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Warren Moon did not make his bones as a Seahawks. He played just two seasons in Seattle after spending a lot of his career with the then-Houston Oilers. But in one of his two years with the Seahawks in 1997, Moon made it to the Pro Bowl. So his seasons with Seattle were not necessarily just him finishing out his career.

Moon was important to football for a number of reasons. The most important one may have been he proved that African-American quarterbacks can be true drop-back passers. Doug Williams showed that an African-American quarterback could win a Super Bowl. Moon showed that an African-American quarterback could be consistently great for many years.

Moon played college football in Seattle as well with the Washington Huskies. After college, and before the NFL was really accepting of African-American quarterbacks, Moon played for six seasons in the CFL. He was so dominating in those years that the Oilers took a chance they would not regret by bringing Moon to Houston.

In today’s NFL there are several African-American quarterbacks who are excellent, with Seattle’s own Russell Wilson among them. It is a bit hard to imagine that the NFL not too long ago seemed to prefer African-American players to play nearly any other position besides quarterback, but it was so and Moon helped changed that.

In 1997, Moon’s first year of two years in Seattle, he threw for 3,678 yards and 25 touchdowns. His passing yards for game of 245.2 led the league. He was named to his ninth and final Pro Bowl for his production that season.