Joe Don Looney Joe Don Looney ( October 10 , 1942 – September 24 , 1988 ) was an American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Giants , Baltimore Colts , Detroit Lions , Washington Redskins , and the New Orleans Saints . He attended Admiral Farragut Academy in St . Petersburg , Florida and Paschal High School in Ft . Worth , Texas for high school . College career . During his first semester at the University of Texas , 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 - America n 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 . Professional career . Looney was drafted in the first round ( twelfth overall ) of the 1964 NFL Draft by the New York Giants . He was also selected in the sixth round of the 1964 AFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs , but chose to play in the NFL instead . He was with the Giants just 25 days before they traded him to the Baltimore Colts just before the 1964 season . Looney was only given 23 carries that entire season with Baltimore . The Colts traded Looney to the Detroit Lions following the 1964 season . He put together one good season , racking up 114 carries for 356 yards and five touchdowns . While with Detroit , coach Harry Gilmer wanted Looney to carry in a play to the quarterback . Looney refused and told Gilmer " If you want a messenger boy , call Western Union . " Detroit traded Looney to the Washington Redskins , where he had an uneventful tenure . He had 55 carries for 178 yards . The only highlight of his time with the Redskins came on a play in which he didn ' t even have the ball . He was pass protecting for quarterback Sonny Jurgensen on a play , and ended up leveling an onrushing pass rusher with a right hook to the jaw . In 1968 , Looney was called up by the United States Army to go to Vietnam . When he returned to the States , he signed on with the New Orleans Saints . He had three carries for - 3 yards with the Saints that year , and retired after the season . Looney was ranked as the most uncoachable player in NFL history by NFL Films president Steve Sabol . 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 ? " After football . After his retirement from football he converted to Hinduism and joined the Siddha Yoga movement led by Swami Muktananda . Stan Trout , a fellow convert , alleged that Looney was one of Muktananda ’ s “ enforcers ” who intimidated people into obeying him . Looney plead guilty to illegal possession of a firearm in federal court on January 7 , 1974 . He was sentenced to three years ' probation . On February 5th , 1988 , he received a presidential pardon from Ronald Reagan . Looney died at the age of 45 , on September 24 , 1988 , near Luna Vista north of Terlingua , Texas when his motorcycle ran off a rural highway and crashed into a fence . Personal . Looney was born in Fort Worth , Texas , the son of Don Looney , who played on the 1938 NCAA championship team of Texas Christian University , and played end for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1940 . He had a daughter Tara in 1968 .