This story begins with a mustache _ the incredible Fu Manchu unveiled last week by Steelers tackle Alejandro Villanueva, who whittled a Brett Keisel-like forest down to something you might see in a 1970s adult film.
"Why?" seemed like an appropriate question.
"I gotta have a '70s tough American look for the playoffs," Villanueva joked. "No, I kept (the beard) for the playoffs last year, and we lost to Denver, so I'm always superstitious about being superstitious. I don't really believe any of that stuff has anything to do with playoff runs, but I've already convinced a couple of members of the offensive line that if we make it far, we're all gonna have a mustache for a bigger game."
Why this particular style?
"I modeled it after Stan Brock, who played offensive tackle for the Saints and Chargers and was my head coach at Army. I always thought you had to be a really, really tough guy to have handlebars. And then I learned all you gotta do is grow your beard and shave it to have a pretty sick mustache."
This got me to thinking about Stan Brock, and a question: How did Villanueva wind up at West Point in the first place? Who brought this 6-foot-9 athletic freak all the way there from a Belgian high school where he was into soccer, rugby and swimming?
Short answer: Joe Puttmann.
There's more to the story, of course, but it's a name to keep in mind Sunday when Villanueva returns to Arrowhead Stadium, site of his first NFL start last season. He has come a long way since that day, when he gave up a game-clinching strip sack to Tamba Hali.
He has come a long way, period, miraculously morphing from a long-shot, last-chance defensive line prospect in Philadelphia Eagles camp to the guy who protects Ben Roethlisberger's blind side.
I'll let Gary Miller take the story from here. He's a chemistry teacher and linebackers coach at Marist High School near Atlanta. A decade ago, he was the Army assistant coach responsible for scouting Europe for players.
Miller recruited Puttmann, a defensive back from SHAPE High School in Belgium _ an academy run by the U.S. Department of Defense _ and the kid couldn't stop talking about his giant friend. Their fathers both worked for NATO.
"He said, 'Coach you need to talk to my buddy Alejandro,' " Miller recalled Thursday. "I'm obviously skeptical. I get a tape. I stop being skeptical."
What Miller saw was a gargantuan football novice playing defensive line and tossing kids like Frisbees, albeit not the greatest competition. But even that did not prepare Miller or his fellow coaches for their first in-person encounter with Mount Alejandro. It happened during Villanueva's round of college visits.
Army's staff included coach Bobby Ross, who'd spent decades winning NFL and college games, and Brock, the offensive line coach who'd parlayed his 6-foot-6, 290-pound frame into a 16-year NFL career. The coaches wanted Villanueva to spend a year at Army Prep School, where most football recruits go in order to adjust to military life.
Villanueva was too smart. He'd grown up everywhere, man, as the son of a Spanish Naval officer. His immaculate grades and test scores did not justify using taxpayer money to send him to prep school, Miller says, so he was going straight to West Point if he chose to attend.
And at this particular moment, he was waiting outside the coaches office.
"It's about 10 o'clock, and we get a buzz: 'Alejandro is here. Come to the front desk,' " Miller recalled. "I see him, and I say, 'Oh my God.' He's the biggest man I've ever seen. I shake his hand and walk him into the staff meeting. You could see the heads spinning. Stan jumps up _ coaches always try to eyeball how big a kid is _ and walks over, and we can all see the kid is two inches taller than Stan, who is a huge human being.
"At that point, we were all pretty excited about his potential. If he grows up in Georgia, he's at Alabama or Georgia playing tackle for them. Just a superior athlete."
A few months later, it was Miller who picked up Villanueva at JFK Airport. Once again, he was confounded at the sight of him. Villanueva was starting a whole new life but didn't have any luggage, just a small gym bag slung over his shoulder.
"At that point," Miller said, "I know he's going to be fine at West Point."
The question was, where would he play? Tight end seemed reasonable. So did defensive end, Villanueva's preferred position. Brock begged Ross to put him on the offensive line, saying, "If you let me have that guy, he'll be a first-day draft choice."
Brock had a seen a lot of things in football. He hadn't seen anything like this.
"One of the first days of spring practice, I watched him do a handstand and walk the width of a football field," Brock recalled. "At 6-9, to have the core body strength to do that is incredible."
Villanueva wound up on the defensive line, but that changed quickly when Brock was named head coach a year later. He played tackle for about a year, then switched to wide receiver (wide receiver!) and led the team in catches his senior season (2009). He went undrafted and tried out for the Cincinnati Bengals but didn't make it and wound up serving three harrowing tours of duty in Afghanistan before landing in Eagles camp.
All these years later, Villanueva's old Army buddies and coaches are watching closely. And proudly. To a man, they rave about Villanueva's toughness, and kindness, and wish him well.
"It means a lot to guys in the Army _ guys still in, guys who've been in _ to see him out there living out a dream like that," said Collin Mooney, a star running back at Army who roomed with Villanueva on road trips.
Mooney played for the Tennessee Titans under Mike Munchak, now the Steelers offensive line coach. He marvels at how unlikely it is that a man would miss so much time _ Villanueva did not play a snap for more than four years _ then join an NFL team, switch positions and become a starter.
I asked Brock, now a TV sports anchor in Portland, if he could explain the degree of difficulty of such a journey. It was just 28 months ago, after all, that Villanueva was playing defensive end for the Eagles _ against the Steelers _ in an exhibition game.
"I cannot," Brock said. "I mean, I played offensive tackle my four years in college and had a great teacher and then got into the NFL and had a great line coach in Dick Stanfel. It was a long process. To be a guy like Alejandro and go through what he's gone through? That's a mental toughness most people don't understand."
Loyalty is another trait that defines Villanueva. That and a good sense of humor. Brock picked up his phone last week and saw a text from Villanueva that included a selfie of the new mustache and an old football card of Brock sporting a wicked Fu Manchu.
"He said something about me being the 'inspiration,' " Brock said.
I suggested to Villanueva after the Miami game that his mustache worked wonders. He laughed and said if so, then the "world and universe is a very mysterious place."
I've asked him several times about his amazing journey.
"Honestly," he said. "There's no real path that's unique to get to the NFL."
Oh, yes there is. And it's winding toward Arrowhead Stadium this weekend.
