After the season, Cannon was awarded the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding player in 1959. In the award's balloting of 1,197 media members, he received 519 first-place votes; runner-up Richie Lucas received 98 such votes. Although he scored only six touchdowns during the season, Cannon's defensive play and his performance on Halloween night was enough to convince voters. He received the award from Vice President Richard Nixon during a ceremony on December 9 at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. Nixon described him as "not an ordinary Cannon, but an atomic Cannon—the ultimate weapon in the arsenal of Paul Dietzel." He was the second player from the SEC to win the trophy, following Georgia's Frank Sinkwich in 1942. Cannon was also a repeat winner of nearly every award he won the previous season, including unanimous All-America recognition.