National Football Foundation

A four-year starting quarterback at Southern Utah, Matt Cannon rushed for 5,489 yards and 69 touchdowns on 757 carries, all FCS records for a quarterback. The only Thunderbird to rush for 1,000 yards in three separate seasons, he ranks second in school history in single-season rushing yards (1,602). An All-American, Cannon also holds school records for single-game rushing touchdowns (4), single-season rushing touchdowns (23), single-season scoring (138), career scoring (416) and career total offense (8,930).

Compiling a 3.95 GPA in English and political science, he was named the school’s Academic Athlete of the Year and an Outstanding Language and Literature Student. Cannon played professional football with the Hamburg Blue Devils in the German Football League and was named the MVP of the 2001 German Bowl championship game, won by the Blue Devils 31-13 over the Braunschweig Lions. Following his retirement from football, Cannon earned his J.D. from BYU in 2006 and served as senior editor of the BYU Law Review. He is currently an attorney for the Salt Lake City law firm Ray Quinney & Nebeker. In 2009, Cannon’s jersey No. 9 was retired by the school.