Former LSU football star Billy Cannon, who spent the 1980s in federal prison for counterfeiting, was posthumously pardoned by U. S. President Donald Trump.
With those of previous NFL football players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, and Travis Henry, all of whom are still living, Cannon’s pardon was made public. The announcement was made on social media on Friday by the first-ever White House pardon czar, Alice Marie Johnson.
“Like football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again,” Johnson wrote. “As is our country. “
For counterfeiting $6 million worth of $100 bills, Cannon served two and a half years of a five-year prison term.
One of the most well-known football players in LSU history, Cannon is immortalized by a bronze sculpture outside of Tiger Stadium, the university’s sole football player to be so recognized.
Before every LSU home football game, footage from Cannon’s famous “Halloween Run,” where he scored the game-winning touchdown against rival Ole Miss in 1959 by running 89 yards late in the fourth quarter, is shown. With just 18 seconds remaining in the same contest, Cannon and Warren Rabb, his teammate, executed a game-saving tackle on fourth down at the 1-yard line, ending the undefeated Rebels’ comeback bid.
That year, he won the Heisman Trophy, making him the first LSU player to ever do so.
In a Facebook post, Billy’s daughter, Bunnie Cannon, expressed her approval of the pardon.
She wrote, “My father could not escape his mistakes no matter how much good he did during his life. ” “You should not be defined by a single error! We are grateful for this gift to our family from President Trump, our elected representatives in Washington, and Alice Johnson.
After quitting professional football, Cannon worked as a dentist and orthodontist. He turned to counterfeiting because of bad real estate investments and gambling debts, which led to a federal conviction in 1983.
Following his release from prison, Cannon worked as the dentist at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, where he reorganized its dental care infrastructure before taking over the whole medical system there.
On May 20, 2018, the same day that former LSU football coach Ed Orgeron signed Joe Burrow to play for the Tigers, Cannon passed away. Burrow’s victory in the coveted Heisman Trophy the next year, making him the first LSU football player to do so since Cannon, helped solidify Cannon’s legendary reputation among LSU supporters.
