Gerardo Elías Álvarez Ovalle (born 15 September 1988) is a Mexican professional gridiron football wide receiver for the

Dinos de Saltillo Dinos de Saltillo (English: ''Saltillo Dinos'') are an American football team based in Saltillo, Mexico. The Dinos compete in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional, the top American football league in Mexico. The team plays its home games at ...

of the

Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional The Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (Professional American Football League), commonly known simply as LFA, is a professional american football spring league in Mexico, founded in 2016. Starting with four teams, the LFA has since expanded t ...

(LFA). Álvarez played college football at UAC and previously played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

Early career

Álvarez plays American football since he was a kid, where he earned the nickname "Pewee" for his small and thin complexion. Despite this, he was invited by several college football programs to join their teams. Álvarez chose the Lobos of the Autonomous University of Coahuila, where he played from 2006 to 2010, also majoring in

Civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

. Álvarez became one of the top players of the ONEFA's Northern Conference and was fundamental part of the 2009 Lobos UAC team that won that year's championship after defeating Águilas UACH 31–24 in the final. After finishing his college football eligibility in 2010, Álvarez played

flag football Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a down. The sport has a strong amateur following ...

and was part of the Mexican team that won the silver medal at the 2014 IFAF Flag Football World Championship.

Professional career

Dinos de Saltillo

In 2016, Álvarez was one of the first players to be signed by the

of the

(LFA), Mexico's top American football league, ahead of the

2017 LFA season The 2017 LFA season was the second season of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional. This season saw two new franchises join the league: Dinos(short for "dinosaurios", the Spanish word for dinosaurs) and Fundidores(Spanish for smelters or foun ...

, Dinos' debut season in the league. In 2017, Álvarez helped the Dinos to reach the Tazón México II, LFA's championship game, in the team's maiden season. Dinos lost the game 18–24 against

Mayas CDMX The Mayas, also called Mayas LFA or Mayas Puebla, were an American football team based in Mexico City (CDMX), Mexico. The Mayas competed in the Central Division of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional, the top American football league in Mex ...

and Álvarez scored one touchdown. Álvarez was awarded as the 2017 LFA's best receiver. In 2018, Álvarez established a new LFA record for most touchdowns in a single match, in a game against rivals

Fundidores de Monterrey Fundidores de Monterrey (English: ''Monterrey Smelters''), officially Fundidores, are an American football team based in Monterrey, Mexico. The Fundidores compete in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), the top American football leagu ...

, scoring four touchdowns.

BC Lions

Álvarez was selected by the

as the 25th pick of the third round of the

2019 CFL–LFA Draft The 2019 CFL–LFA Draft took place on January 14, 2019. 27 players were chosen from an invited pool of 51 Mexican players: 34 from the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA) (a professional American football league) and 17 seniors from Mexi ...

. Álvarez joined the BC Lions, alongside fellow countryman Fernando Richarte. Álvarez was signed to the practice roster and made his CFL debut on 15 June 2019 against the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

. Álvarez remained on the Lions' roster but returned to Mexico to play the 2020 LFA season with the Dinos, but the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Álvarez was re-signed by the Lions for the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the ...

, but the season was not played.

Return to Mexico

After being released by the BC Lions, Álvarez has played for the Dinos de Saltillo.

References

External links

BC Lions profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Álvarez, Gerardo 1988 births Living people BC Lions players Mexican players of American football Mexican players of Canadian football American football wide receivers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Canada Canadian football wide receivers Dinos de Saltillo players Autonomous University of Coahuila alumni