Primo Villanueva
UCLA | |
Career history | |
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As player | |
1955–1960 | BC Lions |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Primo Villanueva (born December 2, 1931) is an American former
Biography
Early years
Villanueva is a Mexican-American who grew up in Calexico and attended Central Union High School in California's Imperial Valley.[1][2] He had eleven siblings,[3] and his father, Primitivo, fought against Pancho Villa in 1916 and was granted immunity to enter the United States. He attended Central Union High School where he gained recognition as the best athlete in Imperial Valley prep sports history, after earning All-CIF honors for three straight years in three sports: football, basketball, baseball)\. He also ran track.[4]
Football player
Villanueva accepted a football scholarship to play for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), over offers from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University.
Villanueva played
At the end of the 1954 season, Villanueva was selected to play in the
In January 1955, the Southern California Council of Mexican-American Affairs honored Villanueva at its first testimonial dinner.[8][9] At the time, Los Angeles Times columnist Dick Hyland pointed to Villanueva as an example for the city's youth:
Primo Villanueva was and is an athlete, a great football player. But he was not always so. ... Ask Primo Villanueva about some of the boys he was raised with -- and be sure and ask him what athletics did for him.[9]
After graduating from UCLA, Villanueva played professional football for the
Restaurateur
In 1959, Villanueva opened a Mexican restaurant, Primo's Mexican Grill, in
Villanueva was a successful restaurateur for more than 40 years before turning over management to his son in the 1990s.[5] He also founded a business that made and sold salsa, chips and tortillas.[5] In March 2009, he was inducted into the British Columbia Restaurant Hall of Fame.[13]Family
As of 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Villanueva was living in Surrey, British Columbia with his second wife, Phyllis.[5]
Villanueva's younger brother, Danny Villanueva, was a punter and place-kicker for the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys.[5] He was known as the "El Toe-reador", led the NFL in punting in 1962, and led the Rams in scoring in 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963.[3] Interviewed in 1962, Danny Villanueva recalled playing football with Primo as a boy:
Danny says his mother used lo listen to their high school game on the radio hack home in Tucumcari and lock them out when they played poorly.[3]
References
- ^ a b Dick Hyland (1953-05-31). "Villanueva's Passes, Runs Spark Bruin Grid Workout". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b Dick Hyland (1954-10-31). "Villanueva Sparks Bruins to 27-6 Win: Calexico 1954 Rose BowlKid Bests Larson, Cal". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b c "'El Toe-reador' Villanuevar Nears Rams Punting Record". Albuquerque Journal. 1962-12-07.
- ^ "Villanueva inducted to Hall of Fame - Imperial Valley Press Online". Archived from the original on 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
- ^ a b c d e f Jerry Crowe (2006-11-06). "Crowe's Nest: These Bruins still savor 1954 as the benchmark". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b c "Bruin Statistics Dominated by Trio: Villanueva, Decker and Davenport Lead PCC Champions in Offensive Maneuvers". Los Angeles Times. 1954-11-27.
- ^ "Villanueva, Ray, Crow to Play in Senior Bowl". Los Angeles Times. 1954-12-12.
- ^ "Primo Villanueva to Be Honored". Los Angeles Times. 1955-01-04.
- ^ a b Dick Hyland (1955-01-16). "Hyland Fling". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Lions Upset Esks Behind Villanueva". Winnipeg Fr ee Press. 1956-09-25.
- ^ "Primo's Mexican Grill". Vancouver Magazine. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ "Primo A Canuck Soon". Lethbridge Herald. 1960-03-11.
- ^ a b "Pioneer: Primo Villanueva". British Columbia Restaurant Hall of Fame.