He played for the Rhein Fire of the NFLEL, the Carolina Cobras and Florida Bobcats of the AFL, and the Orlando Rage of the XFL.
Arellanes played collegiately at Los Angeles Valley College before transferring to Fresno State.
Following the 1997 season, Arellanes was allocated to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, where he was the back-up to Mike Quinn.
Rhein finished the regular season in second place with a record of 7–3 and qualified for the championship game, World Bowl '98.
Due to an injury to Quinn, Arellanes started the game and led the Rhein Fire to a 34–10 victory over the Frankfurt Galaxy, the first championship in team history.