John Don Looney (September 2, 1916 – April 5, 2015) was a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was born in

Sulphur Springs, Texas Sulphur Springs is a city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 15,449. Sulphur Springs is located along the western edge of Northeast Texas. History Sulphur Springs was named ...

. He was drafted in the eighth round of the 1940 NFL Draft. He played three seasons for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

(1940) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (1941–1942). He was the first receiver in NFL history to have over 100 yards receiving in each of his first two games, a feat which was not equaled until the 2008 NFL season by another Eagles wide receiver,

DeSean Jackson DeSean William Jackson (born December 1, 1986) is an American football wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, where he was recognized as a con ...

. Looney served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

after the 1942 season. At the time of his death, Looney was the second oldest living former NFL player. He was the father of NFL running back Joe Don Looney, who died in a one-person motorcycle accident after his NFL career ended. Looney was survived by his longtime partner, Linda Roark, whom he met in 1992.

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* 1916 births 2015 deaths American football ends National Football League officials Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players TCU Horned Frogs football players United States Army personnel of World War II People from Sulphur Springs, Texas Players of American football from Hopkins County, Texas {{widereceiver-1910s-stub