“If It Was Oilers, I’d Never Give It Away”: Warren Moon Reveals Why It Was Easier For Him To Unretire His Jersey For Cam Ward

There are 32 teams in the NFL today, and nearly a third are franchises that have moved cities at least once in their history. When some move, they retain the team identity, but once in a while, when a team relocates, they come up with a whole new branding scheme. That’s what happened when the Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee.

After the move in 1997, they were renamed the Tennessee Titans and given a new logo, team colors, and uniforms. It was almost like a whole new franchise. Nevertheless, players who were all-time greats for the Oilers could still get their jerseys retired upon the franchise’s relocation to Nashville. One of those was legendary quarterback Warren Moon.

Moon played his best NFL years for the Oilers from 1984-1993, and when he went into the Hall of Fame as a second-ballot guy in 2006, he went in as an Oiler. The same year, the Titans retired his No. 1 jersey. However, with Cam Ward, who wore No. 1 in college—all but certain to go No. 1 overall to the Titans in this year’s draft, the youngster made a plea to Moon several weeks before his landing in Tennessee was even official. Moon acquiesced in the end, but it took some thinking.

“It was something I had thought about for a number of weeks, when Cam first approached me about it. And I told him I’d think about it. I went and I talked to the owner, Amy Strunk, about what she thought about it, and then I made my decision. And basically I made that decision off of, I’ve had that number for like 50 years, right? From the time I was 18 years until here I am today. And Cam’s had that number for about the last 4-5 years when he was at Washington State.”

Many have compared this situation to Lawrence Taylor rebuffing Abdul Carter, who asked him to unretire his No. 56 with the New York Giants. However, there are a few differences. The first is that, while Moon is a top 10-15 QB all-time, L.T. might be the best defensive player ever. Period. Secondly, Cam Ward actually wore No. 1 in college, while Carter did not wear the No. 56 he is after.

Finally—and most importantly, as Moon pointed out—Moon sees a difference between his No. 1 Oilers jersey and Ward’s No. 1 Titans jersey. While they are the same number and same franchise technically, there is a separation there that made it easier for Moon to give it up.

“I looked at it as, my Houston Oiler No. 1 will never be worn again. He’s gonna wear the Tennessee Titans No. 1, and he has a chance to start a legacy with that number with the Tennessee Titans, which I’m a member of as part of the organization. So I just thought it was the right time to do it. And he can create his own legacy just like I did, and hopefully he can surpass my legacy.”

Moon also said that when Ward first asked him, his first inclination was to say no. Thinking on it more, however, made him warm to the idea. Kay Adams asked if his decision would’ve been different if they were still the Oilers and not the Titans. To which Moon responded: “If it was the Oilers, I would have never gave it away.”

He also pointed out that, unlike Lawrence Taylor, who played his entire career for the Giants, Moon bounced around a bit in the NFL. He didn’t have quite the same unbroken connection with the Oilers that L.T. had with Big Blue.

While he was no L.T., Warren Moon was a darn good football player. He started out in the CFL for five years, winning five straight Grey Cups. Moon then graduated to the NFL, where he played another 17 years. He was a nine-time Pro Bowler who led the league in passing twice. And when all was said and done, Moon was top five in yards, touchdowns, completions, and attempts in NFL history when he retired.

And if you combine his CFL and NFL numbers together (he is also the only man to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of both leagues), you get a career that was completely unprecedented and still unmatched in football history.