Everything about Billy Cannon totally explained
William Abb "Billy" Cannon (born
August 2,
1937) is an
All-American and 1959
Heisman Trophy winner from
Louisiana State University in
Baton Rouge, and one of the
American Football League's most celebrated players.
He was born in
Philadelphia, Mississippi, and moved to
Baton Rouge when his father got a job there during
World War II. He graduated from
Istrouma High School in 1956 .
High School
Billy Cannon started high school at Istrouma in Baton Rouge, in 1952. He was noted for his speed and strength, and became a star athlete in football and
track. In football, he scored 39 touchdowns his senior year, was named All-State and All-America and led his high school to a state championship in 1955. He would later run the 100 yard dash in 9.4 seconds and throw a 16-pound shot put 54 feet.
College
Cannon played three seasons for LSU: 1957, 1958, and 1959. In 1958, Cannon led
LSU to its first
AP national championship. #1 LSU clinched the title in the Sugar Bowl, beating #12 Clemson 7-0. The only score was a pass from Cannon to Mickey Mangham. In 1959, Cannon led #1 LSU to a victory over #3 Ole Miss. The Tigers were trailing 3-0 when Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a TD, breaking seven tackles. It was the only TD of the game, resulting in a 7-3 victory for LSU in
Tiger Stadium. That year, Cannon won the Heisman Trophy. Other big games from Cannon's time at LSU were unranked LSU's 20-13 victory over #17 Georgia Tech in 1957, #1 LSU's 14-0 victory over #6 Ole Miss in 1958, and #1 LSU's 10-0 victory over #9 TCU in 1959. The No. 20 worn by Cannon was retired after the 1959 season. It is the only number that LSU has retired.
In 2008, Cannon was elected into the
College Football Hall of Fame. He will be formally inducted during a ceremony on December 9.
AFL
Cannon had an uncommon combination of brute strength with the speed of a sprinter. A track and field coach is reported to have remarked during his college career that he could have lost 15 pounds and won the Olympic gold in the 100 meter dash, or gained 15 pounds and won the Olympic gold in the shotput. In
1960, his signing by the
Houston Oilers followed a fierce bidding war that began when Oilers owner
Bud Adams met Cannon in the
end zone following
LSU's
Sugar Bowl victory, and ended in court, with the
AFL winning against the
NFL. That put the fledgling league on the
football map. Cannon, at
halfback, scored an 88-yard touchdown on a pass from
George Blanda in the first
AFL Championship game, a 24-16 victory over the
Los Angeles Chargers. He scored the only touchdown in the Oilers’ repeat victory over the then-
San Diego Chargers in the second-ever AFL Championship game.
Cannon amassed 2,043 all-purpose yards in
1961, and led the league in
rushing. He played for the Oilers from
1960 through
1963 and went to the
Oakland Raiders in
1964.
Al Davis converted him to
tight end during the
1964 season, and he finished his career as one of the best players of all time at that position. Cannon was
All-League in
1961 and played in the
AFL All-Star Game as a halfback in
1961. He was an
AFL All-League selection at tight end in
1967, when he scored 10 receiving
touchdowns. He played tight end in the in
1969 AFL All-Star Game. He accounted for a total of 64 touchdowns in his career, 47 of them receiving. For his career, he amassed 3,656 yards receiving, 2,455 yards rushing, and 1,882 return yards for a combined total of 8,003 yards and 63 touchdowns. He also passed for 46 yards and one touchdown. He played in a total of six AFL Championship games, winning twice with the Oilers and once with the Raiders.
Billy Cannon is one of twenty players who played the entire ten years of the American Football League's existence.
Later life
Cannon became an orthodonist after his pro football career, earning a D.D.S at the
University of Tennessee and additional degrees in orthodontia from
Loyola University. Despite a successful practice, by 1983 he was in financial difficulties from bad real estate investments and gambling debts. He became involved in a
counterfeiting scheme and served 2 1/2 years of a five year sentence at the
Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana. He printed $50 million in U.S. dollar bills that he stored in ice chests, buried in the backyard of one of the houses he owned and rented out. Upon his release in 1986, he regained his license and is currently the resident dentist at the
Louisiana State Penitentiary.
His life is claimed to be the vaguely disguised subject matter of the
novel (and subsequent
motion picture)
Everybody's All-American by
sportswriter Frank Deford, although Deford denies this.
Cannon's
Heisman Trophy is displayed at
T.J. Ribs restaurant in
Baton Rouge. Cannon has eaten for free there since
1986 when he loaned the trophy to restaurant owner
T. J. Moran. A common misconception is that the trophy was sold to Moran
Billy's son
Billy Cannon, Jr. played linebacker for Texas A&M and was selected in the first round of the NFL draft in
1984, by the
Dallas Cowboys.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Billy Cannon'.
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