BATON ROUGE — Memorial services were announced for a former LSU football player.

William Frederick Truax III, also known as Billy Truax and Poppi Tru, died on Jan. 7 in Denton, Texas, at the age of 82.

Truax originally enrolled in the Holy Cross boarding school in New Orleans, where he discovered his passion for football before receiving a football scholarship to LSU, where he played as a tight end. 

Truax went on to play for the Cleveland Browns prior to being traded to the Los Angeles Rams following an injury, where he played as a receiving tight end. Truax also played for the Dallas Cowboys, helping the team secure a victory in Super Bowl VI in 1972. 

Throughout his football career, Truax received several awards, including All-Prep, All-State and All-American at Holy Cross, the Times-Picayune four-sport Athlete of the Year in 1959 and first-team All-American and All-Southeastern Conference tight end at LSU in 1963.

Truax has been inducted into the Holy Cross High School Sports Hall of Fame, the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame and the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame.

He went on to become a successful commercial real estate broker and developer. 

A memorial service for Truax will take place at the St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church on March 14 at 11 a.m. in Long Beach, Mississippi.