Q&A: Warren Moon talks Esks, QBs, Hank and more

Canadian Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon played six seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos and he won five straight Grey Cups from 1978-1982 while wearing the Green and Gold. Moon was a trailblazer and he further proved that by becoming the first African American quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He continues to keep close tabs on what’s going on in the three-down game and yours truly caught up with Moon to discuss memories from his time in Edmonton, the advantages and disadvantages of having a playoff bye, how quarterbacks are being protected in 2015 compared to his playing days and how pivots can thrive into their 40’s.

DUNK: When you first arrived in Edmonton what was the mood around the team?

MOON: When I first came to Edmonton they had gone to the Grey Cup the year before (1977) and lost to Montreal. So my rookie year was a big year as far as revenge. They wanted to get back to the Grey Cup and beat Montreal because they felt like Montreal in some ways cheated in the victory by putting staples in their shoes and they were able to run around and have much better traction on the frozen field that they played on in the Grey Cup that year.

I didn’t know much about that, all I know is what I heard, but that was the big battle cry for that season: Get back to the Grey Cup and beat Montreal. They wanted to play Montreal, but we actually beat them during the regular season, that was the revenge game just for the regular season because you didn’t know if you were going to get back to the Grey Cup and play Montreal or not. Then we got a chance to avenge the loss from the year before in the Grey Cup.

DUNK: Did you have any inkling the Eskimos would go on an extended title run?

MOON: We didn’t know how good we were going to be or for how long we were going to be good. We just knew that we were the defending Grey Cup Champs coming out of that year (1978). Then the next year we pretty much returned our whole football team and I think that was one of the reasons why our team was so good for so long — Hugh Campbell and the personnel people did a great job of not making a lot of changes on our team.

We brought in some younger guys every year because you’re going to bring in some draft picks, but the core group of our team stayed together. I think that’s one of the reasons why we were so good. And then I think our Canadian players were better than most other teams’ Canadian players, I think that’s where the big difference in our team was. Stu Lang, Dale Potter, Tommy Towns and guys like that were really, really good players for us and they were Canadian players.

We had an all-Canadian offensive line for my last couple years there as well. There were a lot of little nuances about why we were so good, but a lot of it had to do with our Canadian players being really talented and our core group of players staying together so long.

DUNK: What was it like to play and live in Edmonton when the Eskimos were winning all those Grey Cups?

MOON: There was no better place to be in Canada because our fan base was one of the best, if not the best ever. We were sold out all the time — every game. We had a brand new stadium in Commonwealth Stadium. When I first got there I think we sat about 63-65,000 people. It was a great city to be in.

Everywhere you went everybody was charged up, positive — they received you well because you were an Eskimo and there was a lot of pride because we were winning. That city not only with the football team but also with the hockey team the Edmonton Oilers – we won a championship something like nine out of 10 years. So that city became known as the ‘City of Champions’ because of all the championships that were won there. It was a great place to live and it was a great place to be a part of a football dynasty.

And as much as I felt homesick, when you’re winning and you’re winning the way we were winning it just really made it a little bit easier to deal with the fact that you weren’t playing in your home country or the fact that you might have been homesick away from your family.

DUNK: Is there a distinct advantage for teams earning a bye to the Western or Eastern Final?

MOON: I think there is a little bit of an advantage sometimes to the team that plays in the playoff game before coming to the final because they’re battle tested and they’re ready to play and they’re coming off of a very competitive game and moving on. But I think somewhere in the second half of that second game they have to play they start to wear down a little bit.

I think that’s where the freshness of the team that had a chance to have a bye really takes over and that’s where you end up winning the football game, in the second half.

DUNK: Are pro football leagues doing enough to protect quarterbacks?

MOON: There are a ton of different ways that they’re making it a lot safer for the quarterback to play the game, and they should. You can’t go to a quarterback’s head at all in any way form or fashion even if you’re just trying to knock a pass down. If your hand comes across and rubs on the helmet of the quarterback you’re going to get flagged for it. You’re not able to take those guys to the ground anymore as they’re releasing the football, you have to somehow hold off and take away some of the intenseness of the hit.

You can’t go low on a quarterback anymore below the knees or in the knee area or you’re going to get flagged for that – your whole body is wide open and vulnerable when you’re throwing the football and you’re not able to protect yourself when you’re throwing the football.

They’re doing a much better job of making sure these guys don’t take those vicious hits that we used to take back in the day. At least they’re realizing that they needed to do something about it and make that change because of how important the position is.

DUNK: Do you wish the rules that safeguard quarterbacks in today’s game were around when you played?

MOON: I wish that would’ve been the case when I was playing. I’ve taken some shots throughout the course of my career. When you played as long as I did and threw as many passes as I did, you’re going to take a lot of hits.

Most people always try and focus on how many times you’ve been sacked, but I would rather get sacked than take the hits sometimes that you take when you’re actually in the motion of throwing the ball. At least on a sack you know how to protect yourself and you can curl up and take the brunt of the hit. When you’re throwing it you don’t know where guys are coming from, you’re just in your throwing motion and your body is exposed and open. I’ve taken some tremendous shots – broken ribs and all kinds of things – so I’m glad that they’re doing a better job of protecting the quarterback position.

DUNK: Henry Burris is playing at a high level despite being 40 in 2015, what does it take to be highly productive as a quarterback at that age?

MOON: I know Henry very well. I participated in some of his charity events when he was in Calgary. It’s just a tribute to him and the way he’s taken care of himself and how motivated he is to keep playing that he can put up that type of production at that age. I’m very well aware of that because I played until I was 44 years old and I had very productive years around 40-41 – I was in a Pro Bowl at 41 and won the MVP of the game.

I know you can play well into your high 30’s and low 40’s if you take care of yourself, you stay away from any major injuries and if you have the motivation and the passion to still play the game and I think Henry still has all of that.

DUNK: What was your secret to playing well into your 40’s?

MOON: Taking care of yourself, training hard, avoiding injuries was something that you were just blessed with – if the lord was looking over you that you didn’t have any major injuries. I took very, very good care of my body as far as massages, chiropractor, acupuncture, anything that I could do to keep my body going week in and week out.

You have to have a routine that you go through as far as how I stretched my arm out, how I iced my arm down, all the different things I did to make sure it stayed fresh. There were a lot of things that went into it. The way I ate and my diet had something to do with being able to play that long.

I think because players today know so much more about the body – they know so much more about how to take care of their bodies – that you’ll see more and more players having longer careers just because their bodies will be able to survive a lot longer because they know how to take care and maintain it.