William Abb Cannon (born August 2, 1937) is a former American football running back and tight end who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He attended Louisiana State University (LSU), where he played college football as a halfback and return specialist for the LSU Tigers. At LSU, Cannon was twice unanimously named an All-American, helped the 1958 LSU team win a national championship, and received the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding college player in 1959. His punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night in 1959 is considered by fans and sportswriters to be one of the most famous plays in LSU sports history.
Oakland Raiders
Cannon first played for the LSU varsity football team as a sophomore in 1957 under coach Paul Dietzel. He played in the halfback position and shared the backfield with Jim Taylor, who was selected as an All-American that year. He also played defensive back and was the team's primary punter. He quickly emerged as a star, scoring twice in early season victories over Alabama and Texas Tech. The Alabama game was the most prolific rushing game of Cannon's college career; he amassed 140 yards with eight carries. Against the Red Raiders, Cannon had five punts for a 40-yard average, completed two of four passes for 31 yards, caught a 59-yard pass for a touchdown, carried thirteen times for 36 yards, and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Cannon recalled that Texas Tech's focus was solely on Taylor. "They were just wearing Jimmy out", he said. "Of course, they weren't looking for me. They just beat the devil out of Jimmy. With them focusing on Jimmy, I had a great game." Over half a century later, former Red Raiders standout Jack Henry recalled of Cannon  We kicked off. And that damn Billy Cannon. Jim Henderson and I were running down in our lanes and got down there, and we were going to hit him high and low. We were going to knock the hell out of him ... We hit ourselves. Ran into each other. He made a 100-yard touchdown. You don't forget that.  The Tigers won their next two games before losing four in a row, but remained competitive in every game, largely due to the play of Cannon and Taylor. LSU completed the season with a win over their rival team Tulane and a 5-5 record, although they had been predicted to finish last in their conference. At the end of the season, Cannon was included on the Associated Press (AP) Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Sophomore team and the United Press International (UPI) All-SEC second team. He also had the leading kickoff return average in the country (31.2 yards).  Cannon joined the newly formed Oilers under head coach Lou Rymkus. As one of the highest-paid players in professional football, he was heckled early on by opposing players. Nor did he get along well with Rymkus, whom he described as "unpleasant, confrontational, with a nasty disposition and an oversized ego." In Cannon's rookie year, he led the team in rushing with 644 yards and caught five touchdown passes. His 88-yard touchdown reception from quarterback George Blanda in the 1960 AFL Championship Game helped the Oilers become the inaugural AFL champions. For his efforts, Cannon was named the game's most valuable player.  After Rykmus was fired when the Oilers started the 1961 season poorly, Houston won ten consecutive games under Wally Lemm. In one of those games, against the New York Titans, Cannon set a professional football record with 373 all-purpose yards and scored five touchdowns. His 216 rushing yards in the game also set an AFL record. At the end of the season, he was the AFL's leading rusher with 948 yards and led the league in all-purpose yards. The Oilers repeated as AFL champions and Cannon again was the game's MVP, scoring the only touchdown. The Sporting News named him to the 1961 AFL All-League Team and he was invited to play in the 1961 AFL All-Star Game.  Cannon injured his back in the third game of the 1962 season, which affected his performances, but he still finished second on the team in scoring behind Blanda. The Oilers reached the championship game for a third time, but lost to the Dallas Texans in the first ever double-overtime game in professional football history. New leg injuries and lingering back problems caused Cannon to miss most of the 1963 season. The Oilers also replaced Lemm as head coach. Because of this and his injury problems, Cannon successfully requested that the team let him leave. He later recalled: "I left the team with good feelings and a lot of good friends. It was just time to go."  Cannon was traded to the Oakland Raiders before the 1964 season. Raiders head coach Al Davis liked Cannon's abilities but did not know how he wanted to use him. At first Davis moved Cannon to fullback, where he was an asset in catching passes, an attribute not all fullbacks then possessed. After a slow start, he finished the season with 37 receptions for 454 yards and eight touchdowns. He also rushed for three more touchdowns. Next season Davis moved him to tight end, to the chagrin of Cannon; he expected to be made into a wide receiver, but the Raiders had both Art Powell and rookie Fred Biletnikoff to cover that position. He eventually accepted his new role and adapted quickly to it. However, the tight end was seldom used in the Raiders' offense. He caught only seven passes that season with no touchdowns. Before the 1966 season, John Rauch took over as head coach as Al Davis became AFL commissioner and the Raiders' general manager. Cannon established himself as a deep threat in Rauch's offense and caught fourteen passes for 436 yards--an average of 31.4 yards per reception.  By 1967, Cannon believed an AFL championship was imminent for the Raiders, and so fully embraced the team's game plan. He convinced Davis to sign Blanda as a placekicker and a mentor for quarterback Daryle Lamonica. That year, Cannon led all AFL tight ends with 629 yards receiving and ten touchdowns in his most productive season at the position. For the second time he was an All-AFL selection, this time as a tight end. His efforts helped the Raiders to the 1967 AFL Championship game against the Oilers and a 40-7 victory over his former team. Because of a new agreement between the two leagues, the Raiders earned a place in the second AFL-NFL World Championship game, in which they faced the Green Bay Packers. Early in the fourth quarter, Cannon dropped a pass while wide-open on a play on which he would have scored. He later described it as "the clumsiest drop of my career." Green Bay won the game, 33-14.  Cannon had a modest 1968 season in which he caught six touchdown passes--including one of 48 yards in the second quarter of the famous Heidi Game--but knew he would not be in Oakland much longer. Head coach John Madden had relegated him to running decoy routes by 1969 and he had only two touchdowns. Nevertheless, he was invited as a replacement to play in his second All-Star game. Cannon was released by the Raiders during the 1970 preseason.
when did he play for the raiders?
Cannon was traded to the Oakland Raiders before the 1964 season.
Cannon was traded to the Oakland Raiders before the 1964 season.