Retired Hall of Fame and UW football icon (1978), Warren Moon looks like he could still take a hard snap from the center.
We met recently at Seattle Seahawks headquarters. I was there with my friend Howard Bogie of West Seattle. Howard, retired from Seattle Parks Department. He met Warren when Don James introduced Warren to Howard during the Rose Bowl Season and they got to know each other when Warren began working with the Seahawks.
About 10 years ago, when Howard had retired and opened his own business of running Charity Celebrity Golf Tournaments, Warren and Steve Pool (KOMO TV fame) asked Howard if he would help plan and run a Charity Golf Tournament for them with the profit going to Children's Hospital. Howard worked with Warren and Steve Pool on their golf tournament for several years.
Warren is 56. He's 6'3", handsome and easygoing and close to his playing weight. He does press box commentary now with Steve Raible during Seahawks radio broadcasts as well as TV post game shows rather than take heat from onrushing lineman a head taller and 70 pounds heavier. Warren retired in 2000. He loved the game but knew it was time.
He is proud of his physical condition, claiming it most likely contributed to his longevity in the National Football League and in Canada where he got his pro start. That Warren survived adversity in his life and career is putting it mildly. A quick release of the football along with a pretty good back-pedal saved him from getting crunched AFTER the play where many quarterbacks get hurt. Staying in good shape also helped him through those times when getting roughed up was inevitable. During his career in Canada, at Houston, Minnesota, Seattle and Kansas City, he regularly benched pressed 325 pounds
(ten reps).
Being physically tough is important but he had something more. Something that eventually got him into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. He had tenacity, discipline and a mother who felt he needed a male role model after dad died when Warren was seven.
Pat Moon, who had six other children, all girls, was adamant about Warren getting involved with sports but she also felt he had a responsibility to the family to be the man of the house. Warren took his role very seriously, even as a youngster. So serious that his three older sisters felt he was a bit too bossy for his own good. Warren was learning the boundaries of leadership. (Inside secret... Warren also learned to cook and loves to cook today. It's in his book,"Never Give Up On Your Dream", with Don Yaeger. Pat insisted he do something to divert his attention away from upcoming games so Warren baked cookies. He was a big hit with family and friends.
He was a skinny, focused kid in West Los Angeles when he turned out for Pop Warner football in 1965. At nine he could really toss a football. Not just toss; actually throw for nearly 50 yards. He was blessed with a strong arm even though he did not play quarterback at that age. Success seemed possible yet adversity was never far away. Through junior football and high school he suffered fan abuse. It even lasted through much of his pro career.
If the team he played for did not do well, Warren took the heat, often including racially insensitive remarks. Warren thought about quitting (excerpt from his book). Mom offered more good advice. You'll find the same remarks at the next place you go, she advised. Warren agreed and though it hurt, he survived to prove his detractors wrong.
Warren persevered enough to get to the Hall of Fame in 2006. There is some irony here. His teammate in Pop Warner (that league of 10 year old players) was fellow Hall of Famer, James Lofton, a standout at Stanford and Green Bay.
Equally important is what Warren did when he got the news he was selected to the HOF. He called Howard Bogie. "I would like you to come to Canton for my induction", Warren offered. Howard was stunned. What greater compliment could Howard expect than to have his friend invite him to this special ceremony. Howard had the time of his life honoring Warren and all that he has achieved.
The HOF for Warren it is a just reward for being overlooked by so many, so often. He was never invited to the National Football League's combine, where draft-able talent is assessed. Never given enough credit for taking the Washington Huskies to the Rose Bowl in 1978 and winning the MVP in the process. Never even got a look from any pro football team except the Edmonton Eskimos in Canada.
Another irony came in the form of super-agent Leigh Steinberg. Leigh attended Hamilton High School in Los Angeles a few years before Warren. Leigh knew about Warren. In his book Warren wrote that Leigh called him 40 times before any kind of agreement was reached to have Leigh represent Warren in negotiating a football contract. Leigh had the vision to see the potential that others had missed. Leigh also knew that signing Warren in Canada before the NFL draft would make Warren a free-agent if he ever came back to the NFL.
What a vision. Warren DID come back, after six very successful years with Edmonton. He signed a multi-year contract with the Houston Oilers, in part because his former coach Hugh Campbell was there and the money was right. The Seattle Seahawks had a chance and it would have been Warren's first choice but as the saying goes, money talks......
One might guess that Warren loved the game so much he would have played for free. At least he played like that, setting record after record for total yards, pass completion percentages and his favorite praise from teammates "Warren throws a catch-able ball".
With field turf on many playing surfaces throughout the league today the chance of injury has lessened. Warren was lucky, playing the majority of his career on the old AstroTurf; considered a 2" cushion over concrete. He was only hurt three times but never enough to keep him out of a game. AstroTurf, invented in the 60's, was first used at the Houston Astrodome and later used at Husky Stadium. The field at Montlake was so crowned for drainage that Warren, throwing from the middle of the field, would have to aim low to avoid overthrowing his receivers who looked like they were running downhill.
Warren was a passer but for reasons he cannot clearly explain he holds the record at the UW for the longest run from scrimmage by a quarterback. He was trying to run out the clock; protect the ball, against USC in 1977. On a keeper, he cut through a gap in the line. All the defense saw was jersey # 1 headed down field, 71 yards for a touchdown. How? "Nobody caught me,” Warren said.
Warren has worn jersey #1 for most of his career. He chose #1 on his jersey for his mom. He worked hard at being #1 because a leader does that. He's the man who calls the plays. He's the boss.
Today, at home near Redmond, he still cooks, keeps up with the NFL through his work with the Seattle Seahawks and runs a charity bowling fundraiser for inner-city youth to help with education. For those friends, family, fans and kids, in their book, he's certainly #1.
