Moon indebted to Campbell for giving him the chance to play quarterback in CFL

TORONTO - They were part a football dynasty in Edmonton and later both headed to the NFL's Houston Oilers. And next month, Warren Moon will be inducted with Hugh Campbell into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

It seems Moon and Campbell will forever be attached at the hip, and Moon wouldn't want it any other way.

"We still remain good friends and he and his wife became very good friends of mine after my playing days were over," Moon said Tuesday after serving as the drawmaster for the $5.1-million Breeders Crown event. "I owe so much to the guy for what he saw in me.

"It's going to be an honour to go in with him because we have a lot of history together, but also a lot of positive history together."

The CFL icons were integral parts of an Edmonton club that captured five straight Grey Cup titles in the late '70s and early '80s before the both headed to Houston in 1984. Moon went on to enjoy a stellar career south of the border, capped by being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Moon and Campbell will be among seven inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 3. Also joining them will be John Campbell, a native of Ailsa Craig, Ont., and the top driver in harness driving history who will be in action Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack.

Moon joined the Eskimos right out of the University of Washington in '78 after being named the Rose Bowl MVP, given the opportunity to play quarterback in Canada at a time when black athletes weren't being given much chance to do so south of the border. He spent six seasons with the CFL club, leading it to five straight Grey Cup titles (1978-'82) before heading to Houston.

Moon is the only player in football history to be inducted into both the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In 2006, he was named No. 5 on the all-time CFL Top 50 players in a TSN poll.

In all, Moon spent 23 seasons in professional football, playing for five teams (Edmonton, Houston, Minnesota, Kansas City and Seattle). He was named to nine Pro Bowls and was a three-time All-Pro. The NFL honoured him as its Man of The Year in '89 before he was named the league's top offensive player of the year in '90.

And all because Campbell gave him a chance to play.

"He saw something in me as a professional that the NFL didn't want to see," Moon said. "I'm forever indebted to him for letting me play the position."

Campbell served as Moon's coach in Edmonton and later when Moon headed to the NFL with Houston. Campbell began his CFL career as a player with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He also coached in the now-defunct USFL before returning to Edmonton as its general manager and eventually retiring in 2006.

Moon, who turns 53 next month, did garner NFL interest at Washington, but at positions other than quarterback. However, he had no interest in lining up elsewhere and was willing to wait until he got the chance to go under centre.

"I never wavered," he said. "If there was a team in Siberia, I would've went there to play.

"The key is keeping your eye on the prize, which I did. I knew what my goal was, I was very determined and in some ways stubborn but confident at the same time that I could do this. It was just a matter of somebody giving me that opportunity and me waiting around and biding my time until that happened."

It wasn't easy, though.

Every time a door was slammed in his face, Moon simply tucked the bitter disappointment away and moved ahead rather than dwell upon it. But late in his career, Moon sought therapy to deal with the racism and prejudice he experienced.

And Moon found putting those thoughts and incidents down on paper in a recently released book entitled "Never Give Up on Your Dream," to be good therapy as well.

"As those things came about, I put them inside of me and kept moving forward," Moon said. "Well, that stuff was still inside of me.

"The therapy really helped me … then, all of a sudden, the book helped me even more to get those things out as I talked about them. It's kind of a freeing or releasing feeling for me that even thought they were tough things to go back and talk about, I feel so much better about it now. I just feel refreshed inside."

In December, the Buffalo Bills will host the New York Jets at Rogers Centre in the second year of a five-year agreement to play exhibition and regular-season games in Toronto. That has created no shortage of speculation that the NFL club could eventually make the Canadian city its permanent home and deal a huge blow to the CFL.

But Moon believes the two leagues can co-exist in Toronto.

"I think it (Bills series in Toronto) is good because I think many fans go over to Buffalo and watch the Bills anyway,"he said. "It's just another way to expose pro football to a big Canadian city.

"I think people could support the Toronto Argonauts and the Buffalo Bills if you put a good product out there. I think that's all people want."

Like most athletes, Moon had a pre-game ritual he always liked to follow. But his involved baking cookies the night before a game, something he says he always found relaxing.

But Moon's love of cooking did come honestly. In fact, later this week he will do a pilot for a show on The Food Network.

He'd be following in the footsteps of Matt Dunigan, Moon's former backup in Edmonton who is the host of a cooking show in Canada.

"Yeah, well he copied me," Moon said with a chuckle. "It (cooking) is something that is very relaxing and you can be creative and as a quarterback you try and be creative and in the kitchen I think you're doing kind of the same thing.

Moon remains involved in football, working as a broadcaster for the Seahawks. And he marvels at the success 40-year-old Brett Favre is enjoying with the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings.

"As you get older the game is easier to play because you just know so much more mentally so you're so on top of things, you're a little step ahead of everything," Moon said. "If anything, the game slows down a little bit for you.

"But this guy has been remarkable. Of all the records he's accomplished I think that (274 consecutive starts) is the most remarkable because in a game that's as physical and violent as football is every week he's there for his football team and that's important."