Deceased Name: MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT CLAIMS JOE DON LOONEY Joe Don Looney, an All-America running back with the Oklahoma Sooners in 1962 and Fort Worth native, died early Saturday morning in a one-vehicle accident off Texas Highway 118, near Study Butte, Texas.
Looney was traveling west at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, when he failed to complete a turn while riding his 1981 Suzuki motorcycle and rolled through a wire fence off the west side of the highway, said Texas Department of Public Safety officials in Pecos. Looney was pronounced dead at the scence at 11:40 a.m. He was 45.
The former football hero at Fort Worth Paschal High School led the Sooners to the Orange Bowl in 1963, where they lost to Alabama, 17-0. In 1964, Looney was drafted in the first round by the New York Giants, but his five-year career spanned across four other NFL teams -- Baltimore, Detroit, Washington and New Orleans.
But Looney was notorious for his off-field exploits, such as a two-year probated sentence for illegal possession of a submachine gun in 1972 and bouts with drugs and alcohol.
Looney, went through numerous career changes -- from a football star at Oklahoma to a bodyguard for Swami Muktananda, one of 40 living saints in India who was headquartered in Miami Beach at the time of Looney's service.
He was not only known for his famed 60-yard touchdown run that gave Oklahoma a 7-3 victory over Syracuse in 1962 but also his arguments with coaches, missed curfews and his brief appearance with different pro teams.
Looney attended four colleges in three years and was billed as a Heisman Trophy candidate while at OU but was dismissed by the Sooners in 1963 for hitting an assistant coach.
While in the NFL, he routinely missed practices and ignored coaching lectures.
He also served a tour of duty in Vietnam after a stint with the Redskins.
Services are still pending at Eastland Funeral Home in his hometown of Alpine, Texas.
Dallas Morning News, The (TX) Date: September 25, 1988
Per Linda Roark (family friend):
Joe Don built a dome house for himself and was building a home for his dad when he died. (He was not a carpenter) He had hired carpenters to help him with this enterprise.
Also, it was not Eastland Funeral Home, but Geeslin Funeral Home where arrangements were made and the service was held.
Looney was traveling west at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, when he failed to complete a turn while riding his 1981 Suzuki motorcycle and rolled through a wire fence off the west side of the highway, said Texas Department of Public Safety officials in Pecos. Looney was pronounced dead at the scence at 11:40 a.m. He was 45.
The former football hero at Fort Worth Paschal High School led the Sooners to the Orange Bowl in 1963, where they lost to Alabama, 17-0. In 1964, Looney was drafted in the first round by the New York Giants, but his five-year career spanned across four other NFL teams -- Baltimore, Detroit, Washington and New Orleans.
But Looney was notorious for his off-field exploits, such as a two-year probated sentence for illegal possession of a submachine gun in 1972 and bouts with drugs and alcohol.
Looney, went through numerous career changes -- from a football star at Oklahoma to a bodyguard for Swami Muktananda, one of 40 living saints in India who was headquartered in Miami Beach at the time of Looney's service.
He was not only known for his famed 60-yard touchdown run that gave Oklahoma a 7-3 victory over Syracuse in 1962 but also his arguments with coaches, missed curfews and his brief appearance with different pro teams.
Looney attended four colleges in three years and was billed as a Heisman Trophy candidate while at OU but was dismissed by the Sooners in 1963 for hitting an assistant coach.
While in the NFL, he routinely missed practices and ignored coaching lectures.
He also served a tour of duty in Vietnam after a stint with the Redskins.
Services are still pending at Eastland Funeral Home in his hometown of Alpine, Texas.
Dallas Morning News, The (TX) Date: September 25, 1988
Per Linda Roark (family friend):
Joe Don built a dome house for himself and was building a home for his dad when he died. (He was not a carpenter) He had hired carpenters to help him with this enterprise.
Also, it was not Eastland Funeral Home, but Geeslin Funeral Home where arrangements were made and the service was held.
Deceased Name: MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT CLAIMS JOE DON LOONEY Joe Don Looney, an All-America running back with the Oklahoma Sooners in 1962 and Fort Worth native, died early Saturday morning in a one-vehicle accident off Texas Highway 118, near Study Butte, Texas.
Looney was traveling west at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, when he failed to complete a turn while riding his 1981 Suzuki motorcycle and rolled through a wire fence off the west side of the highway, said Texas Department of Public Safety officials in Pecos. Looney was pronounced dead at the scence at 11:40 a.m. He was 45.
The former football hero at Fort Worth Paschal High School led the Sooners to the Orange Bowl in 1963, where they lost to Alabama, 17-0. In 1964, Looney was drafted in the first round by the New York Giants, but his five-year career spanned across four other NFL teams -- Baltimore, Detroit, Washington and New Orleans.
But Looney was notorious for his off-field exploits, such as a two-year probated sentence for illegal possession of a submachine gun in 1972 and bouts with drugs and alcohol.
Looney, went through numerous career changes -- from a football star at Oklahoma to a bodyguard for Swami Muktananda, one of 40 living saints in India who was headquartered in Miami Beach at the time of Looney's service.
He was not only known for his famed 60-yard touchdown run that gave Oklahoma a 7-3 victory over Syracuse in 1962 but also his arguments with coaches, missed curfews and his brief appearance with different pro teams.
Looney attended four colleges in three years and was billed as a Heisman Trophy candidate while at OU but was dismissed by the Sooners in 1963 for hitting an assistant coach.
While in the NFL, he routinely missed practices and ignored coaching lectures.
He also served a tour of duty in Vietnam after a stint with the Redskins.
Services are still pending at Eastland Funeral Home in his hometown of Alpine, Texas.
Dallas Morning News, The (TX) Date: September 25, 1988
Per Linda Roark (family friend):
Joe Don built a dome house for himself and was building a home for his dad when he died. (He was not a carpenter) He had hired carpenters to help him with this enterprise.
Also, it was not Eastland Funeral Home, but Geeslin Funeral Home where arrangements were made and the service was held.
Looney was traveling west at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, when he failed to complete a turn while riding his 1981 Suzuki motorcycle and rolled through a wire fence off the west side of the highway, said Texas Department of Public Safety officials in Pecos. Looney was pronounced dead at the scence at 11:40 a.m. He was 45.
The former football hero at Fort Worth Paschal High School led the Sooners to the Orange Bowl in 1963, where they lost to Alabama, 17-0. In 1964, Looney was drafted in the first round by the New York Giants, but his five-year career spanned across four other NFL teams -- Baltimore, Detroit, Washington and New Orleans.
But Looney was notorious for his off-field exploits, such as a two-year probated sentence for illegal possession of a submachine gun in 1972 and bouts with drugs and alcohol.
Looney, went through numerous career changes -- from a football star at Oklahoma to a bodyguard for Swami Muktananda, one of 40 living saints in India who was headquartered in Miami Beach at the time of Looney's service.
He was not only known for his famed 60-yard touchdown run that gave Oklahoma a 7-3 victory over Syracuse in 1962 but also his arguments with coaches, missed curfews and his brief appearance with different pro teams.
Looney attended four colleges in three years and was billed as a Heisman Trophy candidate while at OU but was dismissed by the Sooners in 1963 for hitting an assistant coach.
While in the NFL, he routinely missed practices and ignored coaching lectures.
He also served a tour of duty in Vietnam after a stint with the Redskins.
Services are still pending at Eastland Funeral Home in his hometown of Alpine, Texas.
Dallas Morning News, The (TX) Date: September 25, 1988
Per Linda Roark (family friend):
Joe Don built a dome house for himself and was building a home for his dad when he died. (He was not a carpenter) He had hired carpenters to help him with this enterprise.
Also, it was not Eastland Funeral Home, but Geeslin Funeral Home where arrangements were made and the service was held.
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