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84-694: Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former professional football quarterback who played for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Moon also played for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings , Seattle Seahawks , and Kansas City Chiefs . He

168-416: A punt is when the ball is released from the punter's hand and kicked downfield as close to the opponent's end zone as possible without entering it; the kicking team loses possession of the ball after the kick and the receiving team can attempt to advance the ball or call a fair catch. The other scrimmage kick is a field goal attempt. This must be attempted by place kick or (more rarely) drop kick , and if

252-555: A 32-point deficit at that time was the largest comeback victory in NFL history and became known in NFL lore simply as the Comeback . Moon finished the game with 36 completions for 371 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions. His 36 completions was an NFL postseason record. The 1993 season was the Oilers' best with Moon, but was his last with the team. Despite a drama-filled 1–4 start and early struggles from Moon, Houston went 12–4 and won

336-670: A ball goes out of bounds), the actual time it takes for a football game to be completed is typically over three hours in the NFL and slightly under three hours in the CFL. According to 2017 study on brains of deceased gridiron football players, 99% of tested brains of NFL players, 88% of CFL players, 64% of semi-professional players, 91% of college football players, and 21% of high school football players had various stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Other common injuries include injuries of legs, arms and lower back. Wide receiver A forward pass -catching specialist,

420-408: A blocker to protect the left side of right-handed quarterbacks. The end stayed at the end of the offensive line in what today is a tight end position, while the running back - who would line up a yard or so off the offensive line and some distance from the end in a "flank" position - became known as a "flanker". Lining up behind the line of scrimmage gave the flanker two principal advantages. First,

504-456: A difficult adjustment period, but threw for a franchise-record 3,338 yards in his first season in 1984 , but Campbell was just 8–22 (.267) at the helm and did not finish the 1985 season. When new head coach Jerry Glanville found ways to best use Moon's strong arm in 1986 , the team began having success. In the strike-marred 1987 season, the Oilers posted a 9–6 record, their first winning season since 1980 . In his first postseason game in

588-484: A flanker has more "space" between themselves and their opposing defensive cornerback , who can not as easily "jam" them at the line of scrimmage; second, flankers are eligible for motion plays, which allow them to move laterally before and during the snap. Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch is one of the earliest players to successfully exploit the potential of the flanker position as a member of the Los Angeles Rams during

672-674: A free agent in 1997 , made the Pro Bowl , and was named Pro Bowl MVP. He played for them for two seasons. Moon signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs as a backup in 1999 . He played in only three games in two years with the Chiefs and announced his retirement at age 44 in January 2001. His 291st and final touchdown pass was an 8-yard pass to Troy Drayton against the Rams on October 22, 2000,

756-579: A game in which the Chiefs defeated the defending champs , 54–34. Combining his NFL and CFL stats, Moon's numbers are nearly unmatched in professional football annals: 5,357 completions in 9,205 attempts for 70,553 yards and 435 touchdowns. Even if his Canadian Football League statistics are discounted, Moon's NFL career numbers are still exceptional: 3,988 completions for 49,325 yards, 291 touchdown passes, 1,736 yards rushing, and 22 rushing touchdowns. Moon also held individual NFL lifetime records for most fumbles recovered (56) and most fumbles made (162), but this

840-709: A handoff or backward lateral. In Super Bowl XL , Antwaan Randle El , a four-year quarterback at Indiana University , threw a touchdown pass at the wide receiver position playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Seattle Seahawks , the first wide receiver in Super Bowl history to do so, along with Jauan Jennings in Super Bowl LVIII . Wide receivers often also serve on special teams as kick or punt returners , as gunners on coverage teams, or as part of

924-629: A league-record 5,648 yards and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award . However, the season was not as successful for the Eskimos as they finished with an 8–8 record. Having barely made the playoffs (which they would have missed altogether if not for a loss by the Calgary Stampeders to the last place Saskatchewan Roughriders in the last week of the regular season), Moon's Eskimos were throttled in Winnipeg by

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1008-506: A liking to McGill's rugby-style rules and adopted them. In turn, they were used when Harvard and Yale University played their first intercollegiate sports game in 1875, after which the rugby-style Canadian game was adopted by Yale players and spectators from Yale and Princeton University . This version of the game was subsequently played with several other U.S. colleges over the next several years. American football teams and organizations subsequently adopted new rules which distinguished

1092-409: A play in a huddle and freely substitute players to set into a formation , in which the offense must remain perfectly still for at least one second (the formation requirement does not apply to Canadian football). At least half of the players (seven in standard American and Canadian football, four in standard indoor ball) on the offense must line up on the line of scrimmage in this formation, including

1176-464: A quarterback since he found that he could throw a football longer, harder, and straighter than anyone he knew. Moon enrolled at Alexander Hamilton High School , using the address of one of his mother's friends to gain the advantages of a better academic and athletic reputation than his neighborhood high school could offer. Moon had little playing time until his junior year, when he took over as varsity starting quarterback. In Moon's senior season in 1973,

1260-661: A season by reaching exactly 5,000 yards. Edmonton would recover from a 3–5 start to finish the regular season 11–5, and first place in the West Division for the sixth consecutive season. The team qualified for the Grey Cup for the sixth consecutive season, and won the Grey Cup for the fifth consecutive year . Moon was named the Grey Cup Offensive MVP for the second time in his career. In his final CFL season, 1983 , Moon threw for

1344-481: A season. That included throwing for 527 yards against Kansas City on December 16, 1990, the second-most passing yards ever in a single game. The following year, he again led the league in passing yards, with 4,690. At the same time, he joined Marino and Dan Fouts as the only quarterbacks to post back-to-back 4,000-yard seasons. Moon also established new NFL records that season with 655 attempts and 404 completions. In 1992 , Moon played only 11 games due to injuries, but

1428-628: A slightly above-average athlete who lacked either the size, speed, or strength to play other positions. Under new head coach Don James , Washington was 11–11 in Moon's first two seasons as a starter, but as a senior in 1977 , he led the Huskies to the Pac-8 title and a 27–20 upset win in the Rose Bowl over Michigan . Moon was named the game's Most Valuable Player on the strength of two short touchdown runs and

1512-407: A ten-yard penalty against offensive players and a five-yard penalty against defensive ones), and pass interference (when either a receiver or the defending player pushes or blocks the other to prevent them from catching the pass). A team on offense cannot score points as the direct result of a penalty; a defensive foul committed in the team's own end zone, if the penalty is assessed from the spot of

1596-562: A third-quarter 28-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Robert "Spider" Gaines. Despite his collegiate success, Moon was led to believe he would only be a late-round NFL pick and was fearful that would lead to a limited opportunity to make it in the NFL. Six weeks before the NFL draft , Moon signed with the Edmonton Eskimos . He and Tom Wilkinson shared signal-calling duties from 1978 to 1981, winning four consecutive Grey Cups during this span. Moon became Edmonton's No. 1 quarterback midway through

1680-535: Is 60 timed minutes in length, split into four 15-minute quarters. (High school football uses 12-minute quarters, and the general rule is that the younger the players, the shorter the quarters typically are.) Because of the halftime, quarter breaks, time-outs, the minute warnings ( two minutes before the end of a half in the NFL , three minutes in Canadian football ), and frequent stoppages of the game clock (the clock stops, for example, after every incomplete pass and any time

1764-541: Is a family of football team sports primarily played in the United States and Canada. American football , which uses 11 players, is the form played in the United States and the best known form of gridiron football worldwide, while Canadian football , which uses 12 players, predominates in Canada. Other derivative varieties include arena football , flag football and amateur games such as touch and street football . Football

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1848-496: Is an IFAF member. The sport is typically known as simply "football" in the countries where it originated, regardless of the specific variety. In Europe the sport is commonly known as "American football". Various sources use the term "North American football" when discussing the American and Canadian games together, but this term is quite rare. The two sports are also sometimes known as "gridiron football". The name originated with

1932-427: Is awarded one single point . If the team in possession of the ball, at any time, advances (either by carrying or catching) the ball into the opponent's end zone, it is a touchdown , and the team scores six points and a free play known as a try . In a try, a team attempts to score one or two points (rules vary by each league, but under standard rules, a field goal on a try is worth one point while another touchdown

2016-454: Is considered one of the greatest undrafted players in NFL history. Moon began his professional career with the Eskimos in 1978 after not generating interest from NFL teams. His success during his six CFL seasons, five of which ended in Grey Cup victories, resulted in him being signed by the Oilers in 1984. During his 17 NFL seasons, Moon was named Offensive Player of the Year in 1990 after leading

2100-474: Is played at professional , collegiate , high school , semi-professional, and amateur levels. These sports originated in the 19th century out of older games related to modern rugby football , more specifically rugby union football. Early on, American and Canadian football developed alongside (but independently from) each other; the root of the game known as "football" today originates with an 1874 game between Harvard and McGill Universities , following which

2184-859: Is usually called " soccer " in Australian English . The governing body for American football in Australia is Gridiron Australia . Similarly, in the UK American football is known as American football, as "football" is used to refer to soccer . The sport developed from informal games played in North America during the 19th century. Early games had a variety of local rules and were generally similar to modern rugby union and soccer . The earliest recorded instance of gridiron football occurred at University of Toronto's University College in November 1861. Later in

2268-404: Is worth two). At the college and professional levels, the defense can also score on a try, but only on the same scale (thus a botched try the defense returns for a touchdown scores only two points and not six). Kickoffs occur after every touchdown and field goal. If a team is in its own end zone and commits a foul, is tackled with the ball, or bats, fumbles, kicks or throws the ball backward out of

2352-418: The 1980 season . That year, the team won their third consecutive Grey Cup , and Moon won his first Grey Cup Offensive MVP award as Edmonton defeated Hamilton 48–10. In 1981 , Moon started his first year as Edmonton's No. 1 quarterback with Wilkinson, who would retire after the season, as the team's No. 2 quarterback. Moon was moved to the reserve list for Edmonton's game against Ottawa on October 12. During

2436-579: The AFC Central division crown, but lost to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs 28–20 in the divisional round of the playoffs . Moon set a franchise record with Houston for wins with 70, which stood until Steve McNair broke it in 2004, long after the team had become the Tennessee Titans . Moon also left the Oilers as the franchise leader in passing touchdowns, passing yards, pass attempts, and pass completions, all of which still stand today. Moon

2520-568: The Blue Bombers in the West semi-final. In his six years in the CFL, Moon amassed 1,369 completions on 2,382 attempts (57.4 completion percentage) for 21,228 yards and 144 touchdown passes. He also led his team to victory in nine of 10 postseason games. Moon was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Eskimos' Wall of Honour . In 2006, he was ranked fifth on a list of

2604-418: The end . Originally, the ends played on the offensive line , immediately next to the tackles, in a position now referred to as the tight end . By the rules governing the forward pass, ends (positioned at the end of the line of scrimmage) and backs (positioned behind the line of scrimmage) are eligible receivers . Most early football teams used the ends sparingly as receivers, as their starting position next to

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2688-407: The end zone to score a touchdown . Especially fast receivers are typically perceived as "deep threats", while those with good hands and perhaps shifty moves may be regarded as "possession receivers" prized for running crossing routes across the middle of the field, and converting third-down situations. Taller receivers with a height advantage over typically shorter defenders tend to play further to

2772-462: The greatest 50 CFL players presented by Canadian sports network TSN . Moon's decision to enter the NFL touched off a bidding war for his services, won by the Houston Oilers , led by Hugh Campbell , his head coach for his first five seasons in Edmonton. Gifford Nielsen —the starting quarterback in 1983—retired after Moon joined the team, stating that Moon becoming the starter was inevitable. Moon had

2856-406: The western provinces , demanded changes to the game based on the innovations in American football. Over the years, the sport adopted more Americanized rules, though it retained some of its historical features, including a 110-yard (100 m) field, 12-player teams, and three downs instead of four. Around the same time Camp devised the rules for American football, the Canadian game would develop in

2940-503: The "slot" (open space) between the furthest receiver and the offensive line, typically lining up off the line of scrimmage like a flanker. The first use of a slot receiver is often credited to Al Davis , a Gillman assistant who took the concept with him as a coach of the 1960s Oakland Raiders . Other members of the Gillman coaching tree , including Don Coryell and John Madden , brought these progressive offensive ideas along with them into

3024-594: The 1860s, teams from universities were playing each other, leading to more standardized rules and the creation of college football . While several American schools adopted rules based on the soccer rules of the English Football Association , Harvard University held to its traditional "carrying game". Meanwhile, McGill University in Montreal used rules based on rugby union . In 1874, Harvard and McGill organized two games using each other's rules. Harvard took

3108-480: The 1950s. While some teams did experiment with more than two wide receivers as a gimmick or trick play , most teams used the pro set (of a flanker, split end, half back, full back, tight end, and quarterback) as the standard group of ball-handling personnel. An early innovator, coach Sid Gillman used 3+ wide receiver sets as early as the 1960s. In sets that have three, four, or five wide receivers, extra receivers are typically called slot receivers, as they play in

3192-551: The 1970s ), and a distinctive brown leather ball in the shape of a prolate spheroid with pointed ends. The international governing body for the sport is the International Federation of American Football (IFAF); although the organization plays all of its international competitions under American rules, it uses a definition of the game that is broad enough that it includes Canadian football under its umbrella, and Football Canada (the governing body for Canadian football)

3276-571: The 1970s and early 1980s, but it was not until the 1990s that teams began to reliably use three or more wide receivers, notably the " run and shoot " offense popularized by the Houston Cougars of the NCAA and the Houston Oilers of the NFL, and the "K Gun" offense used by the Buffalo Bills . Charlie Joiner , a member of the " Air Coryell " San Diego Chargers teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s,

3360-461: The American school adopted the Canadian school's more rugby-like rules. Over time, Canadian teams adopted features of the American variant of the game and vice versa. Both varieties are distinguished from other football sports by their use of hard plastic helmets and shoulder pads , the forward pass , the system of downs , a number of unique rules and positions , measurement in customary units of yards (even in Canada, which largely metricated in

3444-672: The Crescent Moon Foundation, which provides college scholarships for economically disadvantaged students. Moon also supports various charitable organizations including the United Negro College Fund, Ronald McDonald House, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, American Heart Association, and Cerebral Palsy Foundation. Gridiron football Gridiron football ( / ˈ ɡ r ɪ d aɪ . ər n / GRID -eye-ərn ), also known as North American football, or in North America as simply football ,

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3528-457: The Grey Cup, Moon was struggling and Edmonton was trailing Ottawa 20–0 in the second quarter. At this time, Moon was replaced by Wilkinson. Moon returned in the second half and directed drives for three touchdowns and the game winning field goal with three seconds remaining in the game. Edmonton defeated Ottawa 26–23 to win a CFL record fourth consecutive Grey Cup . In 1982 , Moon became the first professional quarterback to pass for 5,000 yards in

3612-627: The NFL postseason, his five consecutive Grey Cups from 1978 to 1982 remain a CFL record and he was named Grey Cup MVP twice. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, becoming the first African-American quarterback and the first undrafted quarterback to receive the honor. Moon is also the only player inducted to both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame . Born in Los Angeles , California , Moon

3696-504: The NFL, Moon passed for 237 yards and a touchdown in the Oilers' 23–20 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks in the wildcard round of the playoffs . Prior to the 1989 season, Moon signed a five-year, $ 10-million contract extension, which made him the highest-paid player in the NFL at that time. In 1990 , Moon led the league with 4,689 passing yards. He also led the league in attempts (584), completions (362), and touchdowns (33), and tied Dan Marino 's record with nine 300-yard games in

3780-400: The NFL, wide receivers use the numbers 0–49 and 80–89. A "route tree" system typically used in high school and college employs numbers zero through nine, with zero being a "go route" and a nine being a "hitch route" or vice versa. In high school they are normally a part of the play call, but are usually disguised in higher levels of plays. The wide receiver grew out of a position known as

3864-501: The Oilers still managed to achieve a 10–6 record, including a victory over the Buffalo Bills , in the final game of the season. A week later, the Oilers faced the Bills again in the first round of the AFC playoffs. Aided by Moon's 222 passing yards and four touchdowns in the first half, Houston built up a 28–3 halftime lead and increased it to 35–3 when Buffalo quarterback Frank Reich 's first pass of

3948-412: The Year . In every other year it was awarded to either a quarterback or running back. No wide receiver has ever won MVP . Jerry Rice is the leader in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns on the all-time list for receivers, along with being a 3-time SB champion and 10-time All-Pro selection. The wide receiver's principle role is to catch forward passes from the quarterback . On passing plays,

4032-415: The ball carrier at any time the ball is in play, provided they do not grab the face mask of the helmet or make helmet-to-helmet contact when doing so. At any time, the player with the ball can attempt a backward, or lateral, pass to any other player in order to keep the ball in play; this is generally rare. Any player on defense can, at any time, attempt to intercept a forward pass in flight, at which point

4116-405: The ball carrier is tackled, or, if the ball is kicked out of bounds , let the ball go dead on its own (the last case usually happens when the ball is kicked all the way into or through the opponent's end zone, resulting in a touchback and the ball being brought several yards out of the end zone to begin play). A kicking team can, under special circumstances, attempt to recover its own kick , but

4200-401: The defense, as in an end-around or reverse . All-time NFL receiving yardage leader Jerry Rice also rushed the ball 87 times for 645 yards and 10 touchdowns in his 20 NFL seasons. In even rarer cases, receivers may pass the ball as part of an outright trick play. Like a running back, a receiver may legally pass the ball so long as they receive it behind the line of scrimmage, in the form of

4284-399: The end of a quarter.) After the halftime break, a new kickoff occurs. Whichever team has more points at the end of the game is declared the winner; in the event of a tie, each league has its own rules for overtime to break the tie. Because of the nature of the game, pure sudden-death overtimes have been abolished at all levels of the game as of 2012. At all adult levels of the game, a game

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4368-433: The field of play through the same end zone, the defense scores a safety , worth two points. After a try, safety or field goal, the team that had possession of the ball goes back to the middle of the field and kicks the ball off to their opponent, and play continues as it did in the beginning of the game. Play continues until halftime . (Each team switches their side of the field with the other halfway through each half, at

4452-572: The football team reached the city playoffs and Moon was named to the all-city team. Moon attended two-year West Los Angeles College and was a record-setting quarterback as a freshman in 1974, but only a handful of four-year colleges showed interest in signing him. However, Offensive coordinator Dick Scesniak of the University of Washington in Seattle , was eager to sign the rifle-armed Moon. Adamant to play quarterback, Moon considered himself to be perhaps

4536-405: The foul, places the ball at the one-yard line. In contrast, a defensive team can score points as a direct result of a penalty; if the offense commits a foul under the same scenario, the defensive team receives two points and a free kick. In all other circumstances (except for the open-ended and extremely rare unfair act clause), a penalty cannot exceed more than half the distance to the end zone. If

4620-445: The game from rugby. Many of these early innovations were the work of Walter Camp , including the sport's line of scrimmage and the system of downs . Another consequential change was the adoption of the forward pass in 1906, which allowed the quarterback to throw the ball forward over the line of scrimmage to a receiver. Canadian football remained akin to rugby for decades, though a progressive faction of players, chiefly based in

4704-619: The hands team during onside kicks . Devin Hester , from the Chicago Bears , touted as one of the greatest kick and punt returners of all time, was listed as a wide receiver (after his first season, during which he was listed as a cornerback). Five-time All-Pro and ten-time Pro Bowl member Matthew Slater was a gunner for the New England Patriots who was likewise listed as a wide receiver, however he had only one reception in his career. In

4788-433: The intent of drawing defenders away from the intended action. Well-rounded receivers are noted for skill in both roles; Hines Ward in particular received praise for his blocking abilities while also becoming the Pittsburgh Steelers ' all-time leading receiver and one of 13 in NFL history through 2009 with at least 1,000 receptions. Occasionally wide receivers are used to run the ball, usually in plays seeking to surprise

4872-405: The kicked ball passes through the goal set at the edge of the opponent's end zone, the team scores three points. (Four-point field goals have been offered in a few variations of the game under special rules, but the NFL, college and high school football only offer three-point field goals.) In Canada, any kick that goes into the end zone and is not returned, whether it be a punt or a missed field goal,

4956-492: The league in passing yards and passing touchdowns. He led the NFL in passing yards twice, while also receiving nine Pro Bowl selections. Moon spent 10 seasons with the Oilers, whom he led to seven playoff appearances, and made an eighth postseason run with the Vikings before retiring in 2000. At the time of his retirement, Moon held several all-time professional gridiron football passing records . Although relatively unsuccessful in

5040-447: The line), who must catch the ball before it touches the ground. The play stops when a player with the ball touches any part of their body other than hand or foot to the ground, runs out of the boundaries of the field, is obstructed from making further forward progress, or a forward pass hits the ground without being caught (in the last case, the ball returns to the spot it was snapped). To stop play, players on defense are allowed to tackle

5124-448: The offensive side of the ball, typically on the line of scrimmage, and are positioned on the periphery of the formation. They are often split out wide from the offensive line, hence the name "wide" receiver. The primary objective of a wide receiver is to catch passes from the quarterback and gain yardage. Wide receivers must possess a combination of speed, agility, and hands to excel in their role. They must be able to quickly accelerate off

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5208-407: The offensive tackles at the end of the offensive formation often left them in heavy traffic with many defenders around. By the 1930s, some teams were experimenting with spreading the field by moving one end far out near the sideline, drawing the defense away from running plays and leaving them more open on passing ones. These "split ends" became the prototype for what has evolved into being called today

5292-425: The opponent. Whether this yardage is measured from the original spot of the ball before the play, the spot of the illegal action, or the end of the play depends on the individual foul. The most common penalties include false start (when an offensive player jumps to begin the play before the ball is snapped, a five-yard penalty), holding (the grabbing of a player other than the ball carrier to obstruct their progress;

5376-409: The outside and run deep more often, while shorter ones tend to play inside and run more routes underneath the top of the defense. A wide receiver may block theirs or another's defender, depending on the type of play being run. On standard running plays they will block their assigned defender for the running back . Particularly in the case of draws and other trick plays, they may run a pass route with

5460-464: The penalty would be less advantageous than the result of the actual play, then the team not committing the penalty can decline it. In order to keep play moving, the offense must make a certain amount of progress (10 yards in most leagues) within a certain number of plays (3 in Canada, 4 in the United States), called downs . If the offense does indeed make this progress, a first down is achieved, and

5544-472: The previous play, and a play clock is kept to enforce the measure.) Once the ball is snapped, the play has commenced, and the offense's goal is to continue advancing the ball toward their opponent's end zone . This can be done either by running with the ball or by a rule unique to football known as the forward pass . In a forward pass, a player from behind the line of scrimmage throws the ball to an eligible receiver (another back or one player on each end of

5628-400: The receiver attempts to avoid, outmaneuver, or simply outrun the cornerbacks or safeties typically defending them. If the receiver becomes open on their pass route , the quarterback may throw a pass to them. The receiver needs to successfully catch the ball without it touching the ground (known as a completion ) and then run with the ball as far downfield as possible, hoping to reach

5712-407: The rules of the game make it very difficult to do so reliably, and so this tactic is usually only used as a surprise or desperation maneuver. At this point, play from scrimmage begins. The team in possession of the ball is on offense and the opponent is on defense . The offense is given a set amount of time (up to forty seconds, depending on the governing body), during which the teams can set up

5796-468: The same way (but separately) from the American game; the Burnside rules were instrumental in establishing many of the rules for the modern game. The best NFL players are among the highest paid athletes in the world. This is a minimal description of the game in general, with elements common to all or almost all variants of the game. For more specific rules, see each code's individual articles. Prior to

5880-414: The snapper, who handles the ball before play commences; the rest can (and almost always do) line up behind the line. Neither the offense nor the defense can cross the line of scrimmage before the play commences. Once the formation is set, the snapper snaps the ball to one of the players behind him. (A snapper must snap the ball within 20 to 25 seconds of the official setting the ball back into position after

5964-410: The sport's once-characteristic playing field : the original American football and Canadian football fields were marked by a series of parallel lines along both the width and length of the field, which produced a grid pattern resembling a cross-hatched cooking gridiron . The ball would be snapped in the grid in which it was downed on the previous play. By 1920, the grid system was abandoned in favor of

6048-405: The start of a game, a coin toss determines which team will decide if they want to kick off the ball to their opponent, or receive the ball from their opponent. Each team lines up on opposite halves of the field, with a minimum ten yards of space between them for the kickoff. The team receiving the ball can make a fair catch (which stops the play immediately), catch the ball and run it back until

6132-446: The system of yard lines and hash marks used today. The International Federation of American Football (IFAF), uses "American football" inclusive of Canadian football and other varieties. In Australia, American football is often referred to as "gridiron" or (in more formal contexts) "American football", as " football " usually refers to Australian rules football , rugby league or rugby union , similar to how association football

6216-418: The team gains possession; they can also gain possession by recovering a fumble or stripping the ball away from the ball carrier (a "forced fumble"). A typical play can last between five and twenty seconds. If any illegal action happens during the play, then the results of the previous play are erased and a penalty is assessed, forcing the offending team to surrender between five and fifteen yards of field to

6300-456: The team gets 3 or 4 more plays to achieve another 10 yards. If not, the offense loses possession to their opponent at the spot where the ball is. More commonly, however, the team on offense will, if they have a minimal chance of gaining a first down and have only one play left to do it ( fourth down in the U.S., third down in Canada), attempt a scrimmage kick . There are two types of scrimmage kick:

6384-441: The third quarter was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. The Bills stormed back with five unanswered second-half touchdowns to take a 38–35 lead with time running out in the final period. Moon managed to lead the Oilers on a last-second field goal drive to tie the game at 38 and force overtime, but threw an interception in the extra period that set up Buffalo kicker Steve Christie 's game-winning field goal. The Bills' rally from

6468-454: The wide receiver is one of the fastest players on the field alongside cornerbacks and running backs . One on either extreme of the offensive line is typical, but several may be employed on the same play. Through 2022 only four wide receivers, Jerry Rice (in 1987 and 1993), Michael Thomas (in 2019), Cooper Kupp (in 2021), and Justin Jefferson (in 2022), have won Offensive Player of

6552-459: The wide receiver. Don Hutson , who played college football at Alabama and professionally with the Green Bay Packers , was the first player to exploit the potential of the split end position. As the passing game evolved, a second de facto wide receiver was added by employing a running back in a pass-catching role rather than splitting out the "blind-side" end, who was typically retained as

6636-513: Was elected in his first year of eligibility. The Tennessee Titans retired Moon's number at halftime on October 1, 2006, in a game against the Dallas Cowboys . Moon won his first Super Bowl ring in 2014 as a broadcaster for the Seahawks. Moon has mentored Cam Newton , the first overall pick of the 2011 NFL draft , alluding to their common experiences as prominent African-American quarterbacks. He

6720-516: Was surpassed by Brett Favre in 2010. Moon was in the top five all-time when he retired for passing yards, passing touchdowns, pass attempts, and pass completions. Moon was named to nine Pro Bowls (1988–1995, 1997). He worked as a broadcaster for the Seattle Seahawks on both TV and radio until 2017. Moon was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, becoming both the first Canadian Football Hall of Fame player, first undrafted quarterback, and first African-American quarterback honored; he

6804-773: Was suspended indefinitely from his sportscaster position after he was sued in December 2017 for sexual harassment. Moon remains statistically one of the best players ever for the Oilers/Titans franchise. As of 2019's NFL off-season, Moon still held at least 37 Titans franchise records, including: In 1981, Moon married Felicia Hendricks, whom he had known since they were 16 years old. They had three children together and divorced in 2001. Moon married his second wife Mandy Ritter in 2005. They had one child and are currently separated. Moon currently lives in Redmond, Washington . In 1989, he launched

6888-535: Was the first "slot receiver" to be his team's primary receiver. Wide receivers generally hit their peak between the ages of 23 and 30, with about 80 percent of peak seasons falling within that range according to one study. The designation for a receiver separated from the main offensive formation varies depending on how far they are removed from it and whether they begin on or off the line of scrimmage. The three principal designations are "wide receiver"/"split end", "flanker", and "slot back": Wide receivers line up on

6972-415: Was the middle child amongst six sisters. His father, Harold, was a laborer and died of liver disease when Moon was seven years old. His mother, Pat, was a nurse , and Warren learned to cook, sew, iron and housekeep to help take care of the family. He decided early on that he could play only one sport in high school because he had to work the rest of the year to help the family. Moon chose to play football as

7056-461: Was traded to the Minnesota Vikings after the season, where he passed for over 4,200 yards in each of his first two seasons, but missed half of the 1996 season with a broken collarbone . The Vikings' starting quarterback job was given to Brad Johnson and Moon was released after he refused to take a $ 3.8-million pay cut to serve as Johnson's backup. Moon signed with the Seattle Seahawks as

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