Rest in Peace Billy Cannon, Joe Burrow will take it from here: Column

I don’t know about you, but my LSU fandom was passed down to me. There was no exact date or event when I decided to be a Tigers fan. I think I share the same sentiment of many fans of the Tigers when I tell you I don’t NOT remember being an LSU fan.

My fandom undoubtedly passed on to me by my grandfather Lawrence Crochet. LSU athletics played a huge role in my life growing up with both sides of my family cheering on the Tigers with what some would characterize as an “unhealthy passion.” But to me that was just life.

At the top of that list was my grandfather. He taught me sports, he taught me athletics, why LSU was LSU and why we were supposed to live and die by the results on the field in all sports.

My earliest memories that I know are mine were sitting on the floor in his house in front of the television when the Skip Bertman led Tigers successfully executed the hidden ball trick in the College World Series.

I can remember asking him before the miracle win over top-ranked Florida in 1996 what LSU had to do to win. His response of “being within 14 points at halftime” is something I will always remember as the Tigers upset the Gators that night. That and him screaming to give Tommy Banks the ball more.

The other biggest memory I can remember when it comes to the Tigers is the stories my grandfather used to share about the player he used to describe as the greatest of his lifetime.

Long before I knew about the Halloween Run, which according to my grandfather happened at midnight, he would tell me stories about Billy Cannon, who he went to school with at LSU and was a junior when Cannon won the Heisman Trophy in 1959.

To a young boy growing up and learning about LSU and becoming just as passionate as him about what was going on in Baton Rouge, there was never going to be a player as good at LSU as Dr. Cannon.

“He could do it all Dave, there was literally nothing he couldn’t do. He could make the tackle, catch, run, throw and hell he would kick the ball for you if you needed him to.”

It was my grandfather who told me about Cannon’s Heisman Trophy at T.J. Ribs in Baton Rouge. To this day, I remember my first trip there, I was eight years old, to see the Heisman Trophy was just an amazing thing.

Up until recently I never thought there would be a player as good as Cannon. It would be up to me to pass on the LSU lessons to my nieces and nephews about the legend of Cannon and what he did at LSU.

That was until a man from Athens, Ohio came down to TigerTown by the name of Joe Burrow.

While my wife and I have yet to have any children, my younger brother and his wife have a two-year old, Addison, who made her LSU debut this past season, and are expecting another child later this year. My younger sister and her husband are expecting their first child later this year as well.

As the “LSU uncle”, I cannot wait to relay the stories of Burrow’s legend to the next generation, much like my grandfather did to me about Cannon. The LSU senior signal-caller has joined Cannon as the greatest players in the history of the program and much like my grandfather did with me about Dr. Cannon, my generation and generations to come will be talking about the exploits of Burrow.

Joe Burrow is not just having a good season for the Tigers, he is having a transformational and historic season that will be remembered for decades to come. All LSU fans have a responsibility to make sure that happens. I know I will be doing that, because that is what my family does.