Billy Cannon
Halfback, LSU (1957–1959) · 1959 Heisman Trophy winner
Billy Cannon was born on August 2, 1937, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and grew up in Baton Rouge. At Istrouma High School he scored 39 touchdowns as a senior in 1955 and led the team to a state championship. He also set state records in the 100-yard dash (9.6 seconds) and the shot put.
At 6-foot-1 and about 207 pounds, Cannon combined sprinter’s speed with a fullback’s strength. He played halfback, safety, punter and return man for Paul Dietzel at LSU. In 1958 he led Dietzel’s “White Team,” the unit that played both ways, as LSU went 11-0 and won the AP and UPI national championships. He threw the only touchdown of the Sugar Bowl, a 9-yard pass to Mickey Mangham, and kicked the extra point in a 7-0 win over Clemson. He finished third in the Heisman voting that year.
His defining moment came on Halloween night 1959. With LSU trailing No. 3 Ole Miss 3-0 late in the fourth quarter, Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown, breaking seven tackles along the way. Ole Miss drove to the LSU 1-yard line, where Cannon helped make the game-saving tackle. LSU won 7-3. He won the Heisman a month later and was a unanimous All-American in both 1958 and 1959. LSU retired his No. 20.
Cannon was the first overall pick in the 1960 NFL draft, but he had signed contracts with both the Los Angeles Rams and the AFL’s Houston Oilers. A judge voided the Rams deal, and the ruling gave the new AFL an early win over the established league. Cannon was MVP of the first two AFL championship games, both won by Houston, and led the AFL in rushing in 1961. Traded to Oakland, he moved to tight end, won a third AFL title in 1967 and played in Super Bowl II. He retired after the 1970 season with the Chiefs.
Away from football, Cannon became a dentist and orthodontist in Baton Rouge. In 1983 he was convicted in a counterfeiting scheme and served two and a half years of a five-year federal sentence. That year the College Football Hall of Fame withdrew his election. In 1995 he became the dentist at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and rebuilt its dental program. The Hall of Fame elected him again in 2008.
Cannon died on May 20, 2018, at age 80. LSU unveiled a statue of him outside Tiger Stadium that September. Video of the Halloween run still plays before every LSU home game.
