Plankton
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 12,260
- Reaction score
- 18,651
I had read a biography on Looney 25 years ago - very interesting and troubled guy.
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/06/21/...colts-steroids-drugs-yoga-motorcycle-accident
“If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union.”
—Running back Joe Don Looney, to head coach Harry Gilmer after Gilmer asked him to send in a play from the sidelines during what would be among Looney’s final moments as a Detroit Lion
He turned pro under comparisons to Jim Brown and, nearly 30 years later, was invoked by Don Shula as an early era form of Herschel Walker. But Looney’s career lasted just five seasons. He played for that many teams, driving all of his coaches crazy. He was a fascination of the media. He did a stint in Vietnam. Six years after his final NFL game, he was traveling the world, having discovered Siddha Yoga.
You might expect Joe Don Looney’s story to be that of brazen, perhaps even heroic, individualism. A counter-culture icon stuck in an era of conformity. A different cat who walked away from the glories of pro football in search of deeper meaning.
Photo: Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated
But zoom in closer, break it down into pieces and what you see is a clear illustration for why he was once characterized by Bill Walsh as a “coach killer.” And why longtime NFL Films president Steve Sabol called him “the most uncoachable player in NFL history.” Joe Don Looney’s career isn’t a story you’ve never heard before, but rather, a bunch of stories you’ve heard a thousand times, rolled into 45 years of one man’s life.
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/06/21/...colts-steroids-drugs-yoga-motorcycle-accident
“If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union.”
—Running back Joe Don Looney, to head coach Harry Gilmer after Gilmer asked him to send in a play from the sidelines during what would be among Looney’s final moments as a Detroit Lion
He turned pro under comparisons to Jim Brown and, nearly 30 years later, was invoked by Don Shula as an early era form of Herschel Walker. But Looney’s career lasted just five seasons. He played for that many teams, driving all of his coaches crazy. He was a fascination of the media. He did a stint in Vietnam. Six years after his final NFL game, he was traveling the world, having discovered Siddha Yoga.
You might expect Joe Don Looney’s story to be that of brazen, perhaps even heroic, individualism. A counter-culture icon stuck in an era of conformity. A different cat who walked away from the glories of pro football in search of deeper meaning.
Photo: Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated
But zoom in closer, break it down into pieces and what you see is a clear illustration for why he was once characterized by Bill Walsh as a “coach killer.” And why longtime NFL Films president Steve Sabol called him “the most uncoachable player in NFL history.” Joe Don Looney’s career isn’t a story you’ve never heard before, but rather, a bunch of stories you’ve heard a thousand times, rolled into 45 years of one man’s life.