Billy Cannon was more than just a football star. Known on the gridiron for his perseverance and grit, he was the first LSU Heisman winner in 1959 and went on to be the No. 1 NFL draft pick in 1960. After retiring from the sport, he went to dental school and opened a successful orthodontics practice.

Many people know Cannon as a football star, but fewer know of his life beyond the turf. To celebrate and honor Cannon’s legacy on and off the field, the Capitol Park Museum crafted an exhibit titled “Billy Cannon: They Called Him Legend” that’s the perfect complement to a gameday weekend in Baton Rouge. The exhibit, which opened last December, will be on display until Jan. 10, 2026.

After a series of bad real estate investments, Cannon was arrested in 1983 for producing counterfeit money and spent three years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. While there, he wasted no time in setting up shop as the prison’s designated dentist. “He was like this ray of hope for the inmates,” says Cody Scallions, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Louisiana State Museums. “Billy was always the guy saying, ‘You have to look for the light at the end of the tunnel because it won’t always be like this.’”

Cannon exuded qualities like perseverance and seeing the good in everyone, and these traits shone through all he did, from the gridiron to his dental practice to the walls of Angola.

His daughter Bunnie Cannon recently found an old closet full of Billy’s old things, a treasure trove of lost memories begging to be remembered. The memorabilia included Cannon’s Heisman Trophy, his high school letter jacket, and his lab coat from his stint in prison.

With these pieces at its heart, the Capitol Park Museum created a visual legacy of Cannon’s life. Scallions recalls that attendees at the exhibition’s opening reception included some of Cannon’s fellow inmates. For Scallions, this show of support cemented what he already knew about Cannon–that he was more than his mistakes.

The exhibit shows Louisianians that one mistake does not define you, notes Bunnie Cannon. “Billy was having some hard times,” she says. “In hard times, sometimes good people make bad decisions, and he chose the wrong thing. But he grew from it.”

Scallions hopes the exhibit will allow for thought-provoking conversations about athletes, adding that even though Cannon was successful in football, he used his experiences at LSU as a stepping stone for his future endeavors.

“It’s important to live in the moment as an athlete,” Scallions says. “It’s also important to see beyond the present and look towards the future.”

Visit the Louisiana State Museums website for more information on the exhibit. And read all about LSU’s 2025 football team in 225‘s annual Tiger Pride edition.

This article originally appeared in 225 magazine’s 225 Daily newsletter.