A dream come true.
That's how offensive lineman Marcus Cannon describes his return to Texas in Year 10. The Houston Texans made a trade with the New England Patriots reuniting the Odessa native with his family.
"I grew up in Odessa, West Texas and moving there from New Mexico, I really learned what real football is," Cannon said. "Playing in Odessa, playing in West Texas and playing in Texas in general, every kid that plays wants to play in Texas in the NFL. They would love to play here but you don't get to choose where you play most of the time. I got drafted to the Patriots and man, I'm so thankful for those years that I had there but my dream always has been to play here in the great state of Texas."
Cannon played nine seasons with the Patriots, making starts at right tackle, left tackle and left guard. In 2016, Cannon started at right tackle during the Patriots' Super Bowl LI comeback victory against the Atlanta Falcons at NRG Stadium.
Cannon opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns after a cancer scare early in his career. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011 and made a full recovery, earning the Ed Block Courage Award in New England.
After a season away, the 32-year-old is ready to make his Texas debut in 2021. Last week, he met head coach David Culley and offensive line coach James Campen. While Cannon made most of his starts at right tackle in New England, he is open to playing any position on the offensive line that is asked of him.
"I don't know how much I'll be playing," Cannon said. "I don't know what position I'll be playing, but all I know is I'm on the team right now and I have the chance to show how good I am and show them they can use me. Wherever they want to use me, I'm ready to play. I did the same thing in New England. I had to play where they wanted me to play and I tried to do my best at it and I'm going to do the same thing moving forward."
Cannon saw action in 115 games with 69 starts during his career in New England (2011-2020).
