Last September, Bounding Into Sports highlighted the bravery of 10 professional athletes who also gave back to their country through military service. From Roger Staubach and Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys to Yogi Berra and Ted Williams of Major League Baseball, they are all household names even today, not just for their success on the field, but also for their courage and service off of it.
At the top of that list was Pat Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals linebacker who gave up millions after 9/11 to join the Army Rangers, where he gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country while serving in Afghanistan.
But the list of athletes who sacrificed fame and fortune for their country goes well beyond the household names. And they all deserve to be remembered. So, we thought we would highlight some other athletes who served their country, and whose military stories might not be as well known.
Sam LoPresti
Sam LoPresti only played two seasons in the NHL. Anyone who remembers him today probably knows him for the NHL record 83 shots he faced against the Boston Bruins on March 4, 1941 (he stopped 80 of them). Yet the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted him in 1973, and it wasn’t just for that one game.
LoPresti left his hockey career behind during World War II to join the U.S. Navy, where he served on the SS Roger B. Taney, a Liberty ship responsible for protecting other ships crossing the Atlantic. In 1943, a German torpedo sunk the ship leaving all who survived the attack stranded at sea. LoPresti was one of only 29 eventual survivors. He was even credited by many of the other survivors with saving their lives while stranded. He returned to hockey after the war, but never made it back to the NHL.
Bob Kalsu
Oklahoma Sooners fans in the late 1960s all remember James Robert Kalsu. He was an All-American guard at Oklahoma, so good that, in 1968, the Buffalo Bills of the then-AFL drafted him out of Oklahoma. But Kalsu served in the ROTC at Oklahoma so, before he joined the ranks of professional football, he joined the Army as a second lieutenant and deployed to Vietnam in 1969. On July 21, an enemy mortar fire struck Kalsu’s unit near the A Shau Valley and he was killed.
Kalsu was one of only two professional football players killed in Vietnam (the other was Don Steinbrunner of the Cleveland Browns) and the last killed in action before Pat Tillman. In 2000, the Buffalo Bills added Kalsu and his number to the team’s Ring of Honor. General Colin Powell attended the ceremony.
RELATED: Top 10 Pro Athletes Who Graduated From Military Academies
Willie Mays
The Say Hey Kid’s baseball career speaks for itself. Willie Mays is legendary. 24 All-Star selections, 12 Golden Glove wins, and 660 home runs speak for themselves, never mind his World Series appearances and many other career accolades.
But today, some may not recall that Mays was drafted to serve in the Korean War in 1952, just after he won Rookie of the Year in 1951. Though he never saw combat — he served his obligation at Fort Eustis in Virginia — he did miss more than 260 games to serve his country. As impressive as his career statistics are, we can only imagine how he might have added to his Hall of Fame resume had he played all those games. Not to mention all of the additional basket catches he might have made.
George McAfee
Kentucky-born George McAfee was a football star practically from the first time he laced up his cleats. At Duke University, he was an All-American who led the team in rushing, receiving, scoring, kickoff returns, punt returns, interceptions, and punting in his senior season. Not surprisingly, the Chicago Bears selected him with the second overall pick in the 1940 NFL draft. In his very first game as a Bear, he returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown. By his second season, he was leading the NFL in rushing and touchdowns and earned All-Pro honors. The Bears won the NFL championship in both of his first two seasons and McAfee earned the nickname “One Play” McAfee for his explosive capability to score at any time.
But with World War II raging, McAfee left the NFL after that second season to join the Navy. He served through the end of the war before returning to play five more seasons for the Bears. McAfee is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Bears retired his number 5 and selected him to the organization’s 100 Greatest Bears of All Time.
Alejandro Villanueva
Military service was never a question for Alejandro Villanueva, the son of a Spanish Naval officer. But his service may have threatened his NFL career if not for the intervention of Mike Tomlin. Villanueva went to school at West Point, where he played left tackle, defensive line, and (believe it or not) wide receiver. A giant of a man at 6 feet, 10 inches, Villanueva was named captain in his senior season. Like all West Point cadets, however, he could not go straight from the Army’s Black Knights to the NFL. Instead, he served three tours in Afghanistan with the 75th Ranger Regiment, earning a bronze star.
But football is a young man’s game, especially for those just starting out. When he returned from Afghanistan after his first tour, no NFL teams drafted him. The Bengals gave him a tryout but didn’t sign him, so he went back to Afghanistan to serve with the Rangers. The same thing happened with the Chicago Bears after his second tour, so he went back for a third. Finally, in 2014, the Philadelphia Eagles signed him but cut him during training camp.
But Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin spotted him during a preseason game against the Eagles. Impressed with Villanueva’s size and athletic ability, Tomlin signed him to the practice squad but wanted him as an offensive lineman and told him to gain weight. Villanueva built up to 340 pounds and made his debut with the Steelers on October 10, 2015. He played six seasons with the Steelers, starting every game (except in his first season when he started 10) and one season with the Baltimore Ravens (also starting every game) before retiring in 2022.
National Anthem Incident
What people might remember Villanueva for most, however, is not his play on the field, but his sense of honor. In 2017, against the Chicago Bears, the rest of his Steelers team did not come out of the tunnel for the national anthem, so Villanueva stood alone at the entrance to the tunnel for the anthem. He later said he was embarrassed because he thought his team might construe it as him leaving them behind, but Steelers fans loved him for it. They made his number the top-selling Steelers jersey that season.
While we recognize the importance of team solidarity, Villanueva had no reason to be embarrassed. He honored the country he served and — like every other athlete we have highlighted here — that deserves nothing but our highest respect and admiration.
Bounding Into Sports salutes Villanueva as well as every other athlete who sacrificed personal glory for service.
