Isaac Alarcón extends the relevant Mexican history in the NFL

After the pompous hiring of Mexican offensive lineman Isaac Alarcón by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), LatinAmerican Post reviews all the Mexican players or players of descent , who have been on the grids, and regardless of their performance.

Alarcón traveled from Monterrey to Dallas, a team he arrives at as part of the NFL's International Pathway Program. The Mexican participated in the virtual offseason with the Cowboys, a league alternative forced by the coronavirus pandemic. Through a video posted on his twitter account, Alarcón expressed: "I don't want to just be an American football player. I want to be an example for my country. I want to bring hope to Mexicans," making clear his desire to inspire his countrymen to play at the highest level.

Isaac, in turn, assured ESPN that he had been able to speak with Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, as well as offensive line coach Joe Philbin and his assistant, Jeff Blasko. The Aztec did not know Dallas-Fort Worth or AT&T Stadium.

The 21-year-old Alarcón experience with American football began with the Borregos from the Monterrey Institute of Technology for Higher Education. He is 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 286 pounds. It is the first time the Dallas Cowboys have signed a Mexican by birth, since Juan Wong did so in the Arena Football League.

Mexico and the NFL

The Aztec nation is ahead of any other Spanish-speaking country with 17 players (including rising players) with experience on this circuit. In the ranking, it is followed by Argentina, Cuba and Spain (4); Panama (3); Honduras, Guatemala, Venezuela and Colombia (2); Bolivia, Paraguay and El Salvador (all with one).

The Aztec country is the country with the most NFL fans outside the United States. An estimated 23.3 million Mexicans are fans of this distinctly American sport. The amazing thing about this is that they are even ahead of Canada, which according to a study by Global Web Index (February 2020), is third with 7.21 million.

Raúl Allegre, the highest representative

Alarcón joins the list led by Raúl Allegre, who played from 1983 to 1991 and won the 1986 and 1990 Super Bowls with the New York Giants, and, furthermore, he is the only pureblood Mexican who had an impact. “El kicker de Torreón” was not known for having a lot of power in his right leg, but he did have precision.

Axel Esquivel was the first after being selected in the 1955 draft by the Baltimore Colts as a secondary defender. In addition, he is the only player selected during the collegiate draw and coming directly from a school in Mexico.

Later, Efrén Herrera appeared , who managed to win a Super Bowl like Allegre, but in his case with the Dallas Cowboys themselves in 1978. The kicker made his debut in 1974 with the Detroit Lions.

Herrera was replaced in Dallas in 1978 by his compatriot Rafael Septien, who came from the New Orleans Saints. However, his career was very discreet and ended abruptly due to a legal problem with a minor. Fifth on the list is Frank Corral. One more kicker, and who replaced Septién in the Cowboys, in addition to being chosen All-Pro in 1978.

Rolando Cantú played guard with the Arizona Cardinals, but his greatest achievement is that he was the one who participated the most in regular season games of the NFL without having entered an American university.

Seventh: Ramiro Pruneda. He signed a two-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, but as a free agent, and was later traded to the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. 

The others

Other "Mexicans" who have passed through the grills are North Americans with strong ascendance from the Central American country. In this group appear Mark Sánchez (2009-2019), Tony Romo (2003-17) and Arian Foster (2009-2016), all of Mexican mother.

Also Joe Kapp, Jeff García (1999-2011), of Mexican and Irish descent, and Tom Fears (1948-1956), who was born in Guadalajara.

Also read: The history of Colombia in the Tour de France

Finally, there are others like Tom Flores (1960-1969), the only winner of the Super Bowl both as a player (1969), assistant (1976) and coach (1980 and 1983), Jim Plunkett (1971-1986) and the twelfth best player in the league's history Anthony Muñoz (1980-1992) who inflicted fear with his 1.98 meters and 126 kilos. Muñoz deserves a separate chapter.

Pride with Mexican blood

"There's never been a lineman as good as Anthony Muñoz, and I doubt we'll see one like him again , " said Jim McNally, a former offensive line coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Muñoz was one of the two American Conference champion teams that succumbed to Joe Montana's San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII, respectively, and had an impressive streak of All-Pro appointments from 1981 to 1991, and trips to the Pro Bowls in a row from 1982 to 1992.

The key to Munoz's success as a front-line offensive tackle was summed up in various qualities, the ability to set his feet, block to front-to-head with power, and eliminate defensive ends. In addition, he was a very committed player on the field of play. "I want to be remembered as a good person," Muñoz declared in an interview with the Huffington Post in 2014 and reflected this year by ESPN.