Daniel Dario Villanueva was an American football professional player, television and Major League Soccer executive.
15 Facts About Danny Villanueva
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Danny Villanueva was a placekicker and punter who played in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys.
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Danny Villanueva, who was of Mexican American descent, played college football at New Mexico State University.
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Danny Villanueva graduated in 1956 from Calexico Union High School and attended Reedley College, before accepting a scholarship to play college football at New Mexico State University.
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Danny Villanueva was part of the teams that won back to back Sun Bowl games in 1959 and 1960, as well as going undefeated his senior season.
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Danny Villanueva was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Los Angeles Rams after the 1960 NFL draft, becoming one of the earliest players of Mexican descent in the NFL, and one of the last straight-away style placekickers.
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Danny Villanueva was both a placekicker and a punter, so he kept two different pairs of shoes on game day.
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Danny Villanueva led the team in scoring from 1960 to 1963, until Bruce Gossett won the placekicker starting job in 1964.
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Danny Villanueva left as the Rams career gross average punting leader with 44.3 yards, a record that was broken by Donnie Jones in 2009.
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Danny Villanueva retired after the 1967 NFL Championship Game famously known as "The Ice Bowl".
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Danny Villanueva finished with a 42.8 career punting average without a block and 491 career points.
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Danny Villanueva was the first general manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy, serving from 1994 to 1998.
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Danny Villanueva started as a sports broadcaster on KNBC in Los Angeles, California.
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Danny 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 on KMEX-TV.
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Danny Villanueva was married to Myrna Schmidt, with whom he had two sons Daniel L and Jim.