Billy Cannon

Billy Cannon
Billy Cannon at LSU
Date of birth	August 2, 1937 (1937-08-02) (age 72)
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Mississippi, U.S.
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	216 pounds (98.0 kg)
Position(s)	RB, HB, TE
College	LSU
AFL Draft	1960 / Round 1 / Pick 1
NFL Draft	1960 / Round 1 / Pick 1
Jersey Number	20
Career highlights
TSN All-AFL	1961, 1967
AFL All-Star	1961, 1967, 1969
Awards	1959 Heisman Trophy 1959 TSN Player of the Year 1959 UPI Player of the Year 1958 TSN Player of the Year 1958 UPI Player of the Year
Honors	American Football League Champion, 1961 and 1962 AFL Rushing leader, 1961
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Teams
1960-1963 1964-1969 1970	AFL Houston Oilers AFL Oakland Raiders NFL Kansas City Chiefs
College Football Hall of Fame

William Abb "Billy" Cannon (born August 2, 1937) is an All-American, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner and 2008 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame 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.^[1]

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 ran the 40 yard dash in 3.9 seconds, and throw a 16-pound shot put 54 feet.^[2]

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. Cannon was also voted the 1958 UPI Player of the Year. 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 and was again voted the UPI College Football Player of the Year|UPI Player of the Year. 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 was the only football number retired by LSU until 2009, when Tommy Casanova's number was also retired.

In 2008, Cannon was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame.^[3] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 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 Chicago.^[4] 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.^[5] He printed $50 million in U.S. 100 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.

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.

References

• "Still Running" by Josh Peter, "The Times-Picayune", December 31, 2003

See also

• Other American Football League players

External links

• Cannon's 1965 Topps football card
• Gallery of Billy Cannon football cards
• Billy Cannon's LSU Tigers 1958 National Champions Football Pennant
• Billy Cannon Oakland Raider's Webpage
• Billy Cannon Heisman Trophy Webpage
• Video of Billy Cannon Punt Return to Beat Ole Miss