The “boom” is coming back to Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Florida A&M’s longtime football tradition, the celebratory touchdown cannon, is set to return for the 2026 season.
It was a fixture at Rattler football games since 1986, when Col. Ronald Joe, a Vietnam veteran, FAMU professor of military science, and alumnus, orchestrated a loan agreement with the National Guard to place a cannon on campus. The FAMU U.S. Army ROTC Rattler Battalion fired the cannon.
The cannon was discontinued during FAMU’s 2023 Black College Football National Championship season.
Quinn Fordham Gray Sr. heard a lot of the stadium-rattling cannon during his playing days as the Rattlers’ record-setting and FAMU Sports Hall of Fame quarterback of head coach Billy Joe’s Gulf Coast Offense from 1997 to 2001. Now entering his first season as head coach, he’s excited to light up the scoreboard to prompt the firing off of FAMU’s custom-made cannon.
But he’s also cautious of those who may suffer from health-related issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“It’s just tradition, man,” Gray told the Tallahassee Democrat. “To be honest with you, it’s old school FAMU. I understand some of the things that may come with that with people who have PTSD, but at the end of the day, we make sure that we take that into consideration. But at the end of the day, tradition lives forever.”
The cannon was made possible behind the ‘Restore the Strike’ campaign, orchestrated by FAMU’s Major Gifts Officer for athletics and the Marching 100, Marvin Green, to raise money when Gray was hired in December 2025. The fundraiser exceeded its $250,000 goal in early 2026.
Gray posted on social media that it cost about $100,000 to purchase the cannon, scissor lifts for filming practices and games, branding graphics in the Galimore-Powell Fieldhouse, a paint stripper for the practice field, and a segment clock to track practice periods. With extra funds leftover, more upgrades are forthcoming, the head coach added.
FAMU’s cannon will be back in action as the team hosts its Week 0 season opener against Albany State on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m. on Tallahassee’s Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Gray’s fast-paced, Gulf Coast-style offense is expected to be explosive, led by newly named starting quarterback Isaiah Knowles, running back Jamal Hailey, wide receivers Kieren Jackson and Mike Peterson, and more.
“We’re looking forward to having that back,” Gray said of the cannon, “And bringing that exciting part back to FAMU football.”
Florida A&M football 2026 schedule
All times are Eastern
- Saturday, Aug. 29: vs. Albany State, 7 p.m., SWAC TV
- Sunday, Sept. 6: vs. South Carolina State, Orange Blossom Classic at Miami Gardens' Hard Rock Stadium, 3 p.m., ESPNU
- Thursday, Sept. 10: at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Sept. 19: vs. Tennessee State, 7 p.m., HBCU GO
- Saturday, Sept. 26: vs. Alabama A&M (SWAC), 7 p.m., SWAC TV
- Saturday, Oct. 3: BYE
- Saturday, Oct. 10: at Alabama State (SWAC), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
- Saturday, Oct. 17: at Jackson State (SWAC), 3 p.m., ESPN Network
- Saturday, Oct. 24: vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (SWAC/Homecoming), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
- Saturday, Oct. 31: vs. Southern (SWAC), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
- Saturday, Nov. 7: at Alcorn State (SWAC), 3 p.m., SWAC TV
- Saturday, Nov. 14: vs. Mississippi Valley State (SWAC), 3 p.m., SWAC TV
- Saturday, Nov. 21: vs. Bethune-Cookman (SWAC/Florida Classic), 3:30 p.m., ESPN+
Gerald Thomas, III, is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat under the USA TODAY Network.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Beloved FAMU football touchdown cannon to make booming return in 2026