Guillermo Alberto Villalobos Zanabria (born 24 July 1991) is a Mexican professional

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the Mexicas CDMX of 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). 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 ...

at ITESM CEM. Villalobo was drafted in the 2019 CFL-LFA Draft and played during two seasons for the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL).

Early years

Villalobos has played American football since he was five years old. His father also played

with the

Águilas Blancas Águilas () is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almer� ...

of the

Instituto Politécnico Nacional The National Polytechnic Institute (), abbreviated IPN, is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 171,581 students at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is the second-best university in Mexico in the techni ...

. Villalobos started in lower categories playing for several teams of the Atizapán area in

Greater Mexico City Greater Mexico City is the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (). It encompasses Mexico City itself and 60 adjacent municipalities of Mexico, municipalities of the State of Mexico and Hi ...

. After finishing high school, he was offered a scholarship to play football in the Borregos Salvajes CEM.

College career

Villalobos joined the ITESM CEM college football team, one of the most successful programs in Mexico, where he earned a major in Business Administration. Despite never winning a championship, Villalobos had a successful career: in 2015 he achieved the single-season receiving yards league record with 1230 yards in 35 catches. After graduating, Villalobos spent one year without playing football until 2016, when he was selected by the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

of the newly established

(LFA).

Professional career

Villalobos played in the inaugural LFA season for the Eagles, later rebranded as

Mexicas The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...

, and stayed there for four seasons. His highlights include winning one championship with the team, and the MVP, at Tazón México III, and winning the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

award for Best Receiver. In 2019, Villalobos was selected as the 11th pick of the 2019 CFL-LFA Draft by the

. After going through medical checks, Villalobos joined the team in May 2019. On July 24, 2019, Villalobos was promoted to the Redblacks' active roster, and made his CFL debut the following day against the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

. In August, he landed in the team's practice roster. And on September 12, 2019, he made it again to the active roster. In total, he dressed in eight regular season games in 2019. He re-signed with the Redblacks on January 13, 2021. Villalobos was released by the Redblacks in September 2021. Villalobos was signed by the Mexicas for the

2022 LFA season The 2022 LFA season was the seventh season of operation (sixth season of play) of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), the top American football league in Mexico. The regular season began on 4 March and concluded on 24 April, with the ...

National team career

Villalobos represents the Mexico national flag football team in international competition. He helped Mexico win the bronze medal at the

2022 World Games The 2022 World Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, catching a touchdown pass in their 39–35 win over Austria in the bronze medal game. Villalobos later helped Mexico win the silver medal at the 2023 IFAF Americas Continental Championships in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, catching a touchdown pass in their 40–36 loss to the United States in the gold medal game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villalobos, Guillermo Living people 1991 births Mexican players of American football Mexican players of Canadian football American football wide receivers Borregos Salvajes CEM players Mexicas de la Ciudad de México players Ottawa Redblacks players Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Canada Canadian football wide receivers World Games bronze medalists World Games medalists for Mexico Medalists at the 2022 World Games Flag football players