Top 10 Washington Huskies Quarterbacks since 1970
Herb Nightengale
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#2 Warren Moon 1975-77
Whether Warren Moon is the top quarterback or not at Mountlake, he is undoubtedly one of the best known. James made a wised decision for his first starting quarterback at Washington.
Moon was an African-American quarterback at a time when African Americans weren’t seen as major college quarterback material. Needless to say, he didn’t generate much interest from big-time schools when he graduated from high school. So, Moon started his career at a Junior College in his hometown, West Los Angeles College.
UW wasn’t very good his first two seasons, going 11-11. Moon wasn’t that great either. In 19 games, he completed just 43.4% of his passes for 1,693 yards with 8 touchdowns and 10 picks. But things were about to change.
1977 was Moon’s senior season, and both he and the Huskies kicked it up a notch. Washington went 8-4, winning the Pac-8 Championshinship and upsetting #4 Michigan 27-20 in the Rose Bowl (Moon was the MVP).
For his part, Moon was electric. He had a combined 1,850 passing and rushing yards with 17 total touchdowns.
When he left Washington, only Sonny Sixkiller was above him in passing. As all football fans know, Moon went on to have a stellar 23-year professional career. After going undrafted by the NFL, he went north to Canada, winning five Grey Cups in six seasons with Edmonton.
Moon then joined the NFL in 1984 and quickly made up for lost time. His 49,325 passing yards are 13th all-time, and 291 touchdowns rank 16th. In 2006, he was enshrined in the Professional Football Hall of Fame.