Billy Cannon Dr . William Abb " Billy " Cannon ( born August 2 , 1937 ) is an All - American , 1959 Heisman Trophy winner and 2008 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge , and one of the American Football League ' s most celebrated players . He was born in Philadelphia , Mississippi , and moved to Baton Rouge when his father got a job there during World War II . He graduated from Istrouma High School in 1956 . High school . Billy Cannon started high school at Istrouma in Baton Rouge , in 1952 . He was noted for his speed and strength , and became a star athlete in football and track . In football , he scored 39 touchdowns his senior year , was named All - State and All - America and led his high school to a state championship in 1955 . He would later run the 100 yard dash in 9 . 4 seconds , and the 40 yard dash in 4 . 12 seconds . He put a 16 - pound shot 54 feet . College . Cannon played three seasons for LSU : 1957 , 1958 , and 1959 . In 1958 , Cannon led LSU to its first AP national championship . # 1 LSU clinched the title in the Sugar Bowl , beating # 12 Clemson 7 - 0 . The only score was a pass from Cannon to Mickey Mangham . Cannon was also voted the 1958 UPI Player of the Year . On Halloween night 1959 , Cannon led # 1 LSU to a victory over # 3 Ole Miss in Tiger Stadium . The Tigers were trailing 3 - 0 when Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a TD , breaking seven tackles and running the last 60 yards untouched . It was the only TD of the game , resulting in a 7 – 3 victory . That year , Cannon won the Heisman Trophy and was again voted the UPI Player of the Year . Other big games from Cannon ' s time at LSU were unranked LSU ' s 20 – 13 victory over # 17 Georgia Tech in 1957 , # 1 LSU ' s 14 – 0 victory over # 6 Ole Miss in 1958 , and # 1 LSU ' s 10 - 0 victory over # 9 TCU in 1959 . The No . 20 jersey worn by Cannon was retired after the 1959 season . It was the only football number retired by LSU until 2009 , when Tommy Casanova received this honor . Cannon had been originally elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 , but the Hall rescinded the honor before his induction due to his confessed involvement in a counterfeiting scheme ( for more information on the scheme , see below ) . The Hall elected him a second time in 2008 , and he was formally inducted during a ceremony on December 9 of that year . AFL . Cannon had an uncommon combination of brute strength with the speed of a sprinter . A track and field coach is reported to have remarked during his college career that he could have lost 15 pounds and won the NCAA title in the 100 meter dash , or gained 15 pounds and won the NCAA title in the shotput . In 1960 , his signing by the Houston Oilers followed a fierce bidding war that began when Oilers owner Bud Adams met Cannon in the end zone following LSU ' s Sugar Bowl victory , and ended in court , with the AFL winning against the NFL . That put the fledgling league on the football map . Cannon , at halfback , scored an 88 - yard touchdown on a pass from George Blanda in the first AFL Championship game , a 24 - 16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers . He scored the only touchdown in the Oilers ’ repeat victory over the San Diego Chargers in the second - ever AFL Championship game . Cannon amassed 2 , 043 all - purpose yards in 1961 , and led the league in rush ing . He played for the Oilers from 1960 through 1963 and went to the Oakland Raiders in 1964 . Al Davis converted him to tight end during the 1964 season , and he finished his career as one of the best players of all time at that position . Cannon was All - League in 1961 and played in the AFL All - Star Game as a halfback in 1961 . He was an AFL All - League selection at tight end in 1967 , when he scored 10 receiving touchdown s . He played tight end in the in 1969 AFL All - Star Game . He accounted for a total of 64 touchdowns in his career , 47 of them receiving . 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 . He also passed for 46 yards and one touchdown . He played in a total of six AFL Championship games , winning twice with the Oilers and once with the Raiders . Billy Cannon is one of 20 players who played the entire ten years of the American Football League ' s existence . He is also one of 14 players to score 5 + touchdowns in one game , and also holds the Oilers / Titans franchise record for most points ( 30 ) and most touchdowns ( 5 ) in a single game . Later life . Cannon became an orthodontist after his pro football career , earning a D . D . S . at the University of Tennessee and additional degrees in orthodontia from Loyola University Chicago . Despite a successful practice , by 1983 he was in financial difficulties from bad real estate investments and gambling debts . He became involved in a counterfeiting scheme and served 2½ years of a five - year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution , Texarkana . He printed $ 50 million in U . S . 100 - dollar bills that he stored in ice chests , buried in the backyard of one of the houses he owned and rented out . Upon his release in 1986 , he regained his license , but struggled to rebuild his practice . In 1990 , Cannon was an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of former Teamsters Union business agent Edward Grady Partin , whose testimony in 1964 had sent Jimmy Hoffa to prison for jury tampering . In 1995 , he was hired as a dentist at the Louisiana State Penitentiary , initially as a contractor . At the time , the dental clinic in the prison was in chaos , with many dentists refusing to work and inmates often being unable to make appointments . Cannon immediately set to reorganizing the dental program with great success and was soon hired as a full - time employee . The warden , impressed with Cannon ' s work with the dental program , later put him in charge of the prison ' s entire medical system . Cannon remains the resident dentist at the penitentiary , where inmates typically call him " Legend " . Cannon ' s son , Billy Cannon , Jr . , played linebacker for Texas A & M University and was selected in the first round of the NFL draft in 1984 , by the Dallas Cowboys . Cannon resides in St . Francisville , Louisiana . On February 19 , 2013 , Cannon was hospitalized in intensive care in Baton Rouge after suffering a stroke . His family reported that he was alert and resting and that further tests would be conducted to determine the extent of his ailment .