BATON ROUGE, La. — Billy Cannon, the gifted running back who won the Heisman Trophy for LSU in 1959 with a memorable Halloween night punt return touchdown against Mississippi, died Sunday. He was 80.
LSU said Cannon, the school’s only Heisman winner, died at his home in St. Francisville. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Cannon led the Tigers to a national championship in 1958 and won the Heisman the following year, highlighted by his tackle-breaking 89-yard punt return that beat Ole Miss 7-3 and is still regularly shown on the video board at Tiger Stadium during LSU games.