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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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Lance Rentzel, who led the league in touchdown receptions in 1969 and played nine seasons in the NFL, died June 7 in Alexandria, Virginia. He was 82.
Born in Flushing, New York, and raised in Oklahoma City, Rentzel was a standout athlete long before reaching the NFL. At Casady School, he starred in four sports and graduated as class valedictorian before continuing his football career at the University of Oklahoma.
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In college, Rentzel emerged as one of the nation's top offensive players and became a second-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 1965 NFL Draft.
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Rentzel finished his professional career with 268 receptions for 4,826 yards and 38 touchdowns, adding two rushing scores, for the Vikings (1965-66), Dallas Cowboys (1967-70), and Los Angeles Rams (1971-74).
Rentzel made an immediate impact as a rookie. In 1965, he returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown, setting a franchise record that stood until 2007. He finished his career with 783 kickoff return yards and 217 punt return yards.
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Injuries limited Rentzel during his two seasons in Minnesota, but a 1967 trade to Dallas helped unlock his potential. Playing under head coach Tom Landry, Rentzel became one of the top deep threats in the NFL. He recorded more than 900 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons with Dallas, including a 1,009-yard campaign in 1968.
The following season, he led the NFL with 12 touchdown receptions and earned All-Pro honors.
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One of the defining moments of Rentzel's career came in the 1967 NFL Championship Game, better known as the Ice Bowl. His fourth-quarter touchdown reception from Dan Reeves briefly gave Dallas the lead before the Green Bay Packers rallied for the victory.
Rentzel also drew significant attention away from the field. In 1969, he married actress and singer Joey Heatherton. The marriage ended a year later, following a widely publicized 1970 indecent-exposure arrest involving a young girl. The incident overshadowed many of his football accomplishments and contributed to the end of his tenure in Dallas.
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After appearing in 11 games for the Cowboys in 1970, Rentzel was traded to the Rams, where he spent four seasons and helped the team reach the playoffs.
In 1973, while on probation stemming from the indecent-exposure case, he was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for conduct detrimental to the league after a marijuana-possession conviction.
Rentzel retired after the 1974 season. In later years, he wrote a memoir about his life and personal struggles, then transitioned into computer work in Virginia, where he spent much of his post-football life.
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