Joe Cannon (born January 1, 1975 in Sun Valley,
Idaho and raised in Los Altos Hills, California) is
a soccer goalkeeper, the first netminder in Major
League Soccer's history to win two MLS Goalkeeper of
the Year Awards. He is currently with the San Jose
Earthquakes. Joe has a twin brother, Jon Cannon, who
was a professional baseball player for 10 years.
After playing college soccer at Santa Clara
University, Cannon was not drafted by an MLS team
and instead signed with the now-defunct San Diego
Flash of the A-League in 1998. After a season with
the Flash, he was signed by MLS's San Jose
Earthquakes as the backup goalkeeper. After a
shoulder injury sidelined starting goalkeeper David
Kramer eight games into the 1999 season, Cannon
manned the Quakes nets as the starter until 2002,
leading the team to the MLS Cup championship in 2001
and winning his first MLS Goalkeeper of the Year
Award in 2002.
Cannon left the Quakes in 2003, signing a six-month
contract with RC Lens of France's Ligue 1.
Unfortunately for Joe, he wasn't able to break into
the Lens first team, and left France after the
season; the Earthquakes traded his rights to the
Colorado Rapids for three draft picks. Cannon could
not get into the squad in Colorado, as incumbent
keeper Scott Garlick was playing well, but Rapids
coach Tim Hankinson controversially made the switch
for the playoffs. Although Colorado did not advance,
Garlick was traded to the Dallas Burn, and Cannon
kept his starting position.
In 2004, Cannon was one of the better goalkeepers in
MLS, often keeping Rapids in games thanks to his
play, and winning his second Goalkeeper of the Year
award, being named to his first MLS Best XI and
becoming a finalist for the MVP. He has earned two
caps with the US national team (as of early 2005),
his first coming against New Zealand on June 8,
2003.
On December 1, 2006, Cannon was traded to the Los
Angeles Galaxy for Herculez Gomez and Ugo Ihemelu.
He made his Galaxy debut April 8, 2007 in a 0-0 tie
with the Houston Dynamo.
Cannon later returned to the Earthquakes via a trade
with the Galaxy for allocation money on January 10,
2008.
