Brian Villanueva (born June 2, 1979) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) and

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

West Hills College Coalinga Coalinga College, formerly West Hills College Coalinga, is a public community college in Coalinga, California, with a satellite facility in Firebaugh. Both locations serve students in the central San Joaquin Valley. Established in 1932, Coaling ...

and

Fort Valley State University Fort Valley State University (FVSU; formerly Fort Valley State College and Fort Valley Normal and Industrial School) is a public land-grant historically black university in Fort Valley, Georgia, United States. It is part of the University Syste ...

. At Fort Valley State, he was a two-time All- SIAC selecttion and was also the team's punter during the 2000 season. Villanueva played in the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

(NIFL) for the Louisiana Rangers, Tri-City Diesel,

Evansville BlueCats The Evansville BlueCats were a professional indoor football team based in Evansville, Indiana. They were a member of the United Indoor Football Association (UIF). They debuted in 2003 as a member of the National Indoor Football League. Loca ...

, and

San Angelo Stampede The San Angelo Stampede Express was a professional indoor football team from San Angelo, Texas owned by Darlene Jones. They were announced as a charter member of the Lone Star Football League but folded before play began in 2012. They played th ...

, in the

Intense Football League The Intense Football League (IFL) was a professional indoor football minor league that began operations in 2004. Its focus was in Texas, but it was notable for being the first professional football league to place a franchise in Alaska. History ...

for the Lubbock Lone Stars, in the af2 for the

Arkansas Twisters Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the ...

Corpus Christi Sharks The Corpus Christi Sharks were a 2007 expansion member of the AF2, an arena American football development league. They played their home games at the American Bank Center. Michael Trigg was the team's head coachTrigg had been a head coach in ...

Green Bay Blizzard The Green Bay Blizzard are a professional indoor football team based in the Green Bay metropolitan area that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The franchise was founded in 2003. The Blizzard began play in the IFL in 2010, after hav ...

, and

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well". Sever ...

, and in the AFL for the Barnstormers. He came out of retirement in 2024 to sign with the

Rapid City Marshals The Rapid City Marshals were a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Marshals played their home games at the The Monument (Rapid City, South Dakota), Summit Arena at The Monument. The ...

of the new

Early life and college

Villanueva grew up in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Eldorado High School in Las Vegas. He earned All-Southern Nevada honors his senior year in 1996. Villanueva played his first two years of

from 1997 to 1998. He helped West Hills win the Graffiti Bowl in 1998. He then played two years for the Wildcats football team of

from 1999 to 2000. Villanueva began the 1999 season as the backup to 26-year-old fellow junior college transfer Ryan Weiss but took over as starter after Weiss suffered a hamstring pull. Villanueva threw for 1,642 yards and 14 touchdowns in 1999, garnering All-

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black col ...

(SIAC) recognition. He completed 165 of 295 passes (55.9%) for 2,055 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 2000, earning All-SIAC honors for the second consecutive season. Villanueva was also Fort Valley State's punter during the 2000 season and midway through the season was leading the conference with a 38.7 yard average.

Professional career

Villanueva signed with the Louisiana Rangers of the NIFL in March 2002, before the start of the 2002 NIFL season. Despite only being in camp for a week, he was named the team's starting quarterback. He suffered a season-ending wrist injury in his first game with the Rangers. Villanueva was signed by the Tri-City Diesel of the NIFL in 2003. He replaced starter Roger Linn in the second half of the team's season opener, completing six of seven passes for 73 yards and one touchdown. He spent most of the game handing the ball off to running back Sherman Jones, who scored four touchdowns as the Diesel won by a score of 54–33. Villanueva was then named the starter for the team's home opener on March 29, 2003, against the LaCrosse Night Train. However, Villanueva suffered a season-ending injury for the second year in a row, this time tearing his knee ligaments on the first play from scrimmage. Villanueva signed with the

of the NIFL in 2004 and was the backup to

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is ...

. Villanueva finished the 2004 season as a backup with the Lubbock Lone Stars of the

. Villanueva played for the NIFL's

in 2005. He also played for the semi-pro McHenry County Gladiators later in 2005. Villanueva was signed by the Evansville BlueCats of

United Indoor Football United Indoor Football (UIF) was an indoor American football league in the United States that operated from 2005 to 2008. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion (the Dayton Warbirds, which never played a ...

on January 13, 2006. Villanueva later signed with the

of the

for the 2006 season. He was the backup to Walter Church in 2006. After Church retired, Villanueva became the team's starter in 2007, passing for 2,632 yards and 56 touchdowns while posting a passer rating of over 100 and leading the Twisters to a 12–4 record. He missed part of the 2007 season due to injury after breaking three bones in his left foot. Prior to the 2008 season, the Twisters hired former

Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won divis ...

head coach Chris Siegfried to be the team's new head coach. Siegfried signed his quarterback from Spokane,

Kyle Rowley Kyle Rowley (born January 30, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the Arena Football League (AFL) and the af2. He played college football at Brown. Rowley was the first quarterback to win an AFL ArenaBowl ...

, to join him in Arkansas. As a result, Siegfried gave Villanueva the option to be cut before training camp so he could have a chance to be a starter for a different af2 team. However, Villanueva declined his release and decided to compete with Rowley for the starting job. Villanueva was waived by the Twisters in early April 2008. Seven af2 teams tried to claim Villanueva off waivers in April 2008. He was awarded to the

. He started four games for the Sharks, passing for 833 yards, 15 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while posting a 1–3 record. He quit the team on May 6, 2008. Villanueva's rights were traded to the

in late May 2008 for Quorey Payne and Kirbie Bodiford. Villanueva made his first start for the Blizzard on July 18, completing seven of 15 passes for 75 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions before being benched in the second half for Collin Drafts. Villanueva was the fifth starting quarterback the Blizzard had used up to that point in 2008. Villanueva then finished the 2008 af2 season with the

, joining the team before the regular season finale against the

Tulsa Talons Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa ...

. Against the Talons, Villanueva took over for Joe Brannen to begin the second half and completed 11 of 22 passes for 102 yards before leaving the game due to an ankle injury with 4:57 left to play. He split time with Brannen in the 2009 season opener for the Barnstormers. Villanueva made his first start for the Barnstormers during Week 2 of the 2009 season, completing 24 of 39 passes for 244 yards and seven touchdowns while also rushing for two touchdowns in a 73–68 victory over Tulsa. He was named the af2 Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 2. Villanueva remained the starter for the rest of the season, and averaged 202.6 passing yards per game as Iowa finished the regular season with a 12–4 record. The Barnstormers won their first playoff game against the

Manchester Wolves The Manchester Wolves were a professional arena football team, based at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, which folded at the end of the 2009 season along with the rest of the league. They played in the East Division of th ...

on July 31 by a score of 70–53. In the team's second playoff game on August 8 against the Blizzard, Villanueva scored three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns. However, his last pass was intercepted as the Barnstormers lost 51–46. The Barnstormers joined the newly relaunched AFL in 2010. Villanueva started the 2010 season opener, completing three of six passes for 35 yards and two interceptions, including a pick-six on Iowa's first play from scrimmage. He was benched in the second quarter for

Ryan Vena Ryan Vena (born November 15, 1977) is a former arena football quarterback. Vena attended Colgate University in Hamilton, New York and graduated in 2000. Vena started his career in arena football in 2002. He ended his career with over 720 career ...

. Overall in 2010, Villanueva totaled seven completions on 14 passing attepts (50.0%) for 75 yards and three interceptions, two receptions for 25 yards and one touchdown, three rushes for one yard, and one solo tackle. Villanueva rejoined the Barnstormers late in the 2011 season, on July 13, 2011. He completed 13 of 22 passes (59.1%) for 152 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception during the 2011 season while also rushing once for a one-yard touchdown. After being out of professional football for 13 years, Villanueva contacted the

of the new

in 2024 to get head coach Shon King's contact info. Villanueva had played against King when King was a coach for the af2's

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999, when the Quad Cities was ...

. In April 2024, Villanueva then signed with the Marshals before the start of the

2024 AFL season The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 7 March to 28 September, comprising ...

. At 44 years old, he was believed to be the oldest player in the new AFL, edging out

Billings Outlaws The Billings Outlaws were a professional indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock Auto A ...

quarterback Danny Southwick. Villanueva had spent time coaching and firefighting while away from football, but those activities reportedly could not replace his craving for the team atmosphere of football. In May 2024, Villanueva and most of the team, went on strike prior to a game against the Billings Outlaws. The Marshals then folded shortly thereafter.

Personal life

From 2006 to at least 2013, Villaneuva worked various jobs in the hospitality industry, including at

Wynn Las Vegas Wynn Las Vegas, often simply referred to as Wynn, is a luxury resort and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by Wynn Resorts, and was built on the former site of the Desert Inn re ...

Encore Las Vegas Encore Las Vegas (also called Encore at Wynn Las Vegas or simply Encore) is a luxury resort, casino and hotel located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort is connected to its sister resort, Wynn Las Vegas, located directly so ...

, and Bravo! Cucina Italiana. He was also the owner of a small photos and trophies business in

West Des Moines, Iowa West Des Moines is a city in Iowa, United States. Most of the city is in Polk County, Iowa, Polk County, some of it is in Dallas County, Iowa, Dallas County, and small portions extend into Warren County, Iowa, Warren and Madison County, Iowa, Madi ...

. He attended the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

for further education and majored in criminal justice. On August 12, 2009, Villanueva was arrested and charged with public intoxication, interference with official acts, and disorderly conduct after arguing with a police officer at a casino.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villanueva, Brian Living people 1979 births American football quarterbacks American football punters Junior college football players in the United States Fort Valley State Wildcats football players National Indoor Football League players Intense Football League players San Angelo Stampede Express players United Indoor Football players Arkansas Twisters players Corpus Christi Sharks players Green Bay Blizzard players Iowa Barnstormers players Arena Football League (2024) players Players of American football from Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni