re: RIP Billy Cannon

The man was a stud, and that word gets thrown around pretty liberally. He could not only play in any era, he would still be a stud in any era.

One of the nicest men I ever met. A true legend. So glad he made peace with everything in recent years. We went too long without seeing him in the public eye. RIP Billy.

Had a chance to sit with him in his office and talk football with him one summer day in Baton Rouge in the early 90s. He wasn't happy with our secondary, one of the worst in the SEC at the time.

I'm going to scan my moms 1955 Istrouma yearbook picture of him and Castilaw flipping the bird for their basketball pic! Funny!

RIP


LSU Legend

RIP

Seems like every year there are comments questioning how fast Billy Cannon really was and wondering how he would compare to today's running backs. Some have said he looked slow in the old film of his famous "run" against Ole Miss. So, if I may, let me recount some things I know first hand about him.

I saw Billy make his 89 yard run on that Halloween night in 1959. LSU was ranked #1 in the nation and Ole Miss was #3. He caught the ball in front of our seats on the east side and ran from south to north, near the east sideline. The reasons he looks slow today on film have to do with the quality and editing of the old film, a sloppy, wet field and the fact that it was very late in the game. Billy had played both ways, offense and defense, and undoubtable was exhausted by this time in the game. Another fact not widely remembered is that after his touchdown, Ole Miss drove to LSU's goal line with first and goal, time running out. Cannon, playing defensive back, assisted in tackles that were responsible for stopping them from scoring on four downs to seal the win.

Billy Cannon also punted for a career average of over a 40 yards, returned punts and kickoffs, kicked extra points and even passed for a touchdown to win the 1959 Sugar Bowl.

I was on LSU's track team shortly after Cannon graduated. His fastest time in the 100 yard dash was 9.4 seconds, only one-tenth of a second off the world record at the time. That would translate to about 10.2 in the 100 meters. LSU's cinder track in that day was excellent, but still slower than today's artificial surfaces. In SEC championships Cannon won the 100 yard dash, anchored LSU's winning 440 yard relay team and won the shot put. How many shot put champions today could run the 100 meters only one-tenth second off the world record?

Former LSU track coach Boots Garland has been quoted as saying that he never saw another athlete who combined such strength and speed. I stood next to Cannon when he helped officiate one of our LSU track meets -- he was a man!

Without a doubt Billy Cannon would be an outstanding running back even today. He could have run with anyone on the current LSU football team. A fine writeup about him is at the link below. Notice in the photo of his "run" how wet the field was that night.

LINK