Post by TheShadow on Oct 6, 2008 17:24:33 GMT -5
bleacherreport.com
By Al's Wingman
Billy Cannon was a special talent in the 1950s, earning legendary status with LSU, including a Heisman in 1959. Cannon was a powerful, fast, and smart ballcarrier. He could run it, catch it, field kicks, whatever. He dominated in college.
In the south in the 1950s, it was well known that Cannon was a roughhouser type from "the wrong side of the tracks." One trait that stood out with Billy was his street smarts. He got away with a lot because of his status as football hero.
Cannon signed a three-year contract in November 1959 for $50,000 with the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL. He even held a press conference with then-Rams General Manager Pete Rozelle.
Then on New Year's Day 1960, as soon as the Sugar Bowl ended, Cannon, before 83,000 fans, signed another contract, this one with the Houston Oilers of the AFL. That contract offered him $100,000 over three years, a $10,000 gift for his wife, and a slightly used Cadillac.
He just had to throw the symbolic Caddy in there. It shows Cannon's thinking at the time. He was a man in search of the high life. He wanted to cash in on his athletic fame. Problem was, pro football had not yet become the cash cow it is today. Billy had to play his hand the best he could—and he did pretty well at it.
The Oilers were a very strong team in the AFL, winning the Championship in 1960 and '61, and losing in OT in '62. Cannon led the AFL in rushing in 1961 but hurt his back in 1962. He was traded to the Oakland Raiders in 1964.
This trade to Oakland is not a coincidence. Head Coach Al Davis was re-modeling the team in his own image, and there could not have been a better fit.
Billy Cannon represented a true Al Davis reclamation project. You know how Al loves absorbing former No. 1 picks on a downswing. Billy Cannon had become fat by this point because of his back problem, he had slacked off on his exercising, and his playing time had diminished significantly.
Still, it did not take a genius to see he could run with power and could still catch the ball. He was an ideal tight end and a potent guy to have in your lineup.
Billy's contributions with the Raiders ran through 1969. In fact, he was an All Star in 1969, after which he retired. For his career, he amassed 3,656 yards receiving, 2,455 yards rushing, and 1,882 return yards for a combined total of 8,003 yards and 63 touchdowns.
Sportswriter Rich Koster described Cannon ending his career as a "loner who snarled at sportswriters."
Though his luck ran out a few years after football, when he was arrested for counterfeiting and did prison time.
A journalist from Los Angeles called Cannon "the most repugnant young profiteer ever to sell his talents to anyone who'd bid."
During the offseasons, however, Cannon had gone to dentistry school. With five children, Cannon knew he had to prepare for the future. Because of his popularity, Cannon's practice flourished to an estimated $300,000 a year.
It still was not enough for Billy, who craved mass wealth. He continued on a path of bad business deals of many varieties, none working out, with some breaking the law.
As an elderly fellow, Billy has done more prison time, and not in the country-club style. Billy has lived in Angola, LA as punishment for his greed. Symbolically, he's got a little too much Raider in him.