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Daniel Dario Villanueva was born in Tucumcari, Quay County, New Mexico on November 5, 1937. His parents were migrant farm workers. He credited his humble heritage with helping him to appreciate the value of hard work. He was a good student and athlete as an amateur. He graduated from Calexico High School and attended Reedly College in California before accepting a football scholarship at New Mexico State University. At NMSU, he was part of the 1959 and 1960 teams that were some of the most successful in school history, winning back to back Sun Bowl victories. His senior year, they were also undefeated.
Following his graduation from NMSU, Danny signed as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Rams where he would play five seasons before losing the starting job to Bruce Gossett. He was a double threat player, doing the punting and place kicking for his teams almost his entire career. While at the Rams, Danny set a club record for the highest punting average, 45.5 yards, a record that would stand for 45 seasons until 2007. He was one of the last straight ahead (non soccer-style) kickers. Following his tenure with the Rams, Danny was traded to the Dallas Cowboys, ironically in a deal that involved another New Mexico player, Tommy McDonald, where he would play another three seasons before retiring after the 1967 season. He set club records for the Cowboys, connecting on 100 consecutive PATs, scoring the most points in a season with 107 and making 56 consecutive PATs in a season with 56. Villanueva was one of the first NFL players of Mexican American descent. The Rams management capitalized on this by piping bullfighting music though the PA system when he came onto the field. Though they seem rather ridiculous now, he was also given nicknames like "El Kickador" that referenced his heritage. His career record in the NFL was 85 out of 160 field goals made, 236 out of 241 PATs made, 488 punts for a career average of 42.8 yards (and no blocks). His career was somewhat short compared to other kickers. He ranks 101st in career PATs made, 130th in career field goals made and 94th in career punting yardage. His 42.8 career yards per punt ranks 49th in the NFL. Following his retirement, Danny became a broadcaster with KNBC, the first Latino broadcaster for the network. Newsman Tom Brokaw tells of having the privilege of choosing Villanueva to play on his team in a pickup touch football game between his newsroom and the LA Times. Brokaw was the quarterback and it wasn't going so well for the team. Danny volunteered to "take some snaps" and true to form, he connected with former LA Laker Tommy Hawkins for a touchdown on his first play. Villanueva later became part-owner of the Spanish International Network. In the 1980s, this entity evolved into Univision, the sale of which made him financially secure. Upon his retirement he devoted his energy to assisting needy individuals and families in the Hispanic community. Villaneuva's honors include being inducted into the National Hispanic Hall of Fame, the Management Hall of Fame of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Hispanic Sports Foundation for Education, Inc.'s National Hispanic Hall of Fame. He was 77 years old at the time of his death from complications of a stroke, but he left a legacy of hard work and generosity that will live on.
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 While we generally focus on athletes and other individuals who played sports below the college level in New Mexico, from time to time we feature others who are also connected to the state in some unique way. This post features Don Perkins of Albuquerque. Donald Anthony Perkins' connection to New Mexico was that he attended and graduated from the University of New Mexico and still resides in Albuquerque. Perkins was born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa and at Waterloo West Hight School he was a multi-sport athlete, playing basketball, football and running track, lettering in the latter two sports. Playing both offense and defense in football, his athletic honors included being named to the Iowa All-State team on offense. He was president of the student body during his senior year and has been inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame – Waterloo, Iowa. Don was recruited and coached at UNM by NFL Hall of Famer Marv Levy during his short tenure as head coach. Levy has remarked that Perkins was one of the greatest players he ever coached and made note of Perkins in his NFL Hall of Fame acceptance speech.Perkins played his college football at the University of New Mexico, where he played halfback and was also a kickoff returner. At UNM, Perkins was an offensive standout, serving as a running back, receiver and special teams player. He was a three-time All-Skyline Conference selection from 1957–1959, and he was Skyline Sophomore of the Year in 1957. In 1958, he led the nation in kickoff returns. He was only University of New Mexico's second All-American, selected for his play in 1959, a year in which he was 8th in the nation in scoring with 74 points, first in the nation in kickoff returns, averaging 34.7 yards per return. Perkins was a three-year letterman (1957-59) and a two-time All-Skyline Conference selection (1958-59). His versatility allowed him to accumulate 3,466 all-purpose yards in his career. The Lobos retired his jersey number 43 in 1959, the first time a University of New Mexico player was so honored. He ranks 14th in the UNM career rushing list with 2,001 yards. He was inducted into the University of New Mexico Hall of Honor and the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Perkins went on to play a leading role with the young Dallas Cowboys club in its early years, from 1961-68. He had a stellar career. His honors included being named to the Pro Bowl 6 times, being selected as a First Team All Pro in 1962, being named NFL Rookie of the year in 1961. He was the first Cowboy to rush for more than 6,000 yards. In his career, Perkins rushed for 6,217 career yards on 1500 attempts and had 1,310 receiving yards on 146 attempts. He was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Texas Stadium alongside his quarterback Don Meredith in 1976. Only Bob Lilly was inducted ahead of Meredith and Perkins, in 1975. He was inducted into the State of Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Although he was considered a superb blocker, he finished in the NFL’s top 10 rushing in each of his eight seasons in the league. On September 24 1961, he became the first running back in Cowboys’ history to run for 100 yards in a game, when he rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries against the expansion Minnesota Vikings. Perkins’ best year was in 1962, when he rushed for 945 yards and seven touchdowns, becoming the first Cowboy to make the All-Pro team. He was coming off his two best all-around seasons when he decided to retire prior to the 1969 season. At the time only four other NFL running backs had rushed for more than his 6,217 yards. Even though he played the fullback position at 5-10 204-pounds, his ten career 100-yard games ranked fourth in club history, he led the Dallas Cowboys in rushing in six of his eight seasons – from 1961 to 1965, then again in on the NFL’s All-Time Rushing list. Perkins has served as an analyst for CBS Sports, a football analyst for CBS Sports, ABC Sports, and independent networks. He has been a sportscaster for local radio and TV stations. Locally, Don was the Director of the Work Incentive Program for the State of New Mexico Department of Human Services from 1972 to 1985. He served on both the Executive Board of US West and the Board of Trustees for University Hospital from 1990 to 1993. Don has been active in local theater, public speaking, broadcasting at the local and national level, and is presently retired from the City of Albuquerque. For more information: Don's college statistics, Sports-Reference.com Don's page from the Dallas Cowboy Ring of Honor Don's pro statistics, Pro-Football-Reference.com Thomas Jefferson Brookshier was raised in Roswell (Chavez County), New Mexico. He was an All-State player in football, basketball and baseball at Roswell High School. Tom went on to be a three year letterman (1950-1952) in football at University of Colorado, playing defense, offense and special teams. He was known as one of the fiercest hitters in the Big 7 Conference, earning first-team all Big 7 as a junior and senior. He was also a relief pitcher on the Buffaloes' baseball team. At his memorial service, teammate Frank Bernardi joked, "He had a really good fastball; he just never knew where it was going!" He was a 10th round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1953. Drafted comparatively low, Brookshier knew he had to make an impression to avoid being cut at training camp. He related that the team's number one pick was running a pass pattern down the field toward him. Brookshire delivered a hard hit that knocked the player out. Tom said he thought he would be released then and there, but when the coach jumped up and yelled, "I like that!" he knew he might have a chance. His rookie season with the Eagles, he intercepted eight passes. The following two years he spent in the U. S. Air Force, having been in the ROTC at Colorado. While in the Air Force, he became an assistant coach of the Air Force Academy with Buck Shaw, later to be his head coach with the Eagles. Brookshire went on to complete seven seasons with the Eagles, being selected All-Pro and twice making the Pro Bowl team (1959 and 1960). His playing career ended after he broke his leg in a 1961 game with the Chicago Bears.  Tom then transitioned to a career in broadcasting. As he was recovering from his broken leg, CBS Radio asked him to do a sports show in the mornings. He then began filling in on WCAU in Philadelphia. He went on to a long and successful career in national broadcasting, and was teamed at various times with Pat Summerall, Dick Vermeil and John Madden. After retiring in 1987 from CBS television broadcasting, Brookshire completed his career working in sports radio in Philadelphia on station WIR.
The Philadelphia Eagles retired his jersey number 40 and he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1989. Sam "The Rifle" Etcheverry was from Carlsbad (Eddy County), New Mexico. His father was a Basque sheep farmer who had emigrated to the area from France. Sam was an outstanding quarterback for the Carlsbad Cavemen and has been named to the Cavemen Hall of Fame. Sam graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1948. Etcheverry signed with the Pioneers of the University of Denver, playing from 1949 to 1951, where he set longstanding records for passing offense. He is the career leader in passing and rushing plays (594), most yards gained in a season (2,662), most pass attempts (392), most completions (198) and most passing yards gained (2,510). Following his college career, he signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Interprovincial Rugby Football League which became part of the Canadian Football League in 1958. As the Alouettes' quarterback, he was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Eastern Conference and was named an Eastern All-Star six times. In 1954 and 1958, he was awarded the Russel Schenley Award as the most outstanding player in the Canadian Rugby Union. Etcheverry's single game CFL passing record of 586 yards set in 1954 stood for 39 years. He also set a season passing record in 1954 of 3,610 yards that was a CFL record and also surpassed the NFL record set in 1947 by the legendary Sammy Baugh. Etcheverry led the CFL in passing from 1954 to 1959. He became the first pro quarterback to pass for more than 4,000 yards in 1956 when he notched 4,723 for the season, a record that was not surpassed until 1981 by Deiter Brock and Dan Fouts.  Sam played in the CFL for 10 years before signing with the St. Louis Cardinals where he played another two seasons before announcing his retirement in 1962. Following retirement, he returned to the CFL where in 1964 he coached the Quebec Rifles of the United Football League which dissolved at the end of the season. Serving in the interim as an assistant at Loyola College in Montreal, he returned to the Alouettes as head coach from 1969 to 1972, including leading them to victory in the 58th Grey Cup Championship game in his first season. Later, Sam briefly served as General Manager of the Montreal Concordes and led an unsuccessful effort to bring the NFL to Montreal following the dissolution of the Concordes.
Sam was inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame in 1969. Etcheverry's jersey number 92 was retired by the Alouettes. He was an inaugural inductee into the University of Denver Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. Etcheverry was chosen as 26th among the CFL's Top 50 Greatest Players in 2006. Sam loved New Mexico and had long expressed his desire to be buried in New Mexico. He was buried in Carlsbad following his death from cancer in 2009. ... Ralph Neely was a 2014 inductee into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. He graduated in 1961 from Farmington High School (San Juan County), New Mexico where he played football, basketball, baseball and was a shot putter on the track team. His family had moved to Farmington from Arkansas because his brother suffered from asthma. Ralph's father first worked for El Paso Natural Gas company and later was a contract pumper in the oil and gas fields of the San Juan Basin. His older brothers Larry and Jerry were athletes, and Ralph was likewise gifted and followed suit. The history of the Farmington team mascot may be apocryphal, but the tale is as follows. Prior to adopting the Scorpion as mascot, they were known as the Apple Pickers, derived from the agriculture of the local area. Sometime in the 1920s, the story goes, the Apple Pickers were playing a game either at Grand Junction or Moab when their big green school bus broke down, leaving only reverse gear in operation. So the driver, having only the one gear, backed up a big hill to the site of the game. Observers thought the bus resembled a big green scorpion, and the name caught on. Ralph made one appearance in the New Mexico state championship game in football his junior year in high school. The Scorpions met Clovis in the AA championship game, AA being the largest classification in the state at that time. Coached by Tommy Campbell and coming into the game undefeated at 9-0 against the Clovis Wildcats at 5-4-1, they were downed by the Wildcats 20-14. Ralph relates that he was also once a backup catcher on the baseball team. On a bus ride, he was horsing around with a teammate throwing a piece of candy. He caught it when it was his turn and tossed it back to his teammate who missed it on his opportunity. The candy went beyond the teammate, hitting and sticking to the front window of the bus in full view of the coach, who stopped the bus asking for the perpetrator to identify himself. At first no one replied but then Ralph raised his hand. At the end of the bus ride, the coach told Ralph to clean out his locker because he was kicked off the team. Ralph complied and later sought out the track coach who invited him to try out. At his first practice, a coach handed him a steel ball and requested that he throw it as far as he could, which Ralph did. He was informed that he had made the team, because he had just thrown the shot put further than anyone currently on the team. During his high school career, Ralph was an All-State tackle for two years and was recruited by University of Oklahoma. One day Ralph was sitting in class when an announcement was made summoning him to the principal's office. Ralph thought, "Oh no. What have I done now?" and walked down the hall only to find Sooner head coach Bud Wilkinson waiting for him. Wilkinson had flown to Farmington in a converted WWII B-25 from Norman, Oklahoma to invite Ralph to visit OU in view of receiving a football scholarship. Wilkinson told him there were no guarantees, but that he would have an opportunity to be exposed to one of the leading programs in the United States. Ralph accepted ("My father would have killed me if I hadn't.") and came to Norman, where he would remain the next four [not five] years under head coaches Bud Wilkinson and Gomer Jones (Wilkinson's offensive line coach who would coach the team for two years before suffering a fatal heart attack while in NYC on a trip). Neely played both offense and defense at OU and received the following honors: Big 8 Sophomore Lineman of the Year, All Conference (1963 and 1964) and All-American two years including being a consensus selection in 1964. While at OU, he also took the opportunity to earn a double major in Accounting and Finance. Immediately prior to the merger of the AFL and NFL, Ralph was drafted by the Houston Oilers of the AFL (round 2, 15th selection overall) and the Baltimore Colts of the NFL (round 2, 28th selection overall). The Dallas Cowboys later obtained his rights from the Colts. There was a contract dispute (1) between the Cowboys and the Oilers, the resolution of which was incorporated into the merger settlement agreement between the AFL and the NFL.  Neely joined the Cowboys in 1965 and immediately started at offensive right tackle, earning NFL all-rookie team honors that year and All-NFL honors the following four years. Ralph went on to have a 13 year career with the Cowboys during which he was an NFL First Team All-Pro three times (1967, 1968 and 1969) and was named to the Pro Bowl two seasons (1967 and 1969). He retired from the Cowboys following their 1977 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII. During his long career, he started in 19 of the 26 playoff games in which he appeared and was named to numerous other All-Pro teams.
Ralph currently resides in Dallas, Texas and is active in the employee benefits business. Other: Ralph Neely's college football statistics from College Football at Sports-Reference.com, pro football statistics from Pro-Football-Reference.com. (1) Ralph relates that for many years, he received "fan" mail from law students because his case had been studied in their Contract Law classes. Jim graduated from Albuquerque’s Eldorado High School where he played basketball, wrestling, golf and football. Only a starter at quarterback his senior year (1980), he led the team to a 13-0 record and a New Mexico State Championship in football under Coach Jerry Hall for a 14-11 victory over Clovis (11-2). In that game, Everett also played safety on defense. The same two teams had met in the championship two years earlier with Clovis taking a close 7-3 victory. Jim attended Purdue University on a football scholarship where after redshirting his freshman year, he went on to pass for 7,411 yards and 572 completions in 965 attempts (7.7 yards per attempt), 43 touchdowns. His senior year numbers were outstanding with 3,651 passing yards and 285 completions in 450 attempts. Everett finished 6th in the 1986 Heisman Trophy balloting behind winner Bo Jackson and such other players as Miami’s Vinnie Testaverde.  Everett was selected in the 1986 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers, the third player taken in the first round, but was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in September. He became the Ram’s starting quarterback, going on to pass for 3,000 yards in five consecutive seasons with the club. He played 8 seasons in all for the Rams (1986-1993), three seasons for the New Orleans Saints (1994-1996) before retiring after the 1997 season with the San Diego Chargers.
In Everett’s 12 year NFL career, he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1990 and the UPI Second Team All NFC in 1988. He amassed 34,837 passing yards (20th in the NFL) with 2,842 completions in 4,923 attempts, 203 touchdowns against 175 interceptions. Everett appeared in 158 games, starting all but five of them. His career passing completions and attempts rank rank 23rd and 22nd in the NFL, respectively. Jim earned a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, minoring in Computer Science and an MBA from Pepperdine University. He is now a Registered Investment Advisor and for many years has headed up his own firm, The Jim Everett Company. He is active in local charities through the Jim Everett Charity Foundation and is a founder and board member of Quarterback Greats, which represents the NFL group rights to outstanding retired NFL quarterbacks.  McDonald was born in Roy, NM (Harding County) where he attended school through his freshman year in high school, before moving to Albuquerque and graduating from Highland High School. He then attended Oklahoma University. At OU, he was a Consensus All-American (1955 and 1956) and won the Maxwell Award in 1956 as Best Collegiate Player. Tommy scored touchdowns in 20 of his 21 games in college. He was primarily a running back at Oklahoma under Coach Bud Wilkinson, having the distinction of playing on a college team that went undefeated his entire three years on the varsity squad. Two of those years (1955 and 1956), the Sooners won the National Championship.
In 1956, he finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind winner Paul Hornung of Notre Dame and Johnny Majors of Tennessee, ahead of such other notable players as Jimmy Brown of Syracuse and John Brodie of Stanford. He also won the MVP award in the North South Shrine Game in Miami. Tommy was a third-round draft pick of the NFL Philadelphia Eagles in 1957, and spent most of his career with Philadelphia. In the NFL, he was primarily used as a wide receiver, selected for the Pro Bowl six times (1959-1963 and 1966). Following his time with the Eagles, he played one year with the Dallas Cowboys (1964), two years with the Los Angeles Rams (1965-1966), another year with the Atlanta Falcons (1967) before retiring after his final year (1968) with the Cleveland Browns. During his years with the Eagles, they won one NFL Championship in 1960, defeating the Green Bay Packers 17-13. Twice (1958 and 1960), he led the league in receptions for touchdown and once (1960) for receiving yards. His NFL statistics include appearing in 152 games in 12 seasons, gaining 8410 yards on 495 receptions (17 yards per reception) and scoring 84 touchdowns. Used on special teams early in his career, he had 72 put returns for 404 yards and 1 TD and 51 kickoff returns for another 1,055 yards. In 1985, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1988, he was inducted into the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. Tommy was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998, along with such other players as Mike Singletary, Anthony Muñoz, Paul Krause and Dwight Stephenson.  Hank is a Clovis native, graduating from high school in 2001. While in high school, he lettered in football, basketball and track. Hank set the state record for New Mexico high jump at 7’0”, a record which was tied later that year, but which still stands as of this writing. He also earned All-State honors while playing football for the Wildcats as a punter and wide receiver. He continued his career at University of New Mexico where he was the leading receiver in 2004 and 2005. In addition, he was Offensive Player of the Year during that period. Hank was selected as All-Mountain West Conference having 67 receptions for 1,071 yards and 9 touchdowns.
While at UNM, Hank’s career highs were as follows: Highest number of receptions – 11 vs. BYU on 10/8/05 Most receiving yards: 209 yards vs. Missouri on 9/10/05 Longest passing play: 69 yards vs. Colorado State on 10/30/04 His college play was exemplary, totaling 140 receptions for 2,288 yards and 17 touchdowns and averaging 16.3 yards per carry, gaining over 100 yards in 9 games. Hank also completed in track and field for UNM, twice qualifying for the NCAA Midwest regionals. Hank was an outstanding student who was a four time academic all-MSC honoree, graduating from UNM in 2005 with a degree in General Management. Hank played with three NFL teams during his five year professional career: the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts from 2006 to 2010, being on the Philadelphia roster some time each year. He appeared in 67 games, 11 as a starter, and had 77 receptions for 1,098 yards. As of this writing, Baskett resides in California and is married with one son. |
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We post articles of general interest about New Mexico athletes, coaches and sports. Some names will already be familiar to you. Others are perhaps not as well known, but we hope you enjoy them all. Archives
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