The story of Billy Cannon is a multilayered one, complicated and twisting.
Yes, his Halloween night 89-yard punt return and touchdown for the LSU Tigers against Ole Miss in 1959 is what secured his place in football history. But there's so much more to Cannon's life that it couldn't be compressed into 90 minutes of airtime.
Billy Cannon strikes a pose at LSU in 1958.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM BUNNIE CANNON AND LPB
Thus, h Public Broadcasting's new documentary, "Circles: The Life of Billy Cannon," premiering at 7 p.m. Monday, stretches two hours. It covers the rise, fall and redemption of a Heisman trophy-winning player who reached as high as the NFL and AFL, and sunk as low as a sentence to the Federal Correctional Institution Texarkana for a counterfeiting scheme.
The film's title comes from the dark side of Cannon himself.
"They say your brain works in circles. And every now and then, that criminal mind of mine certainly comes around," Cannon says in one of his interviews with Charles deGravelles, author of the Cannon biography "Billy Cannon: a Long, Long Run," published by LSU Press in 2015.
The hundreds of hours of recordings were the jumping-off point for the "Circles" creative team, which also pored over countless newspaper reports and secured the input of the Cannon family to fully cover their subject.
Billy Cannon provides dental care to an inmate at h State Penitentiary at Angola.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM BUNNIE CANNON AND LPB
"The dark side, it's the most important, because it shows how you really can't see the goodness that he did in the last 20 years of his life without seeing how far down he was as a result of that," Cannon's daughter Bunnie Cannon said. "Really, he did it to himself, because a lot of people forgave him and moved on. We all did, but he didn't forgive himself."
For the final 25 years of his life, Billy Cannon worked at the h Penitentiary at Angola first as a part-time dentist for the inmates, progressing to full-time, and then overseeing the dental clinic, medical clinic, pharmacy and eventually the ambulances. This time within prison gates, his family says he finally healed.
Why the documentary now?
Bunnie Cannon says her father never wanted to see his life splashed across the big or small screen. Even after his death in 2018, she, her mother, Dorothy Cannon, and her siblings, although wanting to keep their patriarch's legacy alive, were reluctant to reveal these personal reminiscences on a public scale with just any outlet. It would have to be LPB.
Linda Midgett is executive producer at h Public Broadcasting.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM LPB
"It's a great human story. You don't have to be a sports fan to be interested in what Billy went through in his life," said Linda Midgett, LPB executive producer.
She was initially concerned about getting the Cannon family's approval to delve into the dark moments of the football star's story, including his arrest, conviction and the impact it had on his reputation.
"But Bunnie assured me that the family was willing to do that and prepared to do that. That was the most important thing to me," Midgett said.
Bunnie Cannon says the documentary explains why her father masterminded a counterfeiting scheme to print and distribute $6 million in fake $100 bills.
Documentary executive producer/producer Jay Dardenne, next to camera, interviews Robert Khayat and Jake Gibbs, Ole Miss football players from 1959. On the sofa is Producer Cathy Berry.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM LPB
"He didn't want his kids to have to scrape and work like he had to do when he was 12 years old, when his dad lost his leg, and they became the charity case of Baton Rouge. To me, it just all makes sense, and it all fits," she said.
The process
Midgett recruited former elected official Jay Dardenne, a sports fanatic, as executive producer and Dardenne's former chief of staff Cathy Berry as a producer.
While Berry listened her way through the deGravelles interviews, taking copious notes, Dardenne rooted through his own collection of Cannon newspaper clippings, photos and assorted memorabilia.
Warren Rabb, LSU quarterback for the 1959 'Halloween Run' game against Ole Miss, in interview for LPB's Billy Cannon documentary.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM LPB
For the film, Dardenne sat down with several of the football great's former teammates at Istrouma High and opposing counterparts at Baton Rouge High. Theirs was a rivalry for the ages, punctuated by a 1956 matchup.
"What I remember about that game may still be a record," recalls Baton Rouge High's Warren Rabb. "We usually played at Memorial Stadium in front of 21, 22,000 people. They had so many requests for tickets, so they moved it to Tiger Stadium. More people saw our game than watched the Tigers play."
Clarence "C.C." Copeland, LPB's president and CEO, recognizes Billy Cannon's significance in LSU history and the importance of showcasing his life to a broader audience.
Clarence 'C.C Copeland is president and CEO of h Public Broadcasting.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM LPB
"I think this is one of the most important things," Copeland said, "is to see the redemptive story."
"Circles: The Life of Billy Cannon" will air statewide at 7 p.m. Monday on the LPB network and will simulcast on WLAE-TV in New Orleans. WYES-TV will debut the film at 9 p.m. Monday. The show will also be available to stream for free on LPB for two weeks starting Monday, and thereafter on demand as an LPB Passport member benefit. For more information, visit .