The Pittsburgh Steelers first set their sights on Alejandro Villanueva during a preseason game in 2014, while he was standing on the opposite sideline as a defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles. His 6’9” stature was his prominent feature, but they saw the potential in him, and took him on as a conversion project.
Five years on, he is seemingly well on his way toward his second consecutive Pro Bowl, and this one may well be even more deserved based on his on-field work than was last year’s. That was after the veteran Army Ranger unwittingly become the face of a controversy between the NFL and the President of the United States, which greatly raised both his name recognition and his popularity, vaulting his jersey into the top 50 in sales—the only offensive lineman even close to the top 50.