Joe Don Looney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joe Don Looney (born 1942; died September 24, 1988) was a professional football player.
Looney was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He played as a running back for the Texas Longhorns, the TCU Horned Frogs and the Oklahoma Sooners in college, and later a member of the New York Giants, the Baltimore Colts, the Detroit Lions, the Washington Redskins, and the New Orleans Saints over the span of a 6 year career.
During his first semester at Texas, Joe Don received 4 F's and one D mark. Looney responded by dropping out and enrolling at Texas Christian. He was eventually kicked out of school there and transferred to Oklahoma. He made All-American with Oklahoma in 1962, leading them to the Big Eight Conference Championship. He played in only 3 games in 1963. Coach Bud Wilkinson kicked him off the team after Looney punched an assistant coach.
The New York Giants made him their 1st round selection in the 1964 NFL draft. He was with the team 25 days.
The Giants traded him to the Baltimore Colts just before the '64 season. Joe Don was only given 23 carries that entire season with Baltimore.
The Colts traded Looney to the Detroit Lions following the 1964 season. He put together one good season, racking up 114 carries for 356 yards and 5 touchdowns. While with Detroit, coach Harry Gilmer wanted Looney to carry in a play to the quarterback. Looney refused and told Gilmer "If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union."[1]
Detroit traded him to the Washington Redskins.
His tenure in Washington was largely uneventful. He had 55 carries for 178 yards. The only highlight of his time with the Redskins came on a play in which he didn't even have the ball. He was pass protecting for quarterback Sonny Jurgensen on a play, and ended up levelling an onrushing pass rusher with a right hook to the jaw.
In 1968, Looney was called up by the United States Army to go to Vietnam. When he returned to the States, he signed on with the New Orleans Saints.
He had 3 carries for -3 yards with the Saints that year, and retired after the season.
After his retirement from football he converted to Hinduism and joined the Siddha Yoga movement led by Swami Muktananda. Stan Trout, a fellow convert, alleged that Looney was one of Muktananda’s “enforcers” who intimidated people into obeying him.[2]
He died at the age of 45 on September 24, 1988 near Luna Vista north of Terlingua, Texas when his motorcycle ran off a rural highway and crashed into a fence. There were no skidmarks on the road.
[edit] References
- http://www.forttours.com/pages/jdlooney.asp
- http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/cheap/2005/cheap1118.html
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/redskins/longterm/book/pages/67.htm
- ^ http://www.leavingsiddhayoga.net/secret.htm
Categories: 1942 births | 1988 deaths | People from Fort Worth | Texas Longhorns football players | Oklahoma Sooners football players | New York Giants players | Baltimore Colts players | Detroit Lions players | Washington Redskins players | New Orleans Saints players | Converts to Hinduism | Motorcycle accident victims | American road accident victims | American Hindus
