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Voted one of the 10 Best Sports Books of 1993 by The Sporting News, this riveting biography of Joe Don Looney, the phenomenal athlete who in the '60s was considered the most promising football player in America, tells the story of a hope-filled life that took a tragic turn. 16-page photo insert.
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From Kirkus Reviews:
Football star Joe Don Looney--an All-American running back in the early 1960's--had, according to Oklahoma attorney Clark, ``the tools to be the next Jim Brown.'' But as Clark shows in this smoothly written, riveting biography, Looney's brand of nonconformity and manic temperament was not readily accommodated 30 years ago. An early advocate of weightlifting and steroids for football training, Looney was also ahead of his time in his devotion to yoga and meditation. Even so, he indulged in drinking and brawling that, despite his prowess as a runner and punter, got him dismissed from several secondary schools. Arriving in 1962 at the University of Oklahoma, Looney--a ``fun-loving reckless hell-raiser'' who was also a ``melancholy existentialist''--clashed with Coach Bud Wilkinson, whose football program still ``had a distinctive military air to it.'' Looney's penchant for guns and fighting, his petulant refusals to practice, and his bridling against becoming ``a mindless grunt'' led to his dismissal from the team--but his extraordinary potential and on-field record convinced the New York Giants to draft him. Looney balked at the pro regimen, however, and was soon traded to the Baltimore Colts, where his ``performances were awesome.'' But after a series of disturbing incidents-- including his arrest for kicking in a neighbor's door--he was traded again. Nagging injuries, lack of interest in playing, and further off-the-field difficulties pushed Looney out of football by 1967. A brief stint in Vietnam renewed his interest in Buddhism but also led him to marijuana and psychedelic drugs, and his life became one of messy relationships and marital problems, of drifting to India, Peru, and back to Texas--although, before his death in 1988 in a motorcycle accident, he found some peace as a disciple of the mystic Muktananda. A well-researched, in-depth study of a most unusual athlete: one of the best--and most fascinating--sports bios in years. (Sixteen-page photo insert--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly:
This is a curious sports biography in which Clark, an Oklahoma lawyer, approaches a seemingly unworthy subject with a reverence bordering on hero-worship. Born in 1942 to a demanding, distant football-star father and a none-too-bright Southern belle mother, Joe Don Looney was indulged throughout his life--as a boy by his mother and as an adult by his increasingly well-to-do father. Joe Don was a singularly talented halfback, playing for the New York Giants, Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins, but his hatred of authority figures extended to coaches, so his gridiron career was largely a tale of unrealized potential. Personally, he was handsome, outspoken and irresponsible, with a short temper and a brief attention span; he experimented with Eastern religions, drugs, body-building, marriage (twice, maybe thrice) and finally motorcycling, which killed him in 1988. He emerges here as a child who grew only in body and talent. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherSt Martins Pr
- Publication date1994
- ISBN 10 0312112343
- ISBN 13 9780312112349
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages247
- Rating
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