Warren Moon knows of what he speak, and knows all about being underestimated as he went undrafted in the 1978 NFL Draft after a standout college career at the University of Washington. The Hall of Fame quarterback then joined the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos and led them to five consecutive Grey Cup Championships and was named Grey Cup MVP twice.
In 1983, Moon set a CFL record with 5,648 passing yards and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Player. Then the NFL finally came calling and he signed with the Houston Oilers in 1984 and almost immediately took off after six years of toil and work in Canada.
Warren Moon Has a Word of Advice for Browns’ Rookie QB
Moon appeared on the “Up and Adams Show” and addressed Sanders’ predicament. “I think I would tell him … you’re drafted,” Moon said. “You’re in an organization. You got a chance to go in there and make a name for yourself and it’s about how you go about doing it. It’s about how you attack it. There’s nobody there that’s solidified in that job at quarterback right now. Joe Flacco’s in his forties, we don’t know what he has.”
“None of those guys have done anything in this league, so I think the job is wide open for Shedeur,” Moon said referring to Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel. “All he has to do is go in there and put his head down to the grindstone and go after it and be the player he’s been the last two stops he’s been at.”
“The only thing that’s affected him now is he’s not a first round draft pick,” Moon explained. “You use this as fuel though, and this is good fuel for you to just go in there and show what people don’t think you can do.”
When asked about whether Sanders should go to the CFL like Moon did, “I think he’s fine right where he is. I think he’s an NFL player,” Moon said. “Tom Brady was a sixth round draft pick. We look at what happened to him. I wasn’t drafted at all, look at what happened to me. So, it doesn’t matter where you get drafted, it’s how you handle it once you’re drafted. Once you get inside an NFL camp.”
Warren Moon’s advice to Shedeur Sanders:”You can’t act like a cornerback when you’re playing quarterback. Quarterback is a humble position. You’ve got to be respectful, you’ve gotta be a leader, you’ve gotta be the face of the franchise. There’s so much more responsibility that comes along with it. that’s what he has to understand.”
Warren Moon's advice to Shedeur Sanders:
"You can't act like a cornerback when you're playing quarterback. Quarterback is a humble position. You've got to be respectful… that's what he has to understand."@heykayadams | @WMoon1 pic.twitter.com/1Kmnj6RoAO
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) May 2, 2025
Moon went from being told by NFL scouts that he should change positions to the NFL Hall of Fame as a quarterback.
Shedeur, for all that he has endured, is still considered a quarterback, which speaks volumes about the changes in attitude and perception since Moon’s entry into the league.