I was listening to The Giants Insider podcast this morning on my way into work (great Giants podcast for anyone interested - Jerry and Chris are both pretty objective with their opinions and Chris throws out some insider nuggets at times) and they were talking about the biggest draft busts in Giant history.
Most of the names you'll hear thrown out are Ereck Flowers, Cedric Jones, Dave Brown, Thomas Lewis, Rocky Thompson, etc.
But I've not heard anyone ever mention Joe Don Looney, probably because he was drafted before most of us were born and...well...barely made it a month with the Giants before being traded. Jerry Foley mentioned him this morning on the podcast and Looney's short-lived NFL story sounds pretty fascinating. There's even a book on him called "3rd Down and Forever: Joe Don Looney and the Rise and Fall of an American Hero." Some quick notes on his NFL and personal life story that I pulled from a
Sports Illustrated article:
- Has been labeled the most uncoachable player in NFL history
- Physically gifted athlete in college who drew comparisons to Jim Brown, but played sporadically due to constant disciplinary issues and run ins with the coaching staff and was eventually dismissed from his college team
- So tantalized by his physical talent, the Giants drafted him in 1964 with the 12th pick in Round 1 in spite of his behavioral issues
- He was so difficult to work with that the Giants traded him to the Colts after only 28 days
- In November of 1964 while with the Colts, Looney got into a political argument with a couple in a parking lot. He and a teammate broke into the couples apartment later that night and attacked them
- Traded to the Lions after appearing in only 13 games with the Colts
- During his last game in a Lions uniform, he was asked to send in a play from the sidelines. His response was, "if you want a messenger boy, call Western Union."
- Traded to the Redskins (without the head coach's consent) after 2 seasons with the Lions and appearing in 12 games
- While in Washington, struggled to pick up the playbook and would simply refuse to enter the game if he didn't feel he was properly warmed up
- Upon his release from Washington, Looney's Army reserve unit was activated to go to Vietnam. Looney tried to sue, and was part of a group citing that a reserve unit could not be called to fight in an undeclared war. The suit failed and he was shipped off to Vietnam.
- While in Vietnam, Looney fell into drug use and depression due to his failing marriage. He was a known philanderer and also resented his daughters birth because she wasn't a boy.
- Returned to the US in 1969 and landed with the Saints in an attempt to qualify for full NFL pension (he needed to be on a roster for three more weeks)
- Pretended to be injured and stayed off the field, knowing that injured players couldn't be released
- Finally at age 27, addicted to drugs and divorced, Looney's NFl career had ended. His final statistics - 724 rushing yards in 42 games.
- When his wife filed for divorce, Looney told her that their kid was now going to be her problem, and he stopped paying child support after a few months
- Ventured to Hong Kong on a "mystic adventure" to get clean but ended up being addicted to acid
- Returned to the US a year later and became a mule, smuggling narcotics into Mexico City and testing cocaine.
- Met a Yoga master in 1975 and became his disciple, following him around the world listening to his seminars and taking care of his pet elephant
- Moved back to Texas in the 80's and reconnected with his daughter
- In 1988 at age 45, Looney was on his way to a river rafting race on his motorcycle. The bike veered off the road and crashed, and Looney died from a crushed wind pipe.
His life would make for a crazy movie. Like a Tarantino styled anti-Forrest Gump.
I told this story before on here, but Looney & my dad almost got into a fight on the Ocean City, MD boardwalk years ago.
Both had been in bar fights the night before with different people and the next day my dad had his wrist wrapped from a sprain. Looney was so shitfaced the night before and still the next morning, he saw my dad with a wrapped wrist and assumed that must have been the guy he had gotten into a fight the night before and tried to fight my dad.
After having been defeated in cold/bad weather championship games by teams with superior running attacks (Green Bay, Chicago) the goal was to rebuild the aging backfield.
Sherman thought Morrison was not durable enough to be a full time HB so he moved him to FL to succeed Gifford, Webster was aging and hurting, Sherman had little faith it appears in Phil King and Hugh McElhenny and wanted them gone.
In the 1950's the Giants ran a three man backfield with Gifford at LH, Webster RH, and Mel Triplett at FB. The 1964 draft was designed to replicate that backfield, albeit with two backs in the game at one time:
D1 Joe Don Looney HB Oklahoma 6-1-230
D2 Steve Thurlow HB Stanford 6-3 222
D4 Matt Snell FB Ohio State 6-2 219
Looney was a bigger, just as fast version of Gifford, multi-talented, could do everything on the football field and unfortunately capable of anything off of it. Thurlow was like Webster, someone who didn't have great speed, who was not flashy but whose production defied measurables...in addition he could throw the option pass and catch. Snell was a traditional fullback who was a running threat.
To that cast Sherman added Dick James, a fast, experienced back who could catch passes and return kicks.
The Giants thought that Looney’s problems would go away by the lure of $$$ (actual quote), his father was a former pro player and there was a big show of them being in NY together to sign his contract.
QB Tittle 38 17; Wood 22 R D8; Schictle 23 R D6, Griffing 23 2
HB Looney 22 R D1; James 30 9; Thurlow 22 R D2; Childs 26 1; King 28 7; McElhenney 35 13; Anderson 26 2
FB Snell 23 R D4; Webster 33 11; Wheelright 24 1
FL Gifford 34 12; Morrison 27 6; Counts 25 3
SE Shofner 29 8; Thomas 27 4; H. Jones 23 1
TE Walton 28 8; Crespino 26 4
Looney was a problem child at Oklahoma who the Giants thought could be cured by the lure of a pro paycheck. Instead his bizarre behavior and his defiance of simple rules drove Sherman to trade him to Baltimore before camp ended. Snell signed with the Jets and a long and productive career. That left Thurlow who was productive but in the end was too much like other Giants RB's in that he had size (Thurlow, Wheelright, Fredrickson, Mercein, Koy, Smith Reed) but not a lot of speed. That made him expendable and he was sent to Washington to re-acquire Darrell Dess in 1966.
If Looney had lived up to expectations and/or Snell had signed then there would be no need to draft a RB/FB in 1965.
The next 6 players drafted after Looney
(1-13) Lloyd Voss DE Pittsburgh (Could have succeeded Robustelli at DE)
(1-14) Dick Evey DT Notre Dame (Would have been a solid starter at DT, could have succeeded Modzelewski and let new acquisition Andy Stynchula remain at DE)
(2-01) George Mira QB Miami (Tittle’s successor? He couldn’t move John Brodie out in SF)
(2-02) Jack Concannon QB Boston College (Likewise; tall and skilled, but had a so so career in Philadelphia/Chicago 36TD’s, 63 INT’s
(2-03) Mel Renfro CB Oregon (HOF but the Giants had Erich Barnes and Dick Lynch)
(2-04) Paul Krause FS Iowa (HOF but Giants had Jimmy Patton)
After that Hal Bledsoe, Billy Martin, Matt Snorton...Tony Lorick who was a good player was the next best back...
From SI Giants preview 1964
“In an effort to establish continuity in the Giant ground attack this year, Sherman drafted Joe Don Looney, a massive but moody fullback who played for four colleges before being unceremoniously booted off the Oklahoma squad early in the 1963 season. Looney was the Giants' first draft choice; it is safe to say that he would not have been the first draft choice of any other club in the league.
The fact that the Giants added this gamble to the rest of the gambles they have taken since the end of the 1963 season is a tribute to Sherman's predilection for extracting fine wine from sour grapes. Looney spent four days in the Giant training camp before he joined the College All-Star squad. The four days were not particularly indicative of a change of attitude by Looney, who had floored an Oklahoma assistant coach as the immediate prelude to being kicked off the Oklahoma squad.
One afternoon Don Smith, the Giant publicity man, asked Looney to come down to his office to talk to a reporter. Looney refused. Smith sent a messenger back to Looney's room to point out that part of his contract with the Giants requires that he cooperate in public relations, and Looney sent the messenger back with a brief and rude suggestion as to what Smith could do.
"He didn't talk to anyone and he spent most of his time in his room flexing his muscles," one observer at the Giant camp said. "He'll be a problem." Said Sherman, "He looked fine in practice. He can kick the ball very well and he works hard. He has all the physical equipment. Somewhere in his personality is a key you can turn to open him up. Our job is to find the key."
When Looney returned from the All-Star camp with a pulled leg muscle, he still was not overflowing with desire. "He doesn't have a Giant attitude," one player said, and Sherman finally agreed. Allie could not find the Looney key, and now the Colts' Don Shula has the job of hunting for it.
Sherman seldom before has failed to plumb the psyches of football players—both the good and the marginal. He studied them for five years as a second-string quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles...”
https://www.si.com/vault/1964/09/07/613763/a-pedantic-professor-who-likes-to-buck-long-odds
Benoit SI article about Looney a few years ago:
“Still, Looney’s talent was unmistakable. “Looney was fantastic at Oklahoma,” says football historian T.J. Troup. “Just on physical ability he could have been a good [NFL] player.”
Looney was ahead of his time in some ways, especially when it came to training, an elaborate regimen centered around then-foreign endeavors like stretching and taking vitamins. An avid weightlifter, he journeyed to Alvin Roy’s gym in Baton Rouge in the summer of 1963. “Alvin Roy of course brought steroids into pro football in the early ’60s with the Chargers,” says MacCambridge.
In 3rd Down and Forever, Looney’s close friend and teammate, John Flynn, said, “I would say [Looney’s steroid use] was obvious from looking at him. There had never been anything bad said about them. It wasn’t an issue whether it was legal or not. There was certainly no problem with taking them. It wasn’t anything about what they know about them today.”
“Just as Looney’s talent had prompted Wilkinson to make an exception and bring him in as a JUCO transfer, it prompted the New York Giants to take the unusual step of spending a first-round draft pick on a player who had been dismissed from his college team. Looney’s problems immediately carried over to his professional career. He refused to follow the Giants’ dress code. He left folks flabbergasted by ignoring the press. Sometimes he just plain didn’t show up for practice.
After only 28 days, and before even so much as a preseason game, the Giants traded Looney to the Baltimore Colts for safety Andy Nelson and wide receiver R.C. Owens. Looney would become the problem of Colts head coach Don Shula.”
The Colts thought they could revive Looney as well...
“As MacCambridge explains it, “Shula was born to not understand what the hell Joe Don was about. That was not going to be a long and fruitful marriage.”
Still, Shula made an honest effort to accommodate some of Looney’s antics. When Looney griped about his pants being too tight around his thighs—a complaint Looney had made throughout his playing days, to the disdain of many coaches—Shula ordered him a custom pair. When Looney failed to pick up significant portions of the Colts offense, Shula kept him on the field. Naturally, this only went so far. “Shula said you couldn’t trust Looney when he went in the game, you couldn’t be sure what he was going do,” Clark said over the phone. “Was he going run the play that was called or was he not going run it at all? What was he going do?
“Shula did the best of any coach ever in dealing with Joe Don. He was able to give Joe Don what Joe Don needed, which was a little bit of attention and understanding, and empathy. I think Joe Don liked Shula.”
https://amp.si.com/mmqb/2017/06/21/nfl-joe-don-looney-oklahoma-baltimore-colts-steroids-drugs-yoga-motorcycle-accident
The only guy who can compare to him as the biggest GIANTS draft bust of all time is Derek Brown who mostly rode the pines and took the money for five full seasons.
Looney's only redeeming point is that he was out of here before the season started so he didn't cost them squat.
There isn't anyone, not John Hicks, not Rocky Thompson, not Cedric Jones, and not anyone else in my lifetime who compares with Looney and Brown as GIANTS draft busts.
His life would make for a crazy movie. Like a Tarantino styled anti-Forrest Gump.
I told this story before on here, but Looney & my dad almost got into a fight on the Ocean City, MD boardwalk years ago.
Both had been in bar fights the night before with different people and the next day my dad had his wrist wrapped from a sprain. Looney was so shitfaced the night before and still the next morning, he saw my dad with a wrapped wrist and assumed that must have been the guy he had gotten into a fight the night before and tried to fight my dad.
Thats a great story, haha.
The only guy who can compare to him as the biggest GIANTS draft bust of all time is Derek Brown who mostly rode the pines and took the money for five full seasons.
Derek Brown was the first guy I thought of.
Dryer, btw, was a 1969 first round choice out of USC, a pro-bowl caliber DE who played two years with the Giants, couldn't get along with management, and was traded to the Pats.
Lee Grosscup, QB from Utah, first round, 1959, played in 2-3 games, found his way to a broadcasting career.
Wesley Grant, DE from UCLA, drafted second round, 1970, supremely talented player who never could get along or fit in with the Giants and never played a down in a regular season game.
Francis Peay, OT, Missouri, first round 1966, played one season with the Giants. Had a long coaching career, including HC at Northwestern.
Don Davis, Los Angeles State DT, second round, 1968, lasted one season.
Big Al Simpson, a.k.a., "Big," OT 1975 2nd round pick (Giants traded away first rounder), played one season, released.
Larry Jacobson, DT Nebraska, first round 1972, fair-decent player who cut his foot in a swimming pool accident that effectively ended his career.
Gordon King, T Stanford, first round 1978, played 6-7 undistinguished seasons with the Giants.
Of course, these don't include premium draft picks the Giants traded away chasing QBs (Tarkenton, Morton, Del) Gaizo) and other players to fill roster holes created by bad drafting. There was a reason for the 15 years of lousy football.
Looney, at least, was a potentially gifted player but the notion that the Giants, of all teams, was the organization that could "fix" him was nuts. And, perhaps, as a result of that fiasco, the Giants went RB in the first round of the 1965 draft. Tucker Fredrickson was an elite player, well-suited for the Giants organization, an heir to Frank Gifford, but injuries ruined his career.
It was the biggest bust in player selection IMO
1971 - Rocky Thompson
1972 - Eldridge Small
1992 - Derek Brown
-other guys like Woolfolk, Bunch, George Adams at least had a moment or 2 or could blame injuries (I rmember Adams taking a flair pass vs. the Cowboys and taking it like 75 yds for a TD)
Brown flat out sucked. Nothing to blame but his own suckiness. I literally can't remember one moment he had on the team that sticks out.
That also gets my vote, I think he was a top 10 pick.
What did Looney cost? A few Gs back then?
Fortunately, Wellington traded away some #1 picks before he could make mistakes with them.
That’s ridiculous. Hicks was good till he got hurt
If I recall, Wollfolk was one of the guys dumped during Parcells purge of cokeheads in 83-84...but we’d drafted Joe Morris in round 2, he was a great pick. Until he broke his foot
Bunch looked great as a rookie then wrecked his knee.
Cedric Jones actually started at DE for about 5 years. Never did much.
My vote is also for Derek Brown...kicked around the league for 7 years or so, but was mostly useless.