Fresh off signing with the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, former Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Alejandro Villanueva sure seemed to have some fun with the media who covered his introductory Zoom press conference on Wednesday. In short, it’s going to be fun to watch things Villanueva said on Wednesday circle the internet. Especially when it comes to a few things he said about the team he’s played for most of his NFL career.
One of the most interesting comments made on Wednesday by Villanueva included him talking about how the transition will go for him from a predominantly passing offense that he played in Pittsburgh to a run-heavy offense the Ravens like to use.
“And so, the mentality, when you have a balanced offense or when you run the ball, it’s obviously better for the offensive line,’ Villanueva said on Wednesday. “I’m assuming it’s not as fun for the wide receivers, because they’re not getting all the catches, they’re making the TikToks, and they’re having fun on their social media.”
Well, there you go. It’s not hard to take those comments as a clear shot at Steelers wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool. It will now be interesting to see how that quote circles the internet the next 48 hours. That said, Villanueva and Smith-Schuster are believed to be good friends. After all, the former taught the latter how to drive several years ago when the wide receiver had just entered the NFL.
In the same part of that response to the multi-layered question that Villanueva was asked, the long-time tackle also seemingly took a shot at Steelers guard David DeCastro, who he commuted with quite a bit while the two were teammates.
“So, and then as for the commute, yeah, it’s going to be very different,” Villanueva said. “Obviously I commuted with David DeCastro for many years, and I think Kevin Zeitler is going to be an upgrade from that.”
Well, that’s a helluva a shot at DeCastro as well, right?
Personally, I think Villanueva was just having some fun with the media on Wednesday and he knows what a big story it is for him to go from one AFC North team to its rival. Could there be a little animosity on Villanueva’s side? Sure, that’s not hard to imagine. That said, it sure sounds like the former Army captain still has a lot of great relationships with former teammates of his.
“I’ve heard from obviously from my teammates back in Pittsburgh, keep really good relationships with them, but not from the fans,” Villanueva said. “I have very little communication with the outside world and so it’s a little tough for me down here in South Florida to hear from Steeler fans.”
It’s probably good that Villanueva still uses a flip phone and that he does not use or care about social media, because he’s likely to get plastered and blasted by the media and fans of the Steelers for quite some time now. This AFC North match-drop should be fun to watch burn.
