A new documentary about football legend Billy Cannon, to be aired on WLPB next month, will feature interviews with Archdeacon Charles deGravelles, whose award-winning biography of Cannon was published in 2015 (LSU Press).
“Circles: The Life of Billy Cannon,” to premiere on WLPB on September 14 at 7 pm, traces the story of LSU’s first Heisman Trophy winner.
“Like no other athlete—including Pete Maravich and Shaqille O’Neil– Billy Cannon is the premier icon of LSU sports, “deGravelles said, “and he went on to a stellar 11-year career in the pros.” Cannon led the Tigers to their first national championship in 1958 and won the Heisman trophy—in large part due to his famous punt return against Ole Miss–a year later.
“But Billy is also known to many for his downfall,” deGravelles said, “a wildly improbable scheme to counterfeit money which landed him in a federal prison.” Until deGravelles’ book, Cannon had never spoken publicly about his crime and its aftermath.
DeGravelles says when he was first approached to write Cannon’s biography, the idea was to highlight his athletic career. “There was certainly no telling the Cannon saga without featuring his extraordinary athletic accomplishments, but I let it be known that if I was to tell the story, I would tell the whole story—the good, bad, and the ugly.”
“I had to do a delicate dance in interviewing Dr. Cannon about the worst times in his life,” deGravelles said. “He was deeply embarrassed by them and remorseful, but as time went on, I earned his trust, and there was no part of his life story that he didn’t share with me.”
“As I’ve learned in my work as a deacon and spiritual counselor, we can’t get to the mountaintop of redemption without traveling through the valley, owning up to our worst decisions and our lowest times,” deGravelles continued. “In retrospect, I see my relationship with Billy Cannon less as an author and his subject, and more as a friend who helped him process and come to peace about his whole life.
DeGravelles’ book, Billy Cannon: A Long, Long Run, was awarded the Louisiana Library Association Best Book of 2015.
When Cannon died unexpectedly in 2018 at the age of 80, his family asked deGravelles to deliver the eulogy at the funeral, held in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at LSU.
