Lance Rentzel, an electrifying wide receiver who played for three NFL teams during a troubled career that lasted nine seasons, died on Sunday. He was 82.
Rentzel died in Virginia, according to his obituary.
Rentzel, who was drafted by Minnesota in the second round of the 1965 NFL draft, played two seasons with the Vikings.
Early in his second season, Rentzel drove to a St. Paul, Minnesota, playground, where he exposed himself to two young girls, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Former Cowboys WR Lance Rentzel, talented but troubled, dies at age 82 https://t.co/X51YMdtmSl
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) June 10, 2026
He pleaded guilty and promised to seek psychiatric treatment, so the charges against him were reduced to disorderly conduct and he did not serve any time in jail, according to the newspaper.
Traded to Dallas in 1967, Rentzel blossomed into a star receiver. He caught 58 passes for 996 yards and eight touchdowns in 1967. In the NFL Championship Game against Green Bay in the legendary “Ice Bowl,” Rentzel’s 50-yard touchdown catch from halfback Dan Reeves in the fourth quarter gave Dallas a short-lived lead before the Packers rallied.
In 1968, Rentzel made 54 catches for 1,009 yards and six touchdowns.
Rentzel would lead the NFL with 12 touchdown catches in 1969, averaging a league-leading 22.3 yards per catch.
But on Nov. 30, 1970, Rentzel exposed himself to a 10-year-old girl and was arrested four days later, the Morning News reported.
He would be traded to the Los Angeles for veteran receiver Lance Alworth.
Meanwhile, his marriage to popular entertainer Joey Heatherton ended in divorce. Rentzel said the reason for the split was not related to his crime but more due to his “Let’s-have-some-laughs-and-forget-it” attitude afterward, according to the newspaper.
Rentzel played two seasons for the Rams, but a raid of his home led to his arrest for marijuana possession, the Morning News reported.
He was banned for the 1973 season by Commissioner Pete Rozelle but returned the following season before retiring for good.
Rentzel was born on Oct. 14, 1943, in the New York City borough of Queens. His family moved to Oklahoma City, where graduated fifth in Lance grew up in Oklahoma City, where he graduated fifth in his class at Casady High School and earned 12 varsity letters, according to the newspaper.
He chose Oklahoma for college over Harvard, Princeton and Yale, according to his obituary. He would graduate in 1965 with a degree in mathematics.
Rentzel would write a book, 1973’s "When All the Laughter Died in Sorrow," which detailed his mental illness and the incidents that led to his trades away from Minnesota and Dallas, according to the Morning News.
lay mental illness. He wrote the book at the suggestion of his doctor. In it he described the incidents that led to his exits from Minnesota and Dallas.
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