Billy Cannon - WikiHQ

Billy Abb Cannon Sr. (August 2, 1937 – May 20, 2018) was an American football halfback and tight end who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He attended Louisiana State University (LSU), where he played college football as a halfback, return specialist, and safety for the LSU Tigers. At LSU, Cannon was twice named a unanimous All-American, helped the 1958 LSU team win a national championship, and received the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding college player in 1959. His punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night in 1959 is considered by fans and sportswriters to be one of the most famous plays in LSU sports history.

Cannon was selected as the first overall pick in the 1960 NFL draft and as a first-round territorial pick in the 1960 American Football League draft, resulting in a contract dispute that ended in court. Cannon played in the AFL for the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders before ending his football career with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL. He began his professional career as a halfback for the Oilers. A twice AFL All-Star, Cannon led the league in rushing and all-purpose yards in the 1961 season. He was named the most valuable player of the first two AFL championship games, which were won by the Oilers. He was moved to fullback and later tight end after being traded to the Raiders, with whom he won another league championship in 1967. That season, he played in the second AFL–NFL World Championship game, retroactively known as Super Bowl II, in which his team was defeated by the Green Bay Packers.

Cannon became a dentist after retiring from football. In 1983, after a series of bad real estate investments, he became involved in a counterfeiting scheme and served two and a half years in prison. In 1995, he was hired as a dentist at Louisiana State Penitentiary, a position he held until his death in 2018. His jersey number 20 was retired by LSU football in 1960, and he was inducted into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1975, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1976, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

Early life

Cannon was born on August 2, 1937, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, to Harvey and Virgie Cannon. The family moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where his father worked during World War II. Although generally appearing in just the first half of games, he scored 229 points that season, a state record at the time. In track and field, he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.6 seconds and put the shot over 56 feet, setting what were state records at the time for both events. In the summer of 1955, Cannon received a 90-day suspended sentence for theft after he and some friends were caught extorting money from men whom they had seen with prostitutes. This was the first in a series of legal troubles in Cannon's life. He quickly emerged as a star, scoring twice in early season victories over Alabama and Texas Tech. The Alabama game was the most prolific rushing game of Cannon's college career; he amassed 140 yards with eight carries. Against the Red Raiders, Cannon had five punts for a 40-yard average, completed two of four passes for 31 yards, caught a 59-yard pass for a touchdown, carried thirteen times for 36 yards, and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.</blockquote>

The Tigers won their next two games before losing four in a row, but remained competitive in every game, largely due to the play of Cannon and Taylor. LSU completed the season with a win over their rival team Tulane and a 5–5 record, although they had been predicted to finish last in their conference. At the end of the season, Cannon was included on the Associated Press (AP) Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Sophomore team and the United Press International (UPI) All-SEC second-team. He also had the leading kickoff return average in the country (31.2 yards).

1958 season

thumb|Cannon at LSU|alt=Black and white posed shot of Cannon from the thighs up, in the stiff-arm position, cradling a football, wearing pads and a jersey number 20, helmetless

In 1958, coach Dietzel implemented a method to keep his players fresh during games: his "three-platoon system" split the team into the "Go Team", the "White Team", and the "Chinese Bandits". The White Team comprised the starting unit for the Tigers and, led by Cannon, consisted of the most talented players, who excelled on both offense and defense. Jim Taylor's graduation allowed Dietzel to give Cannon more time playing on offense. LSU entered the season with talent and depth on both offense and defense. The team defeated its first five opponents by an average of three touchdowns. The sixth game of the season was against Florida for LSU's homecoming. Cannon led the Tigers to a 10–7 win as he scored their only touchdown of the game in the second quarter. The following week the Tigers were ranked first in the AP's weekly poll to rank teams. The team remained atop subsequent polls as it finished the regular season undefeated and was named national champion by the AP and UPI. LSU followed up with a 7–0 victory over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl. Cannon was responsible for the only points scored in the game; he threw a touchdown pass to Mickey Mangham and then kicked the extra point. He was awarded player of the year honors by United Press International, The Sporting News, and the Touchdown Club of Columbus. In addition, he was voted to the All-SEC team, and was deemed the SEC Most Valuable Player by the Nashville Banner after leading the conference in rushing yards, average, and touchdowns. Dietzel said of Cannon's accolades: "It's a wonderful thing. Billy Cannon is the finest football player I've ever coached."

Halloween run

On Halloween night, Cannon led LSU into Tiger Stadium to face the third-ranked Ole Miss Rebels. For most of the game, neither team's offense managed to reach the end zone. Late in the fourth quarter, when the Tigers trailed 3–0, Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown, breaking seven tackles and running the last 60 yards untouched. The Rebels mounted one last drive and reached the Tigers' 1-yard line before Cannon and Warren Rabb made a game-saving tackle on the fourth down and with 18 seconds on the clock. The Tigers won 7–3. After the game, Cannon lay down in the tunnel, exhausted and unable to reach the locker room. Although he scored only six touchdowns during the season, Cannon's defensive play and his performance on Halloween night was enough to convince voters. He received the award from Vice President Richard Nixon during a ceremony on December 9 at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. He was the second player from the SEC to win the trophy, following Georgia's Frank Sinkwich in 1942. Cannon was also a repeat winner of nearly every award he won the previous season, including unanimous All-America recognition.

Professional football career

Contract dispute

In November 1959, Cannon signed a contract with Los Angeles Rams general manager Pete Rozelle, in which he agreed to play for the Rams in the National Football League. The contract was for three years for $30,000, plus a $10,000 signing bonus. Two months later, on the field after LSU's Sugar Bowl loss, Cannon signed another contract; this one was with the American Football League's Houston Oilers, whose owner Bud Adams offered Cannon $33,000 a year for three years with a $10,000 signing bonus. At Cannon's request, Adams also promised him a Cadillac for his father. When it became known that he had signed with two different teams, the Rams filed a suit that claimed Cannon was bound by their contract and could not sign with Houston. Judge William Lindberg ruled against the Rams, stating the contracts were void and that Rozelle had taken advantage of Cannon's naivete. Lindberg described Cannon as "exceptionally naive ... a provincial lad untutored and unwise in the ways of the business world." The AFL's victory against the established NFL helped bring legitimacy to the fledgling league.

Houston Oilers

thumb|left|Cannon in 1961

Cannon joined the newly formed Oilers under head coach Lou Rymkus.

After Rykmus was fired when the Oilers started the 1961 season poorly, Houston won ten consecutive games under Wally Lemm. In one of those games, against the New York Titans, Cannon set a professional football record with 373 all-purpose yards and scored five touchdowns. That December 10, 1961 game is also the highest scoring single-game fantasy football performance of all time in many scoring systems. At the end of the season, he was the AFL's leading rusher with 948 yards and led the league in all-purpose yards. The Oilers repeated as AFL champions and Cannon again was the game's MVP, scoring the only touchdown. The Sporting News named him to the 1961 AFL All-League Team and he was invited to play in the 1961 AFL All-Star Game.

Cannon injured his back in the third game of the 1962 season, which affected his performances, but he still finished second on the team in scoring behind Blanda. The Oilers reached the championship game for a third time, but lost to the Dallas Texans in the first ever double-overtime game in professional football history. New leg injuries and lingering back problems caused Cannon to miss most of the 1963 season. The Oilers also replaced Lemm as head coach. Because of this and his injury problems, Cannon successfully requested that the team let him leave. He later recalled: "I left the team with good feelings and a lot of good friends. It was just time to go."

Oakland Raiders

Cannon was traded to the Oakland Raiders before the 1964 season. Raiders head coach Al Davis liked Cannon's abilities but did not know how he wanted to use him. At first Davis moved Cannon to fullback, where he was an asset in catching passes, an attribute not all fullbacks then possessed. After a slow start, he finished the season with 37 receptions for 454 yards and eight touchdowns. He also rushed for three more touchdowns. Cannon established himself as a deep threat in Rauch's offense and caught fourteen passes for 436 yards—an average of 31.4 yards per reception.

Cannon had a modest 1968 season in which he caught six touchdown passes—including one of 48 yards in the second quarter of the famous Heidi Game—but knew he would not be in Oakland much longer. Head coach John Madden had relegated him to running decoy routes by 1969 and he had only two touchdowns. Nevertheless, he was invited as a replacement to play in his second All-Star game.

Kansas City Chiefs and retirement

As he was preparing to begin post-graduate studies in orthodontics at Loyola University in Chicago, Cannon received a call from Kansas City Chiefs head coach Hank Stram. Stram signed Cannon to a one-year contract and he played in six games for the Chiefs in 1970, catching two touchdowns before a season-ending injury convinced him to retire. He ended his eleven-year professional career with 2,455 yards rushing, 3,656 receiving yards, and 64 touchdowns on offense. He also threw one touchdown pass and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. and is tied with four other players for the most touchdown receptions by a running back in a season (nine in 1961).

Personal and later life

Cannon married his high school sweetheart, Dot Dupuy, while they were both freshmen at LSU. Charged along with five others, he served two-and-a-half years of a five-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana.

Cannon resided in St. Francisville, Louisiana, with his wife. In February 2013, Cannon suffered a stroke and was hospitalized in Baton Rouge. He was released two days later, returned to work the following Monday, and made a full recovery. Cannon died in his sleep on May 20, 2018, at his home in St. Francisville, at the age of 80.

Legacy and honors

Cannon remains a respected and iconic figure in Louisiana sports despite his legal troubles.

Until Joe Burrow's win in 2019, Cannon was LSU's only Heisman winner. Shortly after the 1959 season, the LSU football team retired his number 20 jersey. In 1969, he was selected as a halfback on the AP's "Southeast Area All-Time Football Team: 1920–1969 era". In 1975, Cannon was inducted into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame, followed by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame the next year. The hall elected him a second time in 2008, and he was formally inducted during a ceremony on December 9 of that year. In 2012, Cannon was retrospectively given the Jet Award as a "legacy" winner for the 1959 season, honoring the top return specialist in college football. A statue honoring Cannon was erected near Tiger Stadium and unveiled on September 28, 2018, one night before LSU's annual rivalry game vs. Ole Miss.

References

;Bibliography

External links

LSU profile