Teofilo González Muñoz, has been widely recognized for his outstanding step in Mexican humor. His jokes marked a watershed in the golden age where the best comedians performed in theaters and television forums to present their shows. Despite the success, Teo González could have known fame thanks to another profession, as he became the second goalkeeper of Club León in the 80s.
“I never thought about doing this, I wanted to be a professional footballer,” he said in an interview with Gustavo Adolfo Infante. And the fact is that the spark that led him to become famous for his jokes was not the only quality he had had since his childhood. In his first years of life he discovered the talent under the three sticks that led him to play matches as a professional footballer.
Football led him to leave his place of origin provisionally. Thanks to an opportunity with Córdoba FC, in the third division, he had the need to move from León, Guanajuato, to the state of Veracruz. Although he did a preseason with the team, he failed to stay in the squad, so he tried the same luck in the State of Mexico with the Red Devils of Toluca.
It wasn't until he returned to his home state that his talent in football did him justice. The outstanding goalkeeper managed to pass the tests and joined the Cubs team, a subsidiary of the green bellies in the second division. Later he was noticed among the coaches of the first team and managed to make the leap to the maximum circuit with Club León, where he consolidated himself as second goalkeeper.
According to his statements, it was three years that he tried to take the starting position in the shadow of Victor Aguado. During the period he shared the dressing room with Mexican football top scorer Evanivaldo Castro Silva Cabinho, as well as other players of the time such as Lupe Díaz and Eusebio, who arrived played on the same pitch as the legendary Pelé.
Although he failed to make his debut in the First Division, he confessed to having enjoyed his time in goal. “I had trainers like Darío Miranda, known as the Pink Panther, who was also the goalkeeper of the Lion in the 70s. He was my coach for all three years. It's a job that I loved, I enjoyed it. As it was my lifelong dream for me it wasn't heavy,” he said.
Although in the hierarchical role, he was the second in the order, Alejandro López, who ultimately became champion with the Esmeraldas, beat him in the race to make the long-awaited debut. At first he engaged in a discussion with the team's management to demand the decision, but declared that “later you understand a lot of things that are in football. I wanted to make my debut in the First Division”, in a talk with Franco Escamilla.
The refusal to make his debut as a footballer was not as tragic as he thought. While serving as the second goalkeeper of the Esmeraldas, he cultivated the other talent he carried with since he was a child, that is, that of telling jokes, which began to generate economic gains for him.
“Along with playing football, I did comedy in bars and singing cafes to win a wool. In fact, I made more money as a comedian than as a football goalkeeper. Thank God it is already 38 years as a comedian and football is in my blood”, he told the famous standupero.
His time at the Lion was even marked in the club's memory. When he suffered a heart attack that led to surgery in October 2021, the team sent a message of support with a photograph of him from the 1980s when he dreamed of following in the footsteps of Antonio La Tota Carbajal.
KEEP READING: