A documentary on legendary LSU Heisman winner Billy Cannon premieres Monday night at 7:00 on Louisiana Public Broadcasting. “Circles: The Life of Billy Cannon” will follow his incredible career, federal counterfeiting conviction and work as a dentist at Angola. Cannon’s daughter, Bunnie, says she hopes viewers get to see a new side of her father.
“I’m hoping it will be a full circle of his life and everything that he did: The good, the bad, the ugly, but also the wonderful and the beautiful things that he did in the last 25 years that no one knew about,” Cannon said.
Cannon won the 1959 Heisman at LSU and spent 11 years in pro football. He was one of the brightest football stars of his time and is revered as an LSU legend. Bunnie says people know that story.
“They know what a fantastic athlete he was. He’s got a statue outside Tiger Stadium. But the thing that’s important to me is to tell the story of the counterfeiting; what actually happened, how it came about, and then what he did after that,” Cannon explained.
Cannon was arrested in 1983 for masterminding a $6 million counterfeiting scheme. Bunnie says she gave the producers complete creative control to tell the honest story because she had faith in the character of her father.
“Will there be some things that I don’t like? I’m sure, because some of the subject matter is not wonderful; but it’s what happened. And you have to see the bad to see what became of it,” Cannon noted.
The trailer for the documentary can be seen at www.lapb.org.