He was an NFL star with movie-star looks who was married to a beautiful actress and seemed like he had the world at his fingertips — but Lance Rentzel’s inner demons led to everything he became famous for being taken away.
Disgraced former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Rentzel, who set records for the Cowboys and led the NFL in touchdown receptions in 1969, died at 82 years old on Sunday in Virginia.
“Lance Rentzel, an electrifying Cowboys receiver married to a TV star when his guilty plea to indecent exposure in 1971 wrecked their glamorous lifestyle, if not his career, died Sunday in Virginia, according to his obituary,” The Dallas Morning News columnist Kevin Sherrington wrote. “He was 82.”
Rentzel played for 3 different teams in 10 NFL seasons and added a new level of infamy at each stop. Rentzel was playing for the Minnesota Vikings when he was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1967 for exposing himself to 2 young girls and was traded to the Cowboys.
With the Cowboys, Rentzel was dominant for 4 seasons before he was arrested in 1970 for exposing himself to a young girl in Dallas and was traded to the Los Angeles Rams.
Following a police raid and marijuana arrest at his home in Los Angeles, Rentzel was suspended by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle for the entire 1973 season, and played 1 more season with the Rams in 1974 before he retired.
“To all who knew him,” his obituary said, “Lance was larger than life – hilariously funny, unfailingly optimistic and happy, warm in spirit, and deeply loyal. He formed many close relationships over the years, most notably the enduring bonds that he shared with his teammates.”
Lance Rentzel Wrote Book on Struggles
In his 1973 autobiography, “When All The Laughter Died in Sorrow,” Rentzel said his battle with mental illness was behind many of his struggles, although he does so in a dismissive way that saw the book eviscerated in The New York Times book review.
From The New York Times: “If a single theme emerges from the laborious narrative, it is one of shallow amorality. Whether he is avoiding work on a teenage job, deceiving his over‐affectionate mother or eating garbage to earn the respect of the noble heroes on the University of Oklahoma football team, Lance unquestioningly does whatever seems likely to fulfill his own wises. From there, it is just a short step to signing a pro contract before his college career is over in order to get a tax break—regardless of its demoralizing effect his team. But this sort of thinking afflicts many athletes, and an effort to link it to Rentzel’s deeper sickness would be the most outrageous form of amatuer psychoanalysis. So ultimately, the rambling anecdotes shed little light on what is purportedly the central subject of the book.”
Rentzel was married to actress Joey Heatherton from 1969 until 1971, when she filed for divorce following his 2nd arrest. Heatherton was a former child actress who gained fame in the 1960s as a dancer and turned that into television and film roles for much of the next 2 decades.
According to his obituary, Rentzel spent most of his post-playing career as a government contractor.
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