Card: Action Packed 1991
Acquired: In Person, Houston Oilers Training Camp 1992
See also: http://n8d.flywheelsites.com/2011/moon-warren-2/
Warren Moon’s career is a long and storied one, that while it didn’t end in a SuperBowl appearance, certainly it was worthy of the Hall of Fame induction that he received in 2006. Warren Moon’s career in football spans amazingly 4 decades of the sport. After a standout performance for the Washington Huskies that culminated in a Rose Bowl appearance and MVP honors, he was told by NFL scouts that he’d be better suited to play defensive back or tight end. You see back in the 70’s there was still the stigma at the pro level that black players couldn’t play quarterback. Frustrated and ready to prove people wrong, – Moon packed his bags and headed to Canada to play for the CFL, where he’d be signed by the Edmonton Eskimos. He went on to shatter CFL league records leading the Eskimos to 5 consecutive Grey Cup Championships from 1978-1982, and winning Grey Cup MVP honors in 1980 and 1982. He’d also set the record for most yards passing in a game,(broken in 2005,) and most yards (career) in league history.
Moon would decide to enter the NFL in 1984 where a bidding war ensued for his services. The Houston Oilers stepped up to the plate, offering the most attractive opportunity for Moon. With Hugh Campbell (his former CFL coach,) and a million dollar a year salary on the table, Moon immediately became the centerpiece for the long suffering Houston franchise. Moon quickly set the team season passing record in his first year under center, but Campbell would be fired after two losing seasons. With a new coach in Jerry Glanville, the Oilers began to take on a new tough personality, and Warren became the prime beneficiary of the team’s change. With the Red Gun offense firmly in place, Warren led the Oilers to their first winning record with him under center and the beginning of the team’s consecutive playoff appearance streak. 1989 saw Glanville’s last season in Houston, and the new Sheriff in town in 1990, who installed a new sense of discipline, and the Run ‘N Shoot offense- Jack Pardee. Over the years, the team built an impressive receiver corps in Drew Hill, Haywood Jeffires, Curtis Duncan, and Ernest Givins. Warren Moon would set new career highs leading the league in a variety of categories, and tied the record with 9 300 yard games. In his greatest moment, Warren trodded out onto the frigid Arrowhead stadium field in 1990, (a place they had gotten whupped a year earlier 35-3) and threw for 527 yards against a staunch Kansas City defensive unit. 1991 again saw Moon set a new NFL record for attempts with 655 attempts (since broken), and during the offseason Warren would also help on USA broadcasts for the WLAF games. The team won its first divisional title in 1991 and again in 1993 with a league best record 12-4- but the team advanced no further than the divisional round in any season. By the end of the 1993 season, Warren virtually held every team passing record.
In came meddling owner Bud Adams during 1994, (- a recurring theme in Oilers history), who decided that the team was too old and wanted to change the direction of the franchise. Bud decided that much of the team was too old, so he traded Warren to Minnesota for a few draft choices. In the meantime the team slumped to 2-14 behind Bucky Richardson and Cody Carlson at quarterback as Jack Pardee quit. Warren however went on to prove Adams wrong throwing for over 4200 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Vikings. By 1997, Moon was a free agent again, signing with his college hometown Seattle Seahawks. He’d be the oldest player to score a touchdown at the age of 40. After two seasons there (he’d play in the movie “Any Given Sunday” as head coach of the rival New York team and then,) he’d head to Kansas City to serve as backup, retiring in 2001.
Warren over his career was named to 9 ProBowls, ProBowl MVP once, Man of the Year in 1989, NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1990, Pro Football HoF in 2006, and the Canadian HoF in 2001, in addition to numerous other accolades. Warren was also named #5 on the all time list of greatest players in CFL history. Warren also at one point was ranked in the top 5 of nearly every NFL category, (including career fumbles and fumble recoveries- since passed by Brett Favre in career fumbles). Since football he continues to do commentary for the Seattle Seahawks, and wrote a book “Never Give Up on Your Dream: My Journey”. Recently Warren Moon was mentioned in an episode of “30 Rock”, and he has struggled from time to time with domestic issues. To give perspective of Warren’s career, he threw for over 25 miles in 4 decades of football from 1978-2001 (23 seasons) and he is the first and only black starting quarterback in the NFL HoF. A stoic presence on the field and a shrewd negotiator of contracts, Moon had an amazing arm, longetivity, and displayed quick release and smooth velocity on his throws. His combined CFL and NFL statistics are listed below along with some great videos of his work.
G 312 Att 9205 Comp 5357 Yds 70553 Pct 58.2% Td 435 Int 310 Rat 84.2
A Moon highlight video playing for the Huskies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp7hh52GBXE
Houston Oilers highlight video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxNuAcL2H74&feature=related
HoF video: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d8012ef58/Hall-of-Fame-Warren-Moon
On my birthday in 1993 my brother invited me down to Houston where he lived, gave me a Houston Oiler flag, and took me to the Astrodome to watch the Oilers play the Browns. The Oilers that year were having the best season of the team’s history and much of it was due to their ball hawking secondary and Marcus Robertson’s play. After 13 games he lead the NFL with 7 interceptions, but a knee injury would end his season prematurely- ironically during the game I was at. He’d also garner All-Pro honors that season. The Oilers would continue to play well into the playoffs, where they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Kansas City Chiefs. It would be the last time the team would make the playoffs. I bought the Topps Finest card but was not able to get Marcus’ autograph before the team moved to Tennessee. After another injury plagued 1995, Marcus would again return to form and play for the Oilers and Titans through 2000. He’d play an additional 2 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and then retire after the 2002 season. Since then Marcus has worked as a coach and in 2010 is with the Titans organization as a defensive backs coach.
These sets of cards really reflect the evolution of quality and style in the 1990s of football cards. The 1993 Topps card is honestly like any other regular Topps branded football card up to this point during the football card war- boring. Realizing that Topps was probably getting killed in the market by other companies the brand by 1995 made a move to foil stamping, high quality photos, the removal of that gum that you could kill a man with, and a variety of other upgrades. The Topps Finest card here is truly among my favorites. Another one of my other pet favorites, after I had left the market completely was the Fleer 1995 cards. Fearlessly branding type across the card and around players that you normally didn’t see, you really got a feel for these cards on an epic scale complimented and framed by excellent photography. I was extremely happy to add these signatures to my collection.