Husky Legends: Warren Moon

With a barren stretch here to go heading into the 2009 season, I feel it's a good time to look at some of the Husky greats past and present.

My first choice for a Husky legends piece was obvious to me, former quarterback Warren Moon. 

I grew up as an NFL baby, watching my beloved 49ers every sunday. In the course of all that NFL nonsense a name always creeped up every now and then: Warren Moon. It was so unique to me since my other hobby at the time was staring at the real moon through my telescope some nights.

Suffice it to say I was pleased to discover when I entered my Huskies love that Moon played, no less, for my school.

He's not only one of the best quarterbacks to play in both college and the NFL and CFL, he also, if its not to cliche to say, a heartwarming story of perseverance.

His father died when he was young, and had to take on the yolk of helping his mother provide for the family. 

Leigh Montville wrote that "The boy learned to cook and sew and iron and clean house. To this day he cannot do the [stereotypical] 'man' things, working under the hood of a car or fixing plumbing or electrical problems, but he can bake three dozen cookies with ease."

Moon was a standout athlete in high school, but was recruited mostly to play wide receiver in college. Most schools did not want to take the chance on a black quarterback, even into the late 1970's.

Moon decided instead to attend West Las Angeles Junior College and played extremely well there, catching the eye of Washington head coach Don James.

He was a bench warmer for the most part in 1975, playing in 8 games and only starting 6, he completed only 48 passes of 122.

His stats were mediocre in his first year as starter, with the team as a whole going 5-6 overall in 1976. Husky fans, craving success under Don James, let the young quarterback know how they felt in no uncertain terms.

Moon stoically held his head high and pushed through to the 1977 season, where the Huskies went 10-2 and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Moon was named the MVP of the game, winning it on a couple touchdown scampers and a 28 yard pass to wide receiver Spider Gaines.

What Moon is most remembered for is not his spectacular throwing ability, though he did have a strong arm, but the control he had over the games. This holds true, especially, in his senior season when they won their first Pac-8 championship under Don James.

Moon threw for almost 3500 yards in his career, but his completion percentage was a mere 49 percent. That being said, in his senior season he threw for 1722 yards, 12 touchdowns, with a completion percentage of 56 percent.

There is a definite correlation that Warren Moon saved the job of James. It goes without saying that looking backwards Don James and being fired by UW don't belong in the same sentence (yes yes, I know his resignation came under pressured circumstances), but it was not a forgone conclusion going into 1977.

James was 11-11 in his first two years as head coach, and many felt there was little progress being made on the field. 1977 changed all that, with a conference championship and an underdog victory over the hated Michigan Wolverines, the rest is basically history, as they say.

Moon would go on to be undrafted by the NFL. Though he had done enough to placate, and even win over the Husky fans, the NFL scouts were not impressed.

After successful stints in the CFL, winning 5 grey cups, Moon finally got a chance in the NFL with the Houstan Oilers. He went on to become a 9 time Pro-Bowl selection, throwing for 49,325 yards and nearly 300 touchdowns.

Moon never lost his connection with the Northwest and the Huskies; after his playing career, part of which occured for the Seattle Seahawks, he came back to Seattle to be a color commentator for the Seahawks.

He also has a hand in Washington athletics. One of his best friends from his playing days was Lorenzo Romar, who is the current coach of the Washington Basketball team. When that vacancy opened up, Moon urged Romar to take the job, and even called athletic director Barbara Hedges on Romar's behalf.

He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, becoming the first Canadian Football Hall of Famer, first undrafted quarterback, and first African American quarterback taken into the hall of fame. 

He has had his problems with DUI arrests in recent times, and was even arrested for a misdemeanor for slapping his wife in 1995, though he was acquitted.

A flawed great though he may be, he is a great of Husky Football all the same. His career has been surpassed by many quarterbacks at the UW to be sure. Yet, imagine life for the Huskies without the Dawgfather Don James, and you realize the importance of Warren Moon.