An interview with:
WARREN MOON
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon,
Ladies and Gentlemen. National Football
League would like to introduce 2006 Hall of Fame
inductee Warren Moon. Thank you for being with
us today. Let's open it up for questions.
Q. You had a lot of people in your
career who had an influence on you. Is it an
easy decision to pick Leigh Steinberg or did
anybody else come close that you had to
agonize over?
WARREN MOON: You know, when you
play 23 years, you have a lot of people that kind of
influence your career, are mentors to you, had
confidence in you along the way, especially the
trail that I took. It was really hard to find one
person that was involved in every phase of my
professional career. I thought about Hugh
Campbell, who was my first professional coach in
Canada, as well as my first professional coach in
the NFL. I thought about Don James, my college
coach, who really saw something in me as a major
college player that a lot of other people didn't see.
I thought about my kids doing it.
The person that really has been with me
from the beginning from the time I came out of
college all the way through my professional career
was Leigh Steinberg. We became very close
friends as well as business partners throughout
that time. We continue to be great friends still. I
thought he would be the appropriate guy.
But, yeah, wasn't an easy decision. I think
he makes the most sense of everybody that I
considered.
Q. When you got to the NFL in '84, at
that point the scouts kind of admitted they
didn't have it right in '78, you became the
highest paid player in the league. Was there
anything after that point that you still had to
overcome to get to where you are today in the
Hall of Fame?
WARREN MOON: I think whenever you
come in with the type of fanfare that I did, making
the amount of money that I did, people were
looking I'm sure for me to make things happen
immediately. I was aware enough to know that you
can't do it alone. In football, it's the ultimate team
sport. You have to have good people around you
as a quarterback for things to happen.
We were in a rebuilding process in
Houston. I knew it was going to take time before
we got to that point where we could be the type of
team, I could be the type of player that I knew I
could be. I was very patient. But it was very
difficult in those early years because I took a lot of
criticism. That was probably the biggest thing I
had to overcome coming back was getting the type
of people around me, not only on the offensive
side of the football, but also on the defensive side
of the football, that could make up the type of team
I knew we could eventually be.
Q. After the '85 season in Houston, I
think you took quite a few hits, were sacked
quite a bit. It wasn't a great year, coaching
change. How much was your confidence
shaken after that second season?
WARREN MOON: I don't think my
confidence was shaken as much as I just knew I
wasn't in a system that was taking advantage of
my abilities. We were very limited in the things we
did offensively. A lot of the reasons I took a lot of
those sacks is because of different types of
protections that we didn't have in our protection
scheme. People were able to exploit that. We
weren't able to really audible at the line of
scrimmage, which hurts any quarterback, as far as
if you have a bad play called in the huddle, you
see what the defense has, you can't get out of it. I
just felt like we weren't in the right offensive
system.
I think once we made the changes
offensively that next off-season to bring in the right
people to run the type of offense that took
advantage of my skills, we could get back on the
right track. That finally happened.
I was very disappointed in that '85 season,
no question about it, because I thought I had
played decent as a rookie, but I went backwards in
my second year only because of the coaching
change within that season and some of the things
we were doing offensively.
Q. What does it mean to you to be the
first undrafted player to be in the Hall of Fame?
WARREN MOON: It just makes me feel
like I worked hard to get to where I am right now,
that I took a very unconventional route to get to the
NFL first, then kind of reestablished myself, had a
pretty productive career. I just know that nothing
was really given to me, that I really worked hard for
it, as does every guy work hard in his career to get
to this point. I think the way I did it was just a little
bit different because of some of the other things I
had to overcome that didn't have to do with
football.
I'm very proud of the fact that I was -- not
so much that I was undrafted, because I would
have loved to have been drafted, but the things I
was able to do considering I wasn't drafted and
wasn't looked highly upon as an NFL-type player.
Q. Other than maybe doing the
negotiations with Houston in '84, who in the
Oilers organization was most responsible for
you coming to the NFL?
WARREN MOON: I would say Mike
Holovak initially, because he was the one who
saw me up in Canada as he scouted the league.
He really had glowing comments back to the
organization about the type of player that I was.
Then Ladd Herzeg, the general manager
at that time. He was pretty much the one running
the football organization. He pulled a lot of those
strings, had a lot of power. I'm sure Mr. Bud
Adams had a play in it, too. Whenever you're
going to pay a player that type of money, I'm sure
the owner has a lot of say so in that. I think all
three of those guys had a lot to do with me coming
into the NFL and getting a chance to play.
But I'd say probably Ladd Herzeg was the
guy that really made things happen because of the
way he negotiated with my agent at that time and
made things happen.
Q. Now that you are retired, what is
your opinion about the Bills comeback in 1993?
WARREN MOON: It's no different now
than it was then. Definitely not as disappointed as
I was that particular day. I look back at that game
all the time, of different things that either I could
have done right or we could have did right as a
team that might have made the outcome a little bit
different. It will always be one of those games that
I will look back on and wish that things would have
been a little bit different because I really felt like
that team was good enough to win a Super Bowl.
If we could have got past that particular Sunday,
who knows what would have happened in the
future.
Q. Your father passed away at a very
young age. I think the comment was made that
you were to be the man of the house at a young
age. What kind of effect did that have on you?
WARREN MOON: I think it had some
positives as far as how responsible I was, the way I
prepared for different things, the way I handled
different situations. But I think on the other side, I
think it made me grow up a little bit too fast and
probably didn't have as much fun growing up as I
probably could have just because I felt so much
responsibility on my shoulders at such a young
age.
I think there were positives and negatives
to it. I think for the most part it really did help me
deal with a lot of things I was going to have to deal
with at a very young age that had to do with race
and the stereotypes and the different things I had
to deal with. I think if I was a little less mature, I
probably of would have maybe acted out a little bit
more or maybe not handled things in such a
mature manner if I wasn't kind of raised the way I
was.
Q. In January you talked about going in
the Hall of Fame as the first black quarterback.
Now that you've had some time to think about
it, what is the significance for you?
WARREN MOON: Well, what I really think
it does, it just continues to legitimize the fact that
even though I don't think that needs to be any
more, that black quarterbacks can play this game
at a very high level, and we kind of established or
accomplished things at every level of football that
there is, whether being the first to start a game, the
first to get to a playoff game, the first to win a
Super Bowl, and now I'm the first to get to the Hall
of Fame, which is considered the pinnacle of
professional football.
I think we've kind of done it at every
particular level. There's nothing that ever can be
said about the African-American quarterback and
whether he belongs in the NFL, whether he
belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Q. How do you feel about being the
model of other quarterbacks like McNair,
Culpepper and Vick?
WARREN MOON: Well, I hope by the way
I carried myself and the way I played my game, it
had an impact on some of those young guys, just
gave them more of an opportunity to play the
position. I think the same was done for me as I
came along. You look at James Harris, Marlin
Briscoe, Joe Gilliam, guys like that that played
before me, they gave me kind of the inspiration to
show that I could play the game. Hopefully Doug
Williams, myself, Randall, some of the guys that
played during my era gave some of these guys
who are playing today inspiration that they could
play the game.
I think it's really helped. I think it's going to
be up to them to continue to carry the baton and
do a good job as players, not only on the field but
off the field, the way you carry yourself. It just
continues to give more guys opportunities to play
the position.
Q. Was there any reluctance on your
part to play in Houston, given the social climate
at the time, playing in a southern city in the
NFL, being an African-American quarterback?
Wouldn't it have been easier to go to Seattle
where you played your college ball?
WARREN MOON: Yeah, it was definitely
discussed as far as where I was going to play, how
I might be perceived down there. But if you know
me, if you know how stubborn I am, if you know
how I like challenges, I think then you understand it
wasn't as big a deal to me. I knew what I was
going to be dealing with going down there, just like
I knew when I went away from Los Angeles to go
up to Seattle to play coming out of junior college,
that that was going to be a big challenge for me,
too, because they had never had a starting black
quarterback up there. I was going to a place
where I knew absolutely no one. I was going to a
program that was 2-9 and had racial problems
before I got there under the Jim Owens’ era. The
two had similarities to me as far as a challenge
going in, taking a program that wasn't doing well,
and hopefully turning it around and becoming a
successful program.
I think the similarities really intrigued me
going down to Houston as well as having a
comfort zone of a head coach that I had been with
before in Canada and had success with. I thought
that comfort would help me.
Q. You were greeted like royalty when
you came to Houston. Were you worried when
they drafted Jim Everret that they were going to
trade you?
WARREN MOON: I was a little concerned
and I did ask about it. They told me they basically
drafted him to use him as trade bait for someone
else. All I could do is go by their word. But when
you do draft a quarterback that high in the draft,
you had a quarterback that just struggled the year
before, it makes you kind of wonder.
But I knew they had put a lot of money into
me two years before that. Normally you give a guy
a little bit more time than that. I really wasn't sure,
but I went along with their word. Fortunately, their
word was good, that they did trade Jim Everett to
the Rams. We got some great picks as well as
some good football players, Drew Hill being one of
those that I had a lot of success with as a receiver.
Q. Did you feel offended when you
wanted to play in the NFL after playing in
Washington and many people wanted you to
change your position?
WARREN MOON: There's no question
about it. I was hurt by the fact that I thought I had
done enough in my college career to at least
warrant getting drafted at a pretty good position in
the draft, then getting an opportunity to play.
Because there was so much opposition as far as
me playing another position, possibly not getting
drafted, it really concerned me. So that's one of
the reasons I chose the CFL is because they were
giving me an opportunity to play quarterback and
they were going to give me an opportunity to play
early.
I just wanted to keep playing football and
keep developing. I really didn't care where it was.
But there's no question I wanted to play in the NFL
because that was my dream as a young kid and
also my goal as a college football player.
Q. Can you recall some of the
memories of going up against Reggie White?
WARREN MOON: Oh, no question about
it. He was probably the most intimidating, the most
physical football player that I played against.
Three guys I always refer to as three of the top
defensive players that I played against: Reggie
White, Lawrence Taylor and Bruce Smith.
Those three guys, you always had to know where
they were, you always had to concern your
protection about where those guys were. You
always had to either have a back on them or tight
end or giving help to that offensive tackle on that
side.
Reggie White could take a game and
change it by himself. He was one of the few
defensive players that could do that because of the
amount of attention you had to give to him. One of
the nicest guys you ever want to meet off the field,
but one of the most physically intimidating players
that you ever want to see on the field.
Q. It's often said that quarterbacks are
measured by their championships. How
significant do you think the CFL years, those
titles, were in helping you get into the Hall of
Fame?
WARREN MOON: I think they definitely
played a part because it showed that I did have
championship abilities in me. But I think the
consistency that I had in the NFL as far as being
able to get to the playoffs many, many times in a
row, it showed consistency that I could win.
Now, the championship, yeah, that takes
you to the next level. Sometimes guys get a
championship and they're considered maybe a
little bit better than what they are. But I think
consistency and productivity are just as important.
No question about it, championships are what you
play the game for. I definitely played it for that. I
would have loved to have won at least one. It's a
team game and you have to have the right team in
order to win the whole thing.
It's unfortunate that I didn't get that. That
was one of the goals I set for myself. But I
accomplished and surpassed so many other things
that I never thought I would accomplish in my
career.
Q. Without guys like Haywood Jeffries,
Ernest Givens, are we sitting here talking with
Warren Moon?
WARREN MOON: I hope so. I would
hope anybody -- not anybody that I had around,
but I would hope they would have good receivers if
those guys weren't there. There's no question you
have to have good players around you to be a
good quarterback. I've always said that. A
quarterback is only as good as the people that
surround him.
I think we worked hand-in-hand. I think
there's things I did to make those guys better and
vice versa. That's the way quarterback-receiver
combinations work in this game. I would think it
would be no different with these guys.
Q. The fact that you're in the Hall of
Fame now, does that make up for not winning a
championship or are you always going to have
a void?
WARREN MOON: I don't think it will ever
take the place of not winning a Super Bowl
because it's a team game, it's a team award,
winning a championship. The Hall of Fame to me
is more of an individual award within a team game.
I think the two are very different. I think this
validates me as an individual player getting to the
Hall of Fame, but I think not having that
championship ring will be something I'll always
wish I had at this particular level only because
that's the main reason you play this game.
Q. Are you going to continue doing
broadcasting?
WARREN MOON: I would like to. I really
enjoy it. I think it's a lot of fun. I think it gives me a
chance to talk about the game, a game that I
played a long time. It just keeps me close to it.
Football has been a part of my life since I was 10
years old. I just can't see myself not being
involved in it in some form or fashion. I think
broadcasting gives me a chance to do that, but it
also gives me a chance to do other things where
I'm not just pigeonholed into being just a football
person.
Q. Do you find it interesting two of the
guys in your class are Aikman and Madden,
two fellow broadcasters?
WARREN MOON: Right. That's kind of a
natural transition for a lot of guys, to go into
broadcasting after their playing days are over, only
because we do have so much knowledge of the
game. I think people want to hear from guys that
actually played the game. If you have a way of
communicating that to people, you usually can be
pretty successful in this business. If you have the
work ethic that you carry on the football field into
your profession as a broadcaster, I think you can
have success.
Q. Which of the teams you played on in the NFL was the best and why?
WARREN MOON: There's a couple of
teams I played on in Houston that were probably
the best. I think it was just because of the balance.
I think the team we had maybe in '92 or '91, it was
one of the top defensive teams in the league as
well as we had one of the top offenses. We had a
punter that was an all-pro punter in Greg
Montgomery, a very good place kicker in Al Del
Greco, and a very good offense and a very good
defense. I think those two teams are probably two
of the best I ever played with from a pure talent
standpoint.
Q. Do you mean the '93 team?
WARREN MOON: Yeah, '93 and '92. The
team that came to Buffalo and played that day
was a very good defensive team. We were ranked
very well in the league defensively. We just had
the collapse in the second half defensively. We
played well all year long on defense.
Q. Have you ever been to Canton for
the enshrinement ceremonies? What do you
anticipate your emotions to be like that day?
WARREN MOON: It's been a while since
I've been there because I played in two Hall of
Fame games, one with Houston and also one with
Seattle I think it was. It's really hard to say
because when you're looking back and seeing
other guys say their speeches, you don't even
imagine yourself being up there on that stage as a
player because you almost look at these guys as
surreal, Hall of Fame players. Like, wow, these
guys are the best that ever played the game. It
would be sure be great to be that way one day.
Here I am one of those guys now.
It's hard to measure what my emotions are
going to be. I know what my emotions were when
they first told me that I was selected. They were
very, very high emotions for me, especially a guy
who is not real emotional. I wept like a little baby
when I was told.
I don't know how I'm going to react once I
actually get up there on the stage, but I know how I
did when I first found the news. I'm sure it will be
an emotional day for me, but I'm going to try my
best to keep things in check.
Q. Didn't you almost ride off the road
on your way to the press conference?
WARREN MOON: Didn't almost drive off
the road, but my wife did take the wheel for me
because I was overcome with emotion. We never
got out of control or anything like that, but she did
take the wheel and steer the car for a little bit until I
got myself back together.
WARREN MOON
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon,
Ladies and Gentlemen. National Football
League would like to introduce 2006 Hall of Fame
inductee Warren Moon. Thank you for being with
us today. Let's open it up for questions.
Q. You had a lot of people in your
career who had an influence on you. Is it an
easy decision to pick Leigh Steinberg or did
anybody else come close that you had to
agonize over?
WARREN MOON: You know, when you
play 23 years, you have a lot of people that kind of
influence your career, are mentors to you, had
confidence in you along the way, especially the
trail that I took. It was really hard to find one
person that was involved in every phase of my
professional career. I thought about Hugh
Campbell, who was my first professional coach in
Canada, as well as my first professional coach in
the NFL. I thought about Don James, my college
coach, who really saw something in me as a major
college player that a lot of other people didn't see.
I thought about my kids doing it.
The person that really has been with me
from the beginning from the time I came out of
college all the way through my professional career
was Leigh Steinberg. We became very close
friends as well as business partners throughout
that time. We continue to be great friends still. I
thought he would be the appropriate guy.
But, yeah, wasn't an easy decision. I think
he makes the most sense of everybody that I
considered.
Q. When you got to the NFL in '84, at
that point the scouts kind of admitted they
didn't have it right in '78, you became the
highest paid player in the league. Was there
anything after that point that you still had to
overcome to get to where you are today in the
Hall of Fame?
WARREN MOON: I think whenever you
come in with the type of fanfare that I did, making
the amount of money that I did, people were
looking I'm sure for me to make things happen
immediately. I was aware enough to know that you
can't do it alone. In football, it's the ultimate team
sport. You have to have good people around you
as a quarterback for things to happen.
We were in a rebuilding process in
Houston. I knew it was going to take time before
we got to that point where we could be the type of
team, I could be the type of player that I knew I
could be. I was very patient. But it was very
difficult in those early years because I took a lot of
criticism. That was probably the biggest thing I
had to overcome coming back was getting the type
of people around me, not only on the offensive
side of the football, but also on the defensive side
of the football, that could make up the type of team
I knew we could eventually be.
Q. After the '85 season in Houston, I
think you took quite a few hits, were sacked
quite a bit. It wasn't a great year, coaching
change. How much was your confidence
shaken after that second season?
WARREN MOON: I don't think my
confidence was shaken as much as I just knew I
wasn't in a system that was taking advantage of
my abilities. We were very limited in the things we
did offensively. A lot of the reasons I took a lot of
those sacks is because of different types of
protections that we didn't have in our protection
scheme. People were able to exploit that. We
weren't able to really audible at the line of
scrimmage, which hurts any quarterback, as far as
if you have a bad play called in the huddle, you
see what the defense has, you can't get out of it. I
just felt like we weren't in the right offensive
system.
I think once we made the changes
offensively that next off-season to bring in the right
people to run the type of offense that took
advantage of my skills, we could get back on the
right track. That finally happened.
I was very disappointed in that '85 season,
no question about it, because I thought I had
played decent as a rookie, but I went backwards in
my second year only because of the coaching
change within that season and some of the things
we were doing offensively.
Q. What does it mean to you to be the
first undrafted player to be in the Hall of Fame?
WARREN MOON: It just makes me feel
like I worked hard to get to where I am right now,
that I took a very unconventional route to get to the
NFL first, then kind of reestablished myself, had a
pretty productive career. I just know that nothing
was really given to me, that I really worked hard for
it, as does every guy work hard in his career to get
to this point. I think the way I did it was just a little
bit different because of some of the other things I
had to overcome that didn't have to do with
football.
I'm very proud of the fact that I was -- not
so much that I was undrafted, because I would
have loved to have been drafted, but the things I
was able to do considering I wasn't drafted and
wasn't looked highly upon as an NFL-type player.
Q. Other than maybe doing the
negotiations with Houston in '84, who in the
Oilers organization was most responsible for
you coming to the NFL?
WARREN MOON: I would say Mike
Holovak initially, because he was the one who
saw me up in Canada as he scouted the league.
He really had glowing comments back to the
organization about the type of player that I was.
Then Ladd Herzeg, the general manager
at that time. He was pretty much the one running
the football organization. He pulled a lot of those
strings, had a lot of power. I'm sure Mr. Bud
Adams had a play in it, too. Whenever you're
going to pay a player that type of money, I'm sure
the owner has a lot of say so in that. I think all
three of those guys had a lot to do with me coming
into the NFL and getting a chance to play.
But I'd say probably Ladd Herzeg was the
guy that really made things happen because of the
way he negotiated with my agent at that time and
made things happen.
Q. Now that you are retired, what is
your opinion about the Bills comeback in 1993?
WARREN MOON: It's no different now
than it was then. Definitely not as disappointed as
I was that particular day. I look back at that game
all the time, of different things that either I could
have done right or we could have did right as a
team that might have made the outcome a little bit
different. It will always be one of those games that
I will look back on and wish that things would have
been a little bit different because I really felt like
that team was good enough to win a Super Bowl.
If we could have got past that particular Sunday,
who knows what would have happened in the
future.
Q. Your father passed away at a very
young age. I think the comment was made that
you were to be the man of the house at a young
age. What kind of effect did that have on you?
WARREN MOON: I think it had some
positives as far as how responsible I was, the way I
prepared for different things, the way I handled
different situations. But I think on the other side, I
think it made me grow up a little bit too fast and
probably didn't have as much fun growing up as I
probably could have just because I felt so much
responsibility on my shoulders at such a young
age.
I think there were positives and negatives
to it. I think for the most part it really did help me
deal with a lot of things I was going to have to deal
with at a very young age that had to do with race
and the stereotypes and the different things I had
to deal with. I think if I was a little less mature, I
probably of would have maybe acted out a little bit
more or maybe not handled things in such a
mature manner if I wasn't kind of raised the way I
was.
Q. In January you talked about going in
the Hall of Fame as the first black quarterback.
Now that you've had some time to think about
it, what is the significance for you?
WARREN MOON: Well, what I really think
it does, it just continues to legitimize the fact that
even though I don't think that needs to be any
more, that black quarterbacks can play this game
at a very high level, and we kind of established or
accomplished things at every level of football that
there is, whether being the first to start a game, the
first to get to a playoff game, the first to win a
Super Bowl, and now I'm the first to get to the Hall
of Fame, which is considered the pinnacle of
professional football.
I think we've kind of done it at every
particular level. There's nothing that ever can be
said about the African-American quarterback and
whether he belongs in the NFL, whether he
belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Q. How do you feel about being the
model of other quarterbacks like McNair,
Culpepper and Vick?
WARREN MOON: Well, I hope by the way
I carried myself and the way I played my game, it
had an impact on some of those young guys, just
gave them more of an opportunity to play the
position. I think the same was done for me as I
came along. You look at James Harris, Marlin
Briscoe, Joe Gilliam, guys like that that played
before me, they gave me kind of the inspiration to
show that I could play the game. Hopefully Doug
Williams, myself, Randall, some of the guys that
played during my era gave some of these guys
who are playing today inspiration that they could
play the game.
I think it's really helped. I think it's going to
be up to them to continue to carry the baton and
do a good job as players, not only on the field but
off the field, the way you carry yourself. It just
continues to give more guys opportunities to play
the position.
Q. Was there any reluctance on your
part to play in Houston, given the social climate
at the time, playing in a southern city in the
NFL, being an African-American quarterback?
Wouldn't it have been easier to go to Seattle
where you played your college ball?
WARREN MOON: Yeah, it was definitely
discussed as far as where I was going to play, how
I might be perceived down there. But if you know
me, if you know how stubborn I am, if you know
how I like challenges, I think then you understand it
wasn't as big a deal to me. I knew what I was
going to be dealing with going down there, just like
I knew when I went away from Los Angeles to go
up to Seattle to play coming out of junior college,
that that was going to be a big challenge for me,
too, because they had never had a starting black
quarterback up there. I was going to a place
where I knew absolutely no one. I was going to a
program that was 2-9 and had racial problems
before I got there under the Jim Owens’ era. The
two had similarities to me as far as a challenge
going in, taking a program that wasn't doing well,
and hopefully turning it around and becoming a
successful program.
I think the similarities really intrigued me
going down to Houston as well as having a
comfort zone of a head coach that I had been with
before in Canada and had success with. I thought
that comfort would help me.
Q. You were greeted like royalty when
you came to Houston. Were you worried when
they drafted Jim Everret that they were going to
trade you?
WARREN MOON: I was a little concerned
and I did ask about it. They told me they basically
drafted him to use him as trade bait for someone
else. All I could do is go by their word. But when
you do draft a quarterback that high in the draft,
you had a quarterback that just struggled the year
before, it makes you kind of wonder.
But I knew they had put a lot of money into
me two years before that. Normally you give a guy
a little bit more time than that. I really wasn't sure,
but I went along with their word. Fortunately, their
word was good, that they did trade Jim Everett to
the Rams. We got some great picks as well as
some good football players, Drew Hill being one of
those that I had a lot of success with as a receiver.
Q. Did you feel offended when you
wanted to play in the NFL after playing in
Washington and many people wanted you to
change your position?
WARREN MOON: There's no question
about it. I was hurt by the fact that I thought I had
done enough in my college career to at least
warrant getting drafted at a pretty good position in
the draft, then getting an opportunity to play.
Because there was so much opposition as far as
me playing another position, possibly not getting
drafted, it really concerned me. So that's one of
the reasons I chose the CFL is because they were
giving me an opportunity to play quarterback and
they were going to give me an opportunity to play
early.
I just wanted to keep playing football and
keep developing. I really didn't care where it was.
But there's no question I wanted to play in the NFL
because that was my dream as a young kid and
also my goal as a college football player.
Q. Can you recall some of the
memories of going up against Reggie White?
WARREN MOON: Oh, no question about
it. He was probably the most intimidating, the most
physical football player that I played against.
Three guys I always refer to as three of the top
defensive players that I played against: Reggie
White, Lawrence Taylor and Bruce Smith.
Those three guys, you always had to know where
they were, you always had to concern your
protection about where those guys were. You
always had to either have a back on them or tight
end or giving help to that offensive tackle on that
side.
Reggie White could take a game and
change it by himself. He was one of the few
defensive players that could do that because of the
amount of attention you had to give to him. One of
the nicest guys you ever want to meet off the field,
but one of the most physically intimidating players
that you ever want to see on the field.
Q. It's often said that quarterbacks are
measured by their championships. How
significant do you think the CFL years, those
titles, were in helping you get into the Hall of
Fame?
WARREN MOON: I think they definitely
played a part because it showed that I did have
championship abilities in me. But I think the
consistency that I had in the NFL as far as being
able to get to the playoffs many, many times in a
row, it showed consistency that I could win.
Now, the championship, yeah, that takes
you to the next level. Sometimes guys get a
championship and they're considered maybe a
little bit better than what they are. But I think
consistency and productivity are just as important.
No question about it, championships are what you
play the game for. I definitely played it for that. I
would have loved to have won at least one. It's a
team game and you have to have the right team in
order to win the whole thing.
It's unfortunate that I didn't get that. That
was one of the goals I set for myself. But I
accomplished and surpassed so many other things
that I never thought I would accomplish in my
career.
Q. Without guys like Haywood Jeffries,
Ernest Givens, are we sitting here talking with
Warren Moon?
WARREN MOON: I hope so. I would
hope anybody -- not anybody that I had around,
but I would hope they would have good receivers if
those guys weren't there. There's no question you
have to have good players around you to be a
good quarterback. I've always said that. A
quarterback is only as good as the people that
surround him.
I think we worked hand-in-hand. I think
there's things I did to make those guys better and
vice versa. That's the way quarterback-receiver
combinations work in this game. I would think it
would be no different with these guys.
Q. The fact that you're in the Hall of
Fame now, does that make up for not winning a
championship or are you always going to have
a void?
WARREN MOON: I don't think it will ever
take the place of not winning a Super Bowl
because it's a team game, it's a team award,
winning a championship. The Hall of Fame to me
is more of an individual award within a team game.
I think the two are very different. I think this
validates me as an individual player getting to the
Hall of Fame, but I think not having that
championship ring will be something I'll always
wish I had at this particular level only because
that's the main reason you play this game.
Q. Are you going to continue doing
broadcasting?
WARREN MOON: I would like to. I really
enjoy it. I think it's a lot of fun. I think it gives me a
chance to talk about the game, a game that I
played a long time. It just keeps me close to it.
Football has been a part of my life since I was 10
years old. I just can't see myself not being
involved in it in some form or fashion. I think
broadcasting gives me a chance to do that, but it
also gives me a chance to do other things where
I'm not just pigeonholed into being just a football
person.
Q. Do you find it interesting two of the
guys in your class are Aikman and Madden,
two fellow broadcasters?
WARREN MOON: Right. That's kind of a
natural transition for a lot of guys, to go into
broadcasting after their playing days are over, only
because we do have so much knowledge of the
game. I think people want to hear from guys that
actually played the game. If you have a way of
communicating that to people, you usually can be
pretty successful in this business. If you have the
work ethic that you carry on the football field into
your profession as a broadcaster, I think you can
have success.
Q. Which of the teams you played on in the NFL was the best and why?
WARREN MOON: There's a couple of
teams I played on in Houston that were probably
the best. I think it was just because of the balance.
I think the team we had maybe in '92 or '91, it was
one of the top defensive teams in the league as
well as we had one of the top offenses. We had a
punter that was an all-pro punter in Greg
Montgomery, a very good place kicker in Al Del
Greco, and a very good offense and a very good
defense. I think those two teams are probably two
of the best I ever played with from a pure talent
standpoint.
Q. Do you mean the '93 team?
WARREN MOON: Yeah, '93 and '92. The
team that came to Buffalo and played that day
was a very good defensive team. We were ranked
very well in the league defensively. We just had
the collapse in the second half defensively. We
played well all year long on defense.
Q. Have you ever been to Canton for
the enshrinement ceremonies? What do you
anticipate your emotions to be like that day?
WARREN MOON: It's been a while since
I've been there because I played in two Hall of
Fame games, one with Houston and also one with
Seattle I think it was. It's really hard to say
because when you're looking back and seeing
other guys say their speeches, you don't even
imagine yourself being up there on that stage as a
player because you almost look at these guys as
surreal, Hall of Fame players. Like, wow, these
guys are the best that ever played the game. It
would be sure be great to be that way one day.
Here I am one of those guys now.
It's hard to measure what my emotions are
going to be. I know what my emotions were when
they first told me that I was selected. They were
very, very high emotions for me, especially a guy
who is not real emotional. I wept like a little baby
when I was told.
I don't know how I'm going to react once I
actually get up there on the stage, but I know how I
did when I first found the news. I'm sure it will be
an emotional day for me, but I'm going to try my
best to keep things in check.
Q. Didn't you almost ride off the road
on your way to the press conference?
WARREN MOON: Didn't almost drive off
the road, but my wife did take the wheel for me
because I was overcome with emotion. We never
got out of control or anything like that, but she did
take the wheel and steer the car for a little bit until I
got myself back together.
