Guadalupe Ledezma Sanchez (October 28, 1961 – April 28, 2025) was an American 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 ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and kick and punt returner for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) from 1986 to 1988. 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 ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

High school and collegiate career

Sanchez was born in

Tulare, California Tulare ( ) is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 68,875 per the 2020 census. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, south of Visalia and north of Bakersfield. The city is named after the Tul ...

, and grew up in

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-most populous city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 38th most populous in California, and 183 ...

. He played high school football at Mt. Whitney High School, where as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

he helped lead the Pioneers to an undefeated season in 1978. Besides Sanchez, the team boasted two other future NFL players (

Don Mosebar Donald Howard Mosebar (born September 11, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. Mosebar was selected in the first round of th ...

and Mike Young) and is considered one of the best teams in California high school football history. Sanchez is a member of the Mt. Whitney Athletics Hall of Fame. Sanchez played

for the

from 1979 to 1983. Among his honors his senior year, he was named a first-team defensive back on the 1983 All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Football Team,

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honorable mention by the AP and UCLA's Kenneth S. Washington Award for Outstanding Senior. His 13

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s as a Bruin are still the fifth most in UCLA history.

Pro career

He was selected in the second round of the 1984 NFL supplemental draft by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

but chose to play in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) for the

Arizona Wranglers The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) that existed from late 1982 to mid-1985. They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. ...

and

Orlando Renegades The Orlando Renegades were a professional American football team that played in Orlando, Florida, Orlando, Florida, in the United States Football League (USFL) for a single season in 1985. Before its season in Orlando, the franchise played in Wa ...

. Sanchez joined the Steelers in 1986 and spent three seasons in Pittsburgh. In 39 games with the Steelers, he had four interceptions, returning one 67 yards for a

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 ...

in 1986. As a kick returner, he returned 35 kickoffs for 778 yards, averaging 22.2 yards per return. He was cut by the Steelers on April 19, 1989.

Personal life and death

After football, Sanchez worked as a financial planner. Sanchez died on April 28, 2025, at the age of 63.

References

External links

* 1961 births 2025 deaths American football defensive backs American football return specialists Pittsburgh Steelers players Arizona Wranglers players UCLA Bruins football players Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American sportsmen Sportspeople from Tulare, California Players of American football from Tulare County, California {{defensiveback-1960s-stub