The difference I see between OJ and Billy Cannon is that OJ was accused (and now, thank God, convicted) of violent crimes. Cannon was accused and convicted of a non-violent crime. Also, rightly or wrongly, OJ appeared to get away with murder while Cannon was convicted, served his time and came back to serve as a contributing member of society. For goodness sakes, the man is now the prison dentist at Angola. So I guess what I'm saying is that it's ok to retire Cannon's number because he made a mistake, paid for the mistake and continues to contribute to us as a whole. It's probably not ok to keep OJ's number retired because he made mistakes, hasn't, until last week, paid for them and hasn't, to my knowledge, been a contributor to our society since he was first accused and acquitted. And now, for the next 9 to 33 years, he will be a drain on our society.
I thought his number was retire years ago. I remember see it framed in the hall of fame when the HOF was in Tiger Stadium.
his number was retired years ago, thats my bad for not clarifying, it was just put up at tiger stadium during the ole miss game. and something else i heard from people at that game was that the classless ole miss fans were throwing fake dollars around when they were honoring Billy Cannon. Its been 50 years and they still havent gotten over the fact that Billy Cannon owned them.
Well, as good a Tittle was at LSU, most of his career reputation was made in the NFL. He's a definite Hall of Famer, but I think our next retired football number will be our next Heisman winner. It's close though, Tittle was one hell of a quarterback. I don't like these schools that have dozens of numbers retired of people no one has ever heard of. LSU doesn't do that, the LSU numbers that are retired command respect everywhere. Cannon in Tiger Stadium, Bertman in The Box, and the extemely impressive three numbers hanging in the PMAC -- Maravich, Pettit, and O'Neal,
ahh red but couldnt you say the same thing about Shaq Fu that you did about Tittle? Shaq had a great career at LSU, but he had a better Pro Career than he did Collegiate. He did win national player of the year in 91 and we did win the SEC in regular season in 91.
most guys do have better pro careers since they last considerably longer than their college careers. Shaq was an absolute beast in college. He was already a legend before he even declared for the NBA draft. He was a guy that no-one had an answer for. Besides, wouldn't winning Nat PLayer of the year be the basketball equivalent of Football's Heisman? Like I said, the only change I would make to LSU policy would be to make allowances for a defensive guy to get up there. Limiting it to just Heisman winners all but eliminates those guys frm the discussion.
I completely disagree. The success rate in the pros is WAY lower than in college. That is why there are so few that actually pan out (Danny Wuerfful, Michael Clayton, Eric Crouch, Rashaan Salaam, Wendell Davis, and even Billy Cannon). Now, if you mean that guys who had successful college careers and successful pro careers are more successful in the pros because they can play with success for much longer, I can agree to a degree. Emmitt Smith or Barry Sanders would prove your point, but someone like Kevin Faulk or Ike Hilliard wouldn't. They've been in the NFL for 10+ years and have never amounted to the hype they recieved in college, no matter how effective they have been in the pros. Unlike Tittle or Van Buren, they'll remembered mostly for their college careers. As far as what red said about Tittle being remembered mostly for his pro career, I agree even if it was before my time. If I'm not mistaken, the same can be said for Jimmy Taylor - a great back at LSU, but a freaking beast in the pros who was the all-time leading rusher at one point, I believe.
