Billy Cannon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Billy Cannon
Billy Cannon at LSU
Date of birth	August 2, 1937
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Mississippi
Position(s)	Halfback\|Tight End
College	LSU
AFL Draft	1960 / Round 1
Pro Bowls	AFL All-Star 1961, 1969
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1960-1963 1964-1969 1970	AFL Houston Oilers AFL Oakland Raiders NFL Kansas City Chiefs

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.

1 College
2 AFL
3 Later Life
4 References
5 See also
6 External link

[edit] 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.

[edit] AFL

Cannon had an uncommon combination of brute strength with the speed of a sprinter. 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 made the AFL All-star team as a halfback in 1961, and as a tight end in 1969. In 1967, he scored 10 receiving touchdowns. He scored a total of 64 touchdowns in his career, 47 of them receiving. 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.

[edit] Later Life

Cannon later became an orthodontist and subsequently served time in federal prison for counterfeiting. 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, short on cash, he sold the trophy to restaurant owner Tom 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.