FanHouse Warren Moon

I'll admit, I was wrong. During the offseason, I wrote here at FanHouse that the Vikings' pursuit of Brett Favre was foolhardy. Between his age and the poor finish to his 2008 season in New York, it seemed too risky to put the Vikings' season in the hands of a 40-year-old quarterback.

Brad Childress' gamble has paid off big-time. Favre is one of the key reasons that Minnesota is battling New Orleans for home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs, and he is the reason Childress is talking contract extension instead of worrying about his job security.

Obviously, Brett Favre isn't the average 40-year-old quarterback. He's having the best season a 40-year-old QB has ever had in the NFL and it's not even close.

Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was diagnosed with six concussions during his 23-year professional career in the CFL and NFL. In fact, there are still 35 minutes of a Pittsburgh Steelers game a decade ago that he can't recall after he suffered a concussion.

Moon, a national spokesman for the Sports Concussion Institute in Los Angeles, is thankful that Florida quarterback Tim Tebow's recovery from his concussion is being closely monitored. Tebow, injured Sept. 26 against Kentucky, returned to practice on a limited basis but still has not been cleared to play in Saturday's game at No. 4 LSU.

"They have so many different ways now how to measure when to put a player back on the field," Moon told FanHouse.

During much of his 23-year Hall of Fame career as a quarterback in the Canadian Football League and the NFL, Warren Moon kept his inner turmoil simmering beneath a poised, polished exterior.

As a trailblazing African-American quarterback, he tackled racism and stereotyping to hone a wildly successful playing career. But Moon never shook the psychological burden of becoming man of his household at age seven when his father died of liver disease, and forever feeling he had to financially provide for a huge family that included his mother, six sisters and other relatives.

NCAA record-setting quarterback Graham Harrell has seen his career take some unthinkable twists during these last nine months.

Who could blame Harrell if he felt cursed?

The former Texas Tech quarterback went from being a serious Heisman Trophy contender to not even being invited to New York. It was thought he might be Mike Leach's breakthrough quarterback and perhaps go in the first or second round of April's NFL Draft, but he never heard his name called during the two-day draft.

It was during Steve McNair's rookie season in 1995 with the Houston Oilers when the comparisons initially surfaced. While their NFL paths crossed just once on the field, Pro Football Hall of Fame member Warren Moon had heard enough, saw enough and talked enough with McNair over the years to realize he was indeed a special player with special talents.

"A lot of the players with the Oilers were calling me his rookie season and saying, 'Man, this guy Steve McNair we just drafted reminds us so much of you,' " Moon told FanHouse Thursday morning.

"His temperament, his personality, he's real soft-spoken. But when he gets on the field, he's a tough guy and he's a hard worker. Steve reminded me a little of myself in the beginning. There were a lot of comparisons between Steve and I in the beginning."

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While the Brett Favre saga seems to be the story that won't end, even if nearly everyone wants it to. Now he's sending shoulder MRIs to the Vikings, and if everything goes well, maybe he'll still consider un-retiring for the second time.

But whether his shoulder is fine or not, the Vikings need to be aware of how unlikely it is that Favre will be the answer to the team's quarterback problems. The reality is that 40-year-old quarterbacks are very lucky if they make it through the season healthy, asking them to lead a team to the playoffs is too much. The Hall of Fame is filled with quarterbacks who retired as 38 and 39-year-olds, but there are very few 40-year-olds who ever suited up.

In the entire history of the NFL, I was unable to find one quarterback 40 years old or older who led his team to the playoffs as the team's primary quarterback. The only one who came close was Warren Moon in 1996. The Vikings were 4-4 in their first eight games, but he missed the second half of the season with a broken collarbone as Brad Johnson led the team to a first-round playoff loss.

ESPN and various media outlets have Brett Favre talking with Vikings coach Brad Childress about something.

Many speculate it's about coming out of retirement. Favre's agent Bus Cook told Fanhouse last week that we could stick a fork in Favre and that the only way the quarterback would return would be to win another championship. If that's the case, the Vikings are not that much better with Favre as their quarterback. The beasts of the NFC are the Giants and Eagles. (But that's another story for another day.)

Favre's returning could embarrass him. The fact is that Favre is an old quarterback. He turns 40 in October and old quarterbacks don't win Super Bowls unless they have plenty of help.

Hall of Fame quarterback and current Seattle Seahawks broadcaster Warren Moon was arrested for suspicion of DUI:

A Medina police officer spotted Moon's vehicle on the Highway 520 Bridge at about 2:10 a.m. Friday and noticed it had expired tabs, said Medina police Lt. Dan Yourkoski.

Moon had a valid Texas driver's license, but his driving privileges have been revoked in Washington, Yourkoski said.

Moon, 51, was arrested and taken to a Kirkland police station, where he was processed and released, Yourkoski said. A report will be sent to the King County Prosecutor's Office for possible charges, he said.

This isn't the first time Moon has had some trouble driving this year. In August, Moon pleaded guilty to negligent driving that was tied to a DUI arrest (he was found to be under the legal limit).

Moon is the first African-American QB inducted in the Hall of Fame. He played for the Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs in his 17-year NFL career.