Joe Don Looney - talent is a very dangerous word

Dan Jenkins, SI.com:

During his first semester at the University of Texas, Joe Don Looney received four Fs and one D mark. Looney responded by dropping out and enrolling at Texas Christian University. He was eventually kicked out of that school and transferred to Cameron Junior College, where he played for Leroy Montgomery. He set a punting record in the 1961 Junior Rose Bowl, as his team won the junior college national championship. He made All-American with the University of Oklahoma in 1962, leading them to the Big Eight Conference championship. He played in only three games in 1963. Coach Bud Wilkinson kicked him off the team after Looney punched a graduate-assistant coach.

Looney was drafted in the first round (twelfth overall) of the 1964 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He was traded to the Baltimore Colts just before the 1964 season. In a preseason game with the Colts, Joe Don had run around right end when the play called in the huddle was supposed to go to the left. Of course, he raced for a 66 yard touchdown run. Looney was only given 23 carries that entire season with Baltimore.

The Colts traded Looney to the Detroit Lions following the 1964 season. Joe Don’s lack of respect for authority involved an incident with Lions’ Head Coach Harry Gilmer. Harry wanted Looney to carry in a play to the quarterback. Looney refused and told Gilmer "If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union."

Joe Don Looney was ranked as the most uncoachable player in NFL history by NFL Films president, Steve Sabol. Jenkins also mentioned in his piece, he would often intentionally run the wrong way on plays in practice in order to make things more challenging for himself. He once skipped several practices. When questioned about his absences, he responded by saying, "If practice makes perfect and perfection is impossible, why practice?"

Following three years in the United States Army, including two tours in Viet Nam, Looney returned to the NFL, and was a preseason cut of the New Orleans Saints. Joe Don would later plead guilty to illegal possession of a firearm in federal court on January 7, 1974. He was sentenced to three years' probation. On February 5, 1988, he received a presidential pardon from Ronald Reagan. Looney died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 45.

NFL coaches are faced with some tough decisions when trimming the rosters to 53. Do you want talent or brains? You can’t have both.

Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.

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