Tony Villarreal Jr. †
Inducted 2017
Hometown: Brownsville
High School: Brownsville High School
College: Texas A&M University
Best Known for: Athlete – Football
October 17, 1932-May 9, 2021
Villarreal was the perfect definition of a scat back when he played for the Brownsville High School in the early 1950s. He was one of the fastest runners in the Valley in the 1950s and earned All-America honors for his efforts.
The coach for Brownsville High was the legendary Bob Martin, who is also remembered for coaching the great Mission team of the 1940s and was Tom Landry’s coach in 1941.
He preferred to use his speed and shifty moves to run around would-be tacklers. He was very good at it, too, as he rushed for 1,010 yards on 99 carries as a 5-foot-6, 135-pound junior halfback in 1951. The previous season, Villarreal led South Texas by scoring 17 touchdowns. His junior season is remembered as his best as the Eagles won the District 8-3A championship and advanced to the state semifinals before finishing with a 10-2 record.
Topping 1,000 yards on the ground was quite a feat back then, and Villarreal was named to the Texas Sports Writers Association All-State team and received high school All-American honors. He was also named to the Valley Freedom Newspapers’ All-Millennium team that was announced in 1999.
He was not able to play his senior year due to an injury but still earned a chance to play one season at Texas A&M.
