Football mission a success
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The German Football League's Hamburg Blue Devils called upon Utahn Matt Cannon in late summer to join its squad and quarterback the team to a championship. Mission accomplished. But not for the first time.
Cannon's gridiron success complemented his service as a full-time missionary in the Germany Frankfurt Mission in 1994-96.
A record-breaking collegiate quarterback at Southern Utah University in Cedar City through the 2000 season, Cannon earned MVP honors in German Bowl XXIII as Hamburg downed the Braunschweig Lions 31-13 a month ago.
When Hamburg's original starting quarterback was injured four games into the season, the Blue Devils went looking for a field general to run a multiple offense and found Cannon. What they knew about him came mostly from football scouting reports and they were surprised when he stepped off the plane speaking fluent German. For the team, that was an unexpected public-relations bonus.
For Cannon, "It wasn't just by accident that I ended up back in Germany. In every newspaper and TV interview, I was asked why I spoke German so well. I got a lot of opportunities to talk about the Church. It was definitely another missionary opportunity."
He and his wife, Jennifer, fit in with the members of their ward, as well, and Cannon spoke at a fireside for the youth in his stake. At the same time, he said, since he wasn't a full-time missionary, he got a different perspective of the country's culture. "It was great to see that side of Germany," he said during a Church News interview.
Coming out of college last fall, Cannon had stellar credentials as a football player. The 6-1, 205-pounder set NCAA Division I-AA records for career rushing touchdowns (69) and career rushing yards by a quarterback (4,852). Also in 2000, he broke his own record for rushing yards in a single season by a quarterback (1,602).
Playing for Salt Lake's Highland High School, Cannon quarterbacked an option attack, so he wasn't highly sought after by schools like the University of Utah and BYU, which balance their running games with the pass. He was offered a chance to pilot the Air Force Academy's option offense, but decided Southern Utah was a better fit.
After graduating, Cannon was hungry to keep playing and tried out in the NFL and the Canadian Football League. He thought at one point he had landed a spot with the British Columbia Lions of the CFL, but it fell through. So he was available and eager when the call came from Germany.
Each of the 12 teams in the German Football League can carry only six Americans on its roster and only two can be on the field at the same time.
Cannon entered the picture five games into the season and took his team to the German Bowl with a single loss — to the Braunschweig Lions. The rematch in front of 25,000 fans in a neutral stadium in Hanover was tied 7-7 at the half, but after the intermission, the Blue Devils pulled away. Cannon completed 12 of 16 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown, and carried 15 times for 124 yards and two more TDs in his MVP performance.
He isn't ready to give up on a football career just yet, and hasn't ruled out a return to Germany where the compensation is reasonable and the atmosphere is very different, he said. "The fans stand up and sing; they're louder than American fans." Hamburg drew an average of about 10,000 boisterous fans to home games. There football, which he said is steadily growing in popularity in the country, is about the quality level of college football in the U.S.
Cannon still holds onto a dream of playing in the NFL or CFL and plans to return to tryouts this winter. "Personally, I want to do the best I can do and go as far as I can go."
He has other options, as well. He was one of 16 collegiate players in 2000 to win a National Scholar-Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation (along with the likes of Drew Brees of Purdue, Chris Weinke of Florida State and Jared Lee of BYU). Based on athletics, academics and school and community involvement, the award includes a $20,000 scholarship for graduate studies.
No matter what happens in football, "I'm definitely planning to go to graduate school," he said. Building on his 3.95 grade point average with majors in English and political science at Southern Utah, he will attend law school with a desire to teach as well as practice law.
E-Mail: ghill@desnews.com
