Born November 18, 1956, in Los Angeles, California, Harold Warren Moon was the middle child among six sisters. His father, Harold, a laborer, died of liver disease when Moon was seven years old. His mother, Pat, worked as a nurse, and Moon learned to cook, sew, iron, and housekeep to help care for the family. He decided early that he could play only one sport in high school because he had to work the rest of the year to help his family, choosing football after discovering he could throw a football longer, harder, and straighter than anyone he knew. Moon enrolled at Alexander Hamilton High School and had little playing time until his junior year when he took over as varsity starting quarterback, earning all-city honors as a senior in 1973.
Moon attended West Los Angeles College, where he was a record-setting quarterback as a freshman in 1974. He transferred to the University of Washington, where offensive coordinator Dick Scesniak eagerly recruited the rifle-armed Moon. As a senior in 1977, Moon led the Huskies to the Pac-8 title and a 27-20 upset victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl, earning game MVP honors with two short touchdown runs and a third-quarter twenty-eight-yard touchdown pass to receiver Robert "Spider" Gaines. Despite his collegiate success, Moon went undrafted by the NFL and signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League six weeks before the 1978 NFL Draft.
Moon spent six seasons with Edmonton, winning five consecutive Grey Cups from 1978 to 1982—a CFL record that still stands. He was named Grey Cup MVP twice and in 1982 became the first professional quarterback to pass for 5,000 yards in a season. Strengths included a powerful arm, exceptional accuracy, outstanding leadership, and remarkable durability that allowed him to play twenty-three professional seasons. His 1983 CFL season saw him set league records with 380 completions, 664 attempts, and 5,648 yards, earning CFL Most Outstanding Player honors.
The Houston Oilers signed Moon in 1984, where he became a star. During his spectacular 1990 season, Moon led the NFL with 4,689 passing yards and thirty-three touchdowns, earning NFL Offensive Player of the Year. On December 16, 1990, against Kansas City, he threw for 527 yards—the second-most in a single game in NFL history. Despite the Buffalo Bills' historic thirty-two-point comeback in the 1993 playoffs, Moon's thirty-six completions for 371 yards and four touchdowns set an NFL postseason record.
Moon retired in 2001 with 49,325 NFL passing yards and 291 touchdowns, earning nine Pro Bowl selections. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, becoming the first African-American quarterback and first undrafted quarterback enshrined, and remains the only player in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
