In his senior year, he received All-State and All-American honors, while helping his team to an undefeated regular season.
His father had previously sent telegrams to all major league teams advising not to invest a draft selection on his son, because he was going to attend college.
Eight games into his rookie season, he was a reserve right outside linebacker alternating with Anthony Dickerson, when an existing congenital spinal condition was complicated after he tackled New Orleans Saints running back Wayne Wilson.
He was knocked unconscious, suffered damage to two vertebrae near his neck and experienced a brief paralysis of his arms and legs.
He never started and appeared in just eight games before this injury forced him to retire in order to avoid risking paralysis.
[7][8] Cannon filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit claiming negligence by the Cowboys, after he informed them of experiencing numbness in his upper body when making tackles.