Since his younger brother had the stronger throwing arm, Ali Villanueva spent hours running pass patterns in his backyard as a child. Villanueva wanted to be a receiver, score touchdowns and hear the roar of the crowd.
Villanueva had the hands - but not the body.
Villanueva was always tall and big for his age. So tall and big, in fact, that he naturally gravitated towards basketball. Villanueva, the son of military parents, actually didn't play competitive football for the first time until he attended the American high school in Belgium. When he strolled through the gates of West Point in 2006 as a 6-foot-10, 310-pound plebe, Villanueva started the football season at -- take a guess -- defensive end before being switched to offensive line a year later.
Well, brace yourself.
