MOON OVER CANTON: HE WAS SHOOTING FOR THE STARS DESPITE ROADBLOCKS, MOON WAS DETERMINED TO BE A QB.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

DETROIT - As Saturday's election for the Pro Football Hall of Fame draws nearer, Warren Moon acknowledges that he gets increasingly anxious. For someone who is used to having the ball in his hands during his 23 years as a professional quarterback, he feels unusually helpless.

``As a quarterback, you tend to be in control of your environment,'' said Moon, a Los Angeles native who is also here as the Seahawks' radio analyst. ``Now it's out of your control.''

Moon is among 15 finalists for this year's class, which includes former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, former Raiders coach John Madden and the late Packers defensive lineman Reggie White.

If elected, Moon would be the first black quarterback in the Hall of Fame. It would also be one of the few times since he first picked up a football that he has had doors opened for him.

Usually, he's had to keep knocking.

``It was tough trying to play the position,'' said Moon, who would also become the first undrafted quarterback inducted. ``At each level, I always ran into some type of road block. The time that I came up playing quarterback as a black wasn't fashionable.''

Moon grew up playing youth football in Baldwin Hills, a teammate of Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton in a program that has produced a number of other pros, such as Wendell Tyler, Butch Johnson and Keyshawn Johnson.

On the ``B'' team as a sophomore at Hamilton High, Moon played only when his team was behind. When he graduated from high school, the only schools interested in letting him play quarterback were small ones, such as Cal Poly Pomona, San Jose State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Some Pacific-10 Conference schools were interested in him, but as a defensive back.

``I told them, don't waste your time,'' Moon said. ``I was a quarterback. That's all I had played since I was 10 years old. I knew I had all the tools. I was a good athlete that played quarterback, but I wasn't a good enough athlete to play defense. I knew that. Plus, I'm a pretty stubborn guy.''

So, with the encouragement of his high school coach, Jack Epstein, who was heading to West L.A. College, Moon followed him and waited for a better opportunity. It came the next season when newly hired Washington coach Don James offered him a scholarship.

Moon won the starting job, but the Huskies struggled to 6-5 and 5-6 seasons, then got off to a 1-3 start in 1977.

``I experienced a lot of booing, a lot of racial stuff,'' Moon said. ``Buddies of mine would get into heated arguments and fisticuffs. There were some tough days.''

Moon's perseverance paid off. Washington rallied to reach the Rose Bowl for the first time in 15 years and Moon concluded his career a hero, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for another in a 27-20 upset of Michigan in the Rose Bowl. He was named MVP of the game.

Still, there was little NFL interest.

Leigh Steinberg, then a young attorney and fellow Hamilton alum whose father had been the principal at the school, figured Moon would be better off heading to the Canadian Football League, where he could refine his skills and win over the skeptics south of the border.

In six years, Moon won five Grey Cup titles with the Edmonton Eskimos.

``Part of me felt like, screw this. I'm happy, people aren't judging me by my skin color. It was more relaxed,'' Moon said of Canada. ``Then we won so much it wasn't a challenge. I'd always watch NFL games on TV and think I could do what those guys are doing. In the back of my mind I'd wonder how good was I really? The only way to find out is to play against the best.''

Moon's timing couldn't have been more exquisite. Steinberg had structured his contract so that he would be a free agent after the 1983 season, just as the USFL was gearing up for its second season.

Since Moon hadn't been drafted by the NFL, no team held his rights, leaving three leagues to vie for him.

``We went on a tour of the United States,'' said Steinberg, now a business partner with Moon. ``(Houston owner) Bud Adams told him he might give him some oil wells. (Saints owner) John Meachem took him out on a sail boat and told him this city can be yours. When he got to New York, one of the headlines was 'Giants shoot for the Moon.' ''

In the end, Moon narrowed his choices to Seattle and Houston. Seattle was where he had starred in college and the Seahawks had just reached the AFC Championship game. Houston was coming off a 2-14 season, but had just hired his coach in Edmonton, Hugh Campbell.

Both offered the same contract, $5.55 million over five years. The difference was Houston offered $4.5 million of it up front, as a signing bonus.

Gradually, the Oilers ascended as they rebuilt their run-and-shoot offense around Moon, and by 1990 they appeared on the brink of becoming perennial Super Bowl contenders.

That promise went unfulfilled, however, with a series of excruciating playoff defeats, including the infamous loss at Buffalo in 1992 when the Oilers blew a 35-3 lead and lost in overtime, 41-38.

``(It) still boggles my mind,'' said Moon, who threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns in that game, along with the interception that set up the game-winning field goal. ``That was probably the one thing I didn't accomplish. Every player wants to be a part of a championship team. I was no different. I knew all those teams weren't good enough, but the last two in Houston ... I thought we had a chance to go to the Super Bowl. That was very disappointing.''

Moon was chosen to nine Pro Bowls, and of the 23 quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame, he has thrown for more yards than anyone but John Elway and Dan Marino, and only those two and Fran Tarkenton have thrown for more touchdowns than Moon.

``It's not something that was a goal, you don't think about that when you start playing,'' Moon said. ``But as you get older, when you've had some productive years, it starts to mean something.

``The closer you get, as you're asked more about it, it becomes a reality. That's why I feel so helpless right now. I'm used to having the ball in my hands.''

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Former NFL star Warren Moon would be the first black quarterback in the Hall of Fame if he is elected on Saturday.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press