HOF QB Warren Moon Stops By OutKick The Tailgate, Has No Use For Manning Cast
NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon stopped by this morning on OutKick The Tailgate from Vanderbilt's campus ahead of Vanderbilt's matchup against No. 2 Georgia.
Moon, 64, discussed a variety of topics on his career and changes in today's game, noting the seriousness in which he watches football. Moon pointed to ESPN's ManningCast as something that doesn't fit his needs due to the comedic nature of the show.
"It's a little bit different. I'm a hardcore football guy, so I don't want jokesters in the game, I want to analyze the game," Moon said. "I look at the game a lot differently than most people look at em', I'm really quiet about it and so that's kind of what I want to see when I see a game. I don't want to see a lot of comedy."
With guests such as Pat McAfee and Rob Gronkowski, comedy has certainly been a staple on the ManningCast.
Moon was asked about how the game has changed over time and if he'd have the same success, to which Moon full heartedly agreed.
"It's a more quarterback-receiver league now than ever before when I was in the league. It was more balanced-run the football, you had great running backs and like, Eric Dickerson and Emmitt Smith and all these different guys," Moon said. "Today, the running back has to be able to catch the football like a Christian McCaffrey or the kid down in New Orleans (Alvin Kamara), so it's a different game, no question about it.
"Not only me, but you look at Dan Marino, you look at John Elway, you look at all those guys, they would have thrown for astronomical yards in this type of offense because it's all geared towards the quarterback."
Moon continued, saying that the rules have allowed quarterbacks to play longer at a higher level than they used to.
"You can protect the quarterback better than you've ever protected him before," Moon said. "You can't hit him in the knees, you can't hit him in the head, you can't drive him to the turf. All those things would have been in our favor. And then you got these big receivers running through the secondary.
"They can't be touched after five yards, so they're free to roam and they can't take big hits anymore, so it's a quarterback-receiver league and I would have loved to have played in it."
That applies most perhaps to Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, who is still humming along at 44 years old. Moon joked about using some of Brady's tactics when he was playing and credited his discipline for why Brady is still playing today.
"I should have ate more avocado ice cream when I was playing and maybe I'd still be playing right now," Moon said. "But, he takes great care of his body. His body is like his temple. He trains well in the offseason, and then he went to a super talented football team, I mean he's got four All-Pro receivers."
Moon will be at the Titans and Colts game on Sunday at 1 p.m. for Houston Oilers Reunion Weekend along with roughly 80 former Oilers players.