Following a historic 2024 season, Kannon Katzer has quickly become a household name for Bulldog football fans everywhere.
However, Katzer’s success wasn’t served on a silver platter. His records come with years of dedication and hard work.
Katzer started playing football when his mother signed his older brother, Haven, up for their local Pop Warner team, which was coached by Kannon’s father. Even though Katzer was too young to play for the team, his father was able to pull some strings to allow Katzer to join the team.
Katzer has always had to prove himself. Standing at just 5’9″ and 190 pounds, people always seemed to underestimate him, even in his time at Mt. Spokane High School. Katzer ran for 2,543 yards and 34 touchdowns on the ground, totaling 3,200 yards and 39 total touchdowns which earned him 3A Greater Spokane League Player of the Year. Those stats rival his childhood idol, NFL Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson’s senior year where he ran for 2,554 yards and 39 touchdowns, even with Katzer’s senior year statistics, he never received a college offer.
Katzer didn’t let that get to him. He loved the game too much to give up. Katzer decided to walk onto Washington State where he earned a spot on their roster and appeared in one game during his time as a Cougar. It was a week three game in 2022, against Colorado State, where he appeared late in the fourth quarter alongside current Miami Hurricane and Heisman trophy candidate Cam Ward, in a 38-7 blowout win—showing off his talent rushing six times for 54 yards and one touchdown. However, his time as a Cougar did not last.
“I was told when I got recruited that they would put me on a scholarship after a year because they had a full running back room,” Katzer said. “But they did want me, so I decided to bet on that. Then a year rolled by and the coaches that recruited me got fired. Once they brought their new guys in, I ended up getting lost in the political game there.”
Even with this, Katzer was able to push onward thanks to his incredible dedication to the game that he loved. When asked about his dedication Katzer credited his mother, Melissa, who passed away in 2020.
“One of the biggest obstacles of my career was right before I went to play college football, that’s when I lost my mom,” Katzer said. “When that happened I kind of just debated if I wanted to keep doing this thing, and luckily I decided to keep doing it. My mom always gave me that push to be a little bit better and even when she passed, I think that just gave me more motivation to be better.”
He decided to transfer out of Washington State and signed on to play at Citrus Community College, a JUCO team in Glendora, California. During the 2023 season, Katzer appeared in 11 games and ran for 975 yards, averaging six yards per carry, alongside 16 touchdowns. He also posted 200 receiving yards and added an extra two touchdowns through the air on the way to earning All-Conference honors.
He caught the eye of Ferris head coach Tony Annese. He loved his play-making ability when recruiting him and made a hard push to sign Katzer.
“His big play making ability along with his speed and toughness really jumped off the screen,” Annese said. “But towards the end of our [2024] season he really tied the whole offense together down the stretch both on the ground and through the air.”
Katzer ended up transferring and signing to Ferris before the 2024 campaign, but coming was not seen as the leadback for the Bulldogs heading into the year. In their week one game at Pittsburg State, Ferris lost 19-3 in which Katzer did not touch the ball once during that game. Katzer spoke on what may have changed after this loss.
“That Pittsburg game was a nightmare game for all of us, we had five turnovers and we really didn’t know who our quarterback was,” Katzer said. “I don’t know if I’d say we overlooked them, but we honestly weren’t ready. I think losing that game was a huge reason why we won the national championship, because we just did not want to lose like that again.”
Following the week one loss, Katzer saw his touches start to rise. In week two against Lake Erie, he totaled 10 carries for 54 yards. However, his breakout game occurred in week nine against Northern Michigan. On just five carries, Katzer ran for 126 yards (25.2 yards per carry) and a touchdown en route to a 55-9 blowout win.
Katzer continued to improve in the playoffs, where in the opening game against Central Oklahoma he ran 12 times for 200 yards (16.7 yards per carry) and three touchdowns in a school record-setting 78-17 win. In the national championship victory, he ran 14 times for 97 yards while catching a touchdown early in the second quarter. Throughout Ferris’ 2024 playoff run, Katzer tallied 538 yards, averaging 11 yards per carry and seven total touchdowns.
Katzer said winning the national championship didn’t truly hit him until the confetti blew into the air.
“I remember sitting on the bench, looking at the other guys around me and that’s really when it sat in, like holy cow we just freaking won a national championship,” Katzer said. “And then I remember it truly hitting me when I was standing by Coach Annese and Trinidad [Chambliss] and seeing the confetti blew up in the air. It all just felt like a movie, just super surreal and it’s definitely one of the best moments in my life.”
Katzer’s 2024 season was something Bulldog fans have not seen for quite some time. The Bulldogs are known for having mobile quarterbacks and not having to have a “bellcow” running back. Katzer ran for 1,128 yards and 11 touchdowns on the year. This was the first time a Ferris running back eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark since Andrew Terry in the 2004 season.
Katzer credits his offensive line, affectionately known as the “Nasty Boys”, for his incredible season.
“You look at all of these incredible running backs, and if you know anything about football more than half the time these guys have a great offensive line blocking for them,” Katzer said. “The hard games are won in the trenches, and having that sturdy offensive line gives the quarterback time to step into the pocket and throw or tuck it and run, or it gives the running back some great holes to hit and run through.”
Katzer’s personality shines through off the field as well and run game coordinator Sam Parker lets everyone know it.
“He’s a great teammate and an incredible young man,” Parker said. “I had the privilege of being baptized with him in August. We will forever have a connection of faith and fellowship together, which for me is far more special than anything he could ever accomplish on the field.”
With a national championship under his belt and eyeing yet another championship this upcoming season, Katzer has overcome many obstacles in his path to get to where he sits. When asked about how it feels to be a part of something historic and always be tied to Ferris’ history for the rest of time, Katzer couldn’t be happier.
“You know, really thinking about it, it’s awesome, I guess I’m pretty blessed to be apart of this and glory to god for getting me to this point in my career.”