The Parrilleros de Monterrey (English: ''Monterrey Grillers'') were an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team based in

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

, Mexico. The Parrilleros competed in

Fútbol Americano de México Mexican American Football ('', FAM'') was a professional American football minor league in Mexico, founded in 2018. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league was also known as FAM-YOX for the 2022 season. Starting with five teams, the FAM expanded ...

(FAM) for a single season in 2022, losing in the championship game, before the league folded. The team played its home games at the

Estadio Banorte Estadio Azteca () (officially known as Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium located in Coyoacán, Mexico City. It is the official home of Association football, football team Club América, as well as the Mexico nation ...

, with a capacity of 10,057 seated spectators.

History

On 30 November 2021,

held a press conference to announce that an expansion team based in

, then known simply as Monterrey Football Team, would be joining the league for its upcoming season. The cities of

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

, León and

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...

had also been considered. Former Auténticos Tigres UANL head coach Edmundo Reyes was introduced as the team's director of operations, though he was later named head coach as well, and

was announced as their home stadium. Additionally, fans were given the chance to pick the team name via social media vote, with the choices being ''Parrilleros'', ''Jinetes'' and ''Patrones''. The name Parrilleros was ultimately chosen by the fan base, reflecting the deep-rooted local tradition of grilling

carne asada Carne asada is grilled and sliced beef, usually skirt steak, flap steak, or flank steak though chuck steak (known as ''diezmillo'' in Spanish) can also be used. It is usually marinated then grilled or seared to impart a charred flavor. Car ...

on parrilleros in the company of friends and family. In December, the Parrilleros announced the first member of their roster, Eduardo Castañeda, who played for the

Rhein Fire Rhein Fire may refer to either of two American football franchises: * Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, Germany ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

. The team held tryouts in February 2022 in search of local talent, with 50 players attending. The following month, they announced the signing of former Auburn quarterback

Jeremy Johnson Jeremy Johnson may refer to: * Sir Jeremy Johnson, judge of the High Court of England and Wales * Jeremy Johnson (baseball) (born 1982), minor league baseball pitcher * Jeremy Johnson (American football) (born 1994), American football quarterback ...

– their first foreign player. The Parrilleros played their first game on 29 April 2022, defeating the

Caudillos de Chihuahua Caudillos de Chihuahua are an American football team based in Chihuahua City, Mexico. The Caudillos compete in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), the top American football league in Mexico. The team plays its home games at the Estad ...

28–9 to open the 2022 FAM season. Johnson threw for three

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in the win, including the first touchdown in franchise history to receiver Kobe Miranda, in front of a crowd of over 5,000 spectators. After winning their first five games, the Parrilleros suffered their first defeat against the Tequileros de Jalisco at home in week 6. They suffered a second defeat two weeks later against the

Jefes de Ciudad Juárez Jefes de Ciudad Juárez (English: ''Ciudad Juárez Chiefs'') are an American football team based in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The Jefes compete in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), the top American football league in Mexico, after pla ...

. Nevertheless, the team finished the regular season with a 6–2 record and first place in the standings. Johnson was named team MVP after throwing for 1,538 yards and 16 touchdowns, along with six interceptions, in seven games. In the playoffs, the Parrilleros beat the Caudillos de Chihuahua 27–23 in the semifinals after overcoming a 13-point deficit. However, they went on to lose to the Rojos CDMX by a score of 21–14 in the ''Balón de Plata'', the FAM championship game, falling just short of winning a league title in their inaugural season. FAM shut down its operations in September 2022 due to financial struggles. Three FAM teams joined the rival league, the

Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional The Professional American Football League ( or LFA), is a semi-professional American football league in Mexico, founded in 2016. Starting with four teams, the LFA has since expanded to eleven members as of 2022. The regular season runs in the sp ...

(LFA), for the following season. However, the Parrilleros were left without a league as the LFA already had a team in Monterrey, the Fundidores. Many Parrilleros players ended up signing with LFA teams.

Roster

Staff

Season-by-season

References

{{Reflist Defunct American football teams in Mexico Sports clubs and teams in Monterrey American football teams established in 2021 2021 establishments in Mexico American football teams disestablished in 2022 2022 disestablishments in Mexico