Joe Don Looney (Football Player)

[Bullaholic]

Heard his name mentioned on a radio sports show last week. Brought back memories of Texas football folklore. For those of you old enough to remember--- Joe Don was the original "Party Animal". His bad boy legacy was still discussed at TCU when I was there in 1966.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Don_Looney

[DaHop72]

Originally posted by Bullaholic
Heard his name mentioned on a radio sports show last week. Brought back memories of Texas football folklore. For those of you old enough to remember--- Joe Don was the original "Party Animal". His bad boy legacy was still discussed at TCU when I was there in 1966.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Don_Looney And he acted a whole lot like his last name for most of his career.

[Bullaholic]

Originally posted by DaHop72
And he acted a whole lot like his last name for most of his career.

That he did , Hop. I was always surprised that nobody ever made a movie out of his life. Brian Bosworth would have been a natural for the part. He certainly burned the candle at both ends and went out in a blaze.

[swstangs001]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bullaholic
His bad boy legacy was still discussed at TCU when I was there in 1966.

[swstangs001]

Originally posted by swstangs001
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bullaholic
His bad boy legacy was still discussed at TCU when I was there in 1966.



oops..........

[Bullaholic]

Originally posted by swstangs001
oops..........


That was only a mere 100 years or so ago, swstangs....:D

[Phil C]

He played good for Oklahoma in 1962 and part of 1963. In 1963 USC was the defending champion and ranked No. 1 and Oklahoma beat them 17 to 12 and Joe contributed greatly to the victory. The next week Oklahoma was ranked No. 1 and Texas No. 2 and Texas beat them 28 to 7. The Texas defense led by Scott Appleton and Tommy Nobis kept the Oklahoma offense and Joe in check that day. It was the next week I think that Coach Bud Wilkinson kicked Joe off the team.

[I. B. Watching]

You are correct Phil. You have a great memory

[Phil C]

I.B. the thing that was tragic about Joe is that he had so much potential to have been a good football player in the NFL. Maybe not great but a good one. Unfortunately he carried a bad attitude wherever he went and I think that did him in. The sad thing is that he served in Viet Nam in 1968 and then played for New Orleans in 1969 and had a promising preseason but unfortunately he didn't do too good in the regular season which may have been due to the years wasted and the year lag in serving in Viet Nam. I have heard he went to New Orleans with a good attitude for once but unfortunately it was too late. :(

[Phil C]

An amusing story was about Joe Don Looney and his dog while he was at New Orleans in 1969 before he retired. Doug Atkins a great all pro defensive end played there that year too. Atkins had played on a Cleveland NFL championship team in 1954 and for the Chicago Bears Championship team in 1963. Joe had a great attitude for once that year. During preseason his dog bit someone and Doug joked "Wouldn't you know it. When the boy becomes good the dog goes bad."

:)

[I. B. Watching]

Good Stuff Phil. I read an old Sports Illustrated article on him from the early 1960s I believe, and it talked about how he was seriously into weight lifting and running by the time he was 10 years old. He could have been a great one. But I guess every generation has a Joe Don Looney. Way back when, in the early 1970s I believe, Lewisville had a running back, I think Paul Rice, who was going to be the next big thing, but I don't believe he ever played anywhere. I always wondered what happened to him.