Brian Snelgrove
CFL.ca

No quarterback who has ever played the game on both sides of the border has put together a career to rival that of Warren Moon.

He is, without question, one of the best quarterbacks of all time.

Five Grey Cup Rings, Rose Bowl MVP, a 17 year NFL career and membership in both the Canadian Football and Pro Football Hall of Fames attest to his greatness.

The Los Angeles, California native is one of the most prolific passers in professional football history. Over his 23 year career in both leagues he threw for 70,553 yards on 5,357 completions and 435 touchdown tosses. Only Damon Allen (CFL) has thrown for more yards (72,381) and only Brett Favre (NFL) has more completions (6,083) and more touchdown passes (497).

Moon led the underdog Washington Huskies to a 27-20 victory over the Michigan Wolverines in the 1978 Rose Bowl and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Undrafted by the NFL, he signed with Edmonton in 1978 and embarked on a record-setting six year run with the Eskimos. The Green and Gold won an unprecedented five straight Grey Cups (1978-82) during Moon’s tenure in Edmonton and he was one of the key components of that dynasty.

“Yeah, no question I was surprised no one drafted me,” the now 53 year-old Moon recalls from his home in Seattle, Washington. “But all you can do is look for the next opportunity so that is what I did. And I don’t regret it for a minute. How could you not enjoy it when you were winning all the time like we were those years in Edmonton?”

“Winning those Grey Cups was awesome,” Moon adds. Once I saw how big the game was in Canada and how the whole country gets involved, I realized how important it really is. It doesn’t matter what level you play at. You play for championships. That’s what you play for.”

In his half dozen years with the Eskimos, Moon threw for 21,228 yards and 144 touchdowns; both marks are the second best in team history. He has the third most completions on the Eskimo charts with 1369.

In his augural year Moon shared the QB duties with long-time incumbent Tom Wilkinson and threw for 1,112 yards and five touchdowns. With increased playing time in his second season he gained 2,382 yards through the air with 20 majors. As the clock turned on the 70’s Moon had established himself as the Eskimos number one quarterback.

In ’82 Moon became the first CFL quarterback to hit the 5,000 yards passing in a season plateau when he threw for exactly 5,000 yards. He eclipsed that effort in his final year when he threw for a league-leading and personal best 5,648 yards. He was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player in both the 1980 and ’82 Grey Cups. He won the Schenley Award as the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player in 1983.

“It was great,” Moon says of his time with the Eskimos. ”It was a veteran team when I got there and I could just go in and learn from a bunch of veterans. Canada was a place that I had never been before but when you are winning like we were it lifts your spirits and you look forward to every game. I had a lot of help, guys like (Tom) Wilkinson, (Bruce) Lemmerman, Jim Germany and Waddell Smith are still close friends. Dan Kepley gave me tough love early on. There were just a lot of older guys that were easy to learn from.”

Moon’s name was inscribed on the Eskimos “Wall of Honour” in 2001. He was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

“It’s always very exciting whenever you get recognized for something like that,” Moon says of his Canadian induction. “If you’re considered one of the best to ever play the game, it is a huge honour. When you go in with great players you have played against like Willie Burden and my teammate James “Quick” Parker it is even more special.”

Although he only played six years in the league, Moon was ranked fifth in a TSN poll conducted in 2006 of the 50 greatest CFL players of all-time.

Following his glory days with the Eskimos Moon went on to an outstanding 17 year NFL career with Houston, Minnesota, Seattle and Kansas City. He was named to nine Pro Bowls and retired in 2000. Shortly after the Houston Oilers became the Tennessee Titans in 1999, Moon’s #1 was retired by the NFL club.
 
Married with five children, Moon is entering his seventh season as a television and radio analyst for the Seattle Seahawks and also hosts a weekly football show on both radio and television. Prior to becoming a member of the  Seahawks broadcast team Moon spent time as a sideline reporter on Pac-10 college games and will assume that role again this season.

He has also recently started a sports marketing company, “Sports One Marketing”, which works with corporations and businesses that want to get more involved in sports. He also has a number of TV and radio sports related projects in the works.

Moon works out regularly and is very active in numerous charities. Nearly three decades later, he still follows his former CFL club. “Offensively I think they will be ok this year,” he says of the 2010 edition of the Eskimos. “They just have to stop some people.”

“I owe a great deal of gratitude to the Eskimo organization for being behind me and to the fans in Edmonton for being behind me,” the former Eskimo star says. “I will always be indebted to them. I have great memories of living and playing up there. My first son was born there. I still have great friends up there. Playing for the Edmonton Eskimos was a very special time of my life.”

Ed Note: Harry “Bud” Grant, longtime coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL and the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings of the NFL is the only other person in both the Canadian and American Hall of Fames. He was named as a Builder to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1994.