http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/28/sports/ncaafootball/28CANN.html The Standard-Bearer for L.S.U. By JERE LONGMAN Published: December 28, 2003 BATON ROUGE, La., Dec. 23 — My parents were at Tiger Stadium on Halloween in 1959, the night Billy Cannon made his punt return and became everybody's all-American. My mother won season tickets at a Dairy Queen raffle in the Cajun town of Eunice. She and my father sat apart that evening to accommodate friends, and my father ended up a row or two in front of Cannon's wife, Dorothy. The mythical national champion in 1958, Louisiana State was ranked No. 1 late in October 1959, and Mississippi was No. 2. The Tigers trailed the Rebels, 3-0, in the fourth quarter when Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown. His wife became so excited, my father said, that she removed her earrings and tossed them into the crowd. "I hadn't heard that one before," Billy Cannon said. "I hope they weren't good ones." With 18 seconds remaining, Cannon assisted on a goal-line tackle, sealing a 7-3 victory for L.S.U. and the Heisman Trophy for himself. Nearly a half-century later, as the Tigers chase another national title, against Oklahoma on Jan. 4 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Cannon remains the standard by which every L.S.U. football player is measured. He was the star of the title team of 1958. He remains the university's only Heisman winner and the lone L.S.U. football player to have his jersey retired. Some people named their children after him. When Cannon's second daughter was born while he was still in school, a diaper bearing his No. 20 was hoisted on a flag pole at Tiger Stadium. He married his high school sweetheart and, during 11 years in the American Football League, became football's first $100,000 player. He returned to school during each off-season, became an orthodontist and was known for providing braces free to those who could not afford them. Then his legend grew complicated. In 1983, snared on a wiretap, Cannon pleaded guilty to participating in a $6 million counterfeiting scheme and spent nearly three years in prison. The College Football Hall of Fame has shunned him. To some, he remains a reminder of the old Louisiana and its stereotypes of florid chicanery. Yet L.S.U. and the people of Louisiana seem to have largely forgiven him and have embraced him. In the fall, Cannon was introduced at Tiger Stadium on Homecoming weekend and was given a standing ovation. For the past seven years, he has directed the dental clinic at the state penitentiary at Angola. The warden has credited him with significantly upgrading the care of inmates. In a sense, his life has followed an arc of great success, ignominy and rehabilitation that parallels the man who presented him the Heisman Trophy, Richard M. Nixon. "Billy is a study in contrast," said Rand Miller, the former assistant United States attorney in Baton Rouge who prosecuted Cannon. "If you're looking to put him in a small box, he ain't going to fit." At 66, his brush cut having grown thin and white, Billy Cannon still exudes brawny strength. He is funny, self-deprecating and wary of reporters. He gives few interviews. He is engaging, but he also keeps people at a distance, as if protectively striking the arm's-length pose of the Heisman Trophy. To a certain generation here, though, he is regarded with an adulation from another time. All across the state, people can tell you where they were and what they were doing when he returned that punt. Yearly, during the week of the L.S.U.-Ole Miss game, his run is replayed on radio and on television, providing black-and-white reaffirmation of his greatness. "We stopped the clock," Cannon said. On that humid evening in 1959, L.S.U. trailed by a field goal when quarterback Jake Gibbs, who later became a catcher for the Yankees, punted for Ole Miss in the fourth quarter. He intended to kick the ball out of bounds, but it bounced high at the 11-yard line and into Cannon's arms. Seven Ole Miss players hit Cannon, but none could bring him down. He was a magnificent athlete, a 6-foot-1, 225-pounder who ran 100 yards in 9.4 seconds, threw the shot-put 54 feet and bench-pressed 435 pounds. By midfield, Gibbs had lunged futilely, and nothing but grass separated Cannon from the end zone. "I've never seen that combination of speed and strength in anyone else, including Bo Jackson," said Boots Garland, a former longtime track coach at L.S.U. read the rest of the story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/28/sports/ncaafootball/28CANN.html
JLM...You're treading on thin ice...We don't mind opposing viewpoints, but remember that you posting here is a PRIVILEGE, and no right...and it's one the administration and the moderators I'm sure are looking very closely at revoking... I tell you what...You provide some links about that crack-selling quarterback you had operating the offense by day and selling rocks and blunts by night, and then you could talk about Brian Bosworth and how Bo Jackson made him look oh so special that night on TV... Or perhaps you could tell us more about your amazing coach Switzer...a guy that Stoops still lets hang around the program, even though he embroiled you all in a huge amount of NCAA problems and snooping... Please tell us about the glory years of Oklahoma football...Where quarterbacks majored not in orthodontistry but in street pharmacy, and steroids were rampant... Cannon was gone by 1960...He got into trouble in 1983...Hmm...23 years... Or, your little quick as a junebug option QB, who was SELLING CRACK COCAINE ON CAMPUS WHILE PLAYING COLLEGE FOOTBALL... Great SI cover...I'm sure you were all so proud...
I've already seen all of that posted on these boards. I merely made a comment about a previously posted item of LSU alum history. I guess you guys can dish it out but you can't take it. I said before when all of this crap about the Sooners was posted, that every team has it's ghost. Someone else backed up the LSU part of that theory, not me! I just agreed with my comment form someone elses facts. Sorry if it offends you. I guess I should be offended by your comments and we both could apologize to each other. I said in another post that I wish we could talk football and specifically about the 2004 Sugar Bowl and forget all of the trash. But, that hasn't worked out either. There are several posts dissecting the 2003 Sooner squad by a Sooner that has watched them play all year. Very intellectual and indepth observations, the kind we all need to stick to. He got blasted too. Not by everyone mind you. I know there are only a few on each board that are really irritating, but still, he was only trying to provide insight to the game. It just gets old after awhile hearing all of the insults. I'm sure you can attest to that because I only made one negative comment!
JLMSOONER, Billy Cannon is an LSU icon my sooner friend. LSU fans get riled quick about any comments. It’s too late, but not replying would have been best. It does not matter what you were referring to. The folks here can engage in good discussions and can fight their own battles. I enjoy reading the good conversations myself. We have our share that will attack no matter what is said. One of the most vicious is one that basically said the 3-point spread of the “Ole Miss” game would do us in. Yet he is out front with the flag. That is okay too! We all make mistakes. The folks here are very forgiving when you admit to your mistake and apologize. I’ll end with this advice – when you post information from your observations, don’t post them in a manner that appears to be talking down to people. You can open an entire drum of smack whoop azz.
