboys record for most extra points made without a miss in a season with 56.[4]
Villanueva retired after the1967 NFL Championship Game famously known as "The Ice Bowl". He finished with a 42.8 career punting average without a block and 491 career points.
Villanueva was the first general manager of theLos Angeles Galaxy, serving from 1994 to 1998.
Villanueva went on to become a self-made multimillionaire. He started as a sports broadcaster onKNBC in Los Angeles, California. In the 1970s he became part-owner of the Spanish International Network (SIN), a Spanish-language network based in the United States with stations located in cities across the US with significant Spanish language populations. In 1986, the network was sold and renamed toUnivision. Villanueva launched the annual "Navidad en el Barrio" telethon in 1971 to raise money for toys and food for needy Hispanic families in Southern California during the Christmas season, which was televised annually in December from 1971 to the early 1990s onKMEX-TV. In 1990, he launched the annualFiesta Broadway Cinco de Mayo celebration which takes place in downtown Los Angeles.
In 1988, he was inducted into the National Hispanic Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural group. In 2003 the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences inducted him into the Management Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural group. In 2007, he was inducted into the Hispanic Sports Foundation for Education Inc.'s National Hispanic Hall Of Fame. He died after a stroke in 2015.[5][6]
He was married to Myrna Schmidt, with whom he had two sons Daniel L. and Jim.[7] His brother,Primo Villanueva, was one of the first Hispanic surnamed players in theCanadian Football League (CFL). He died on June 18, 2015.
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