WARREN MOON

My biggest hero was Roman Gabriel, who was the QB of the Rams, and Roger Staubach. Those were the two guys I tired to emulate when I was little.

There are so many bad influences out there. I don't care if a kid is rich or poor, if he lives in a million-dollar house or the ghetto, he is going to find some sick things on the street. And if we don't clean it up soon, we're all going to pay the price.

It was about being wanted, it was about winning, and it was about my passion for the game. I just loved it. I absolutely loved to compete and to step out onto that football field with my teammates.

That's the one regret I have in all the years that I've played professional sports, that I didn't win a championship in the N.F.L. And that's why you play on any level of team sports: you want to win a championship as part of a team.

When I was coming up as a kid, there were programs that kept me out of trouble and on the straight and narrow in South Central Los Angeles, and I always felt that when I got to a stage where I could provide similar opportunities to kids then I would do that.

When people talk about the great quarterbacks, it's almost exclusively the guys who have won Super Bowls. There have been some very good ones who hardly get mentioned because they never won the big one. I don't know if that's fair, but that's the way it is.

I never thought I would be the oldest quarterback in the National Football League at one point, not in a million years. I never thought I would play as long as I did, either, seventeen years from start to finish, with stops in Houston, Minnesota, Seattle, and Kansas City.

My legacy isn't about what I did playing football, but how I use the opportunities that came from playing football.

In football, it's the ultimate team sport. You have to have good people around you as a quarterback for things to happen.

Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and I used to argue for hours about who the best athletes are. I thought football players were better overall.

Kids tend to look up to sports figures and entertainers, probably more than they should, but I've tried to use that in a positive way.

My biggest hero was Roman Gabriel, who was the QB of the Rams, and Roger Staubach. Those were the two guys I tired to emulate when I was little.

It was about being wanted, it was about winning, and it was about my passion for the game. I just loved it. I absolutely loved to compete and to step out onto that football field with my teammates.

When I was coming up as a kid, there were programs that kept me out of trouble and on the straight and narrow in South Central Los Angeles, and I always felt that when I got to a stage where I could provide similar opportunities to kids then I would do that.

In football, it's the ultimate team sport. You have to have good people around you as a quarterback for things to happen.

I'm about a 160, 170 bowler so I feel like I'm pretty good - I'm average, but I don't stink, you know?

Even though my mother had told me growing up that, 'If you win, nobody cares what color you are,' that wasn't necessarily true in the N.F.L.

I love basketball players for what they do for their size - so graceful.

I never thought I would be the oldest quarterback in the National Football League at one point, not in a million years. I never thought I would play as long as I did, either, seventeen years from start to finish, with stops in Houston, Minnesota, Seattle, and Kansas City.

Throughout my career, I was never able to relax; I always had to go on the field with another responsibility. I felt like I was playing, not just for my team, but for my race.

There are so many bad influences out there. I don't care if a kid is rich or poor, if he lives in a million-dollar house or the ghetto, he is going to find some sick things on the street. And if we don't clean it up soon, we're all going to pay the price.

I've always tried to lend my support to worth while causes, and I feel you should use your celebrity to help with worldwide causes and help them gain exposure.

When people talk about the great quarterbacks, it's almost exclusively the guys who have won Super Bowls. There have been some very good ones who hardly get mentioned because they never won the big one. I don't know if that's fair, but that's the way it is.

Basketball players want contact to get a foul called. Slaps on the wrist and bumps on the shoulder are big time to them, and they don't like that. In football, you get that all the time. The whole mental makeup is different.

To me, being in your prime means playing your best and feeling your best, too.

I'm proud of the fact that besides being known as a successful former football player, I've also worked hard to establish myself as a successful businessman, network broadcaster, sports & entertainment executive and philanthropist.

That's the one regret I have in all the years that I've played professional sports, that I didn't win a championship in the N.F.L. And that's why you play on any level of team sports: you want to win a championship as part of a team.

Quarterback is not a position that you come in having not played it your whole life.

The CFL made me a more versatile QB because of all the things you had to do once you got on the field. And if I wasn't as versatile as I was, I wouldn't have been as successful in all the different offenses that I was in, in the NFL.

My legacy isn't about what I did playing football, but how I use the opportunities that came from playing football.

Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and I used to argue for hours about who the best athletes are. I thought football players were better overall.

That was probably one of the things that if I look back at my career and say what is something I would try and do a little bit differently, I’d try and be a little bit more loose playing the game. Have a little more fun doing it.

I was always geared towards either wanting to finish number one or be number one as far as the best player that I could be, or be the best player at my position in the league. I wanted that to be a constant reminder to my teammates that they looked to their leader who is wearing that number, this is what you should strive for as well.

Sportsmanship is making sure you have respect for the guy you're playing across from.