Moon and Page
Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode | ||
Warren Moon Although Warren Moon was overlooked time and again throughout his career, his perseverance led to an unusually long and extremely successful stint as a quarterback in the National Football league (NFL). In addition to having to fight against the perception that he didn't have what it takes to lead an NFL team, he also had to fight against prejudice in a league that had few black quarterbacks. After being passed over by the NFL, Moon went to Canada and led his team to five Grey Cups before being the subject of a bidding war among NFL teams. He would play professional football for twenty-three years and become the first quarterback to pass for over 60,000 yards in his career. Moon was the first forty-year-old to throw five touchdowns in a game and pass for 400 yards. He is also the oldest player in NFL history to score a touchdown. Although he never accomplished his goal of winning a Super Bowl, Moon's distinguished career earned him the respect of his teammates and a place in the record books. Warren's Website |
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Alan Page Page graduated from Central Catholic High School, in Canton, Ohio, in 1964. He starred in several sports and excelled in football. Page also worked on a construction team that erected the Pro Football Hall of Fame, laying the groundwork for the building where he would one day be immortalized. After high school, Page attended the University of Notre Dame, where he led the school’s football program to a national championship in 1966. That same year, Page was named a college football All-American. Page was presented with one of the 1992 Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA) for achieving personal distinction since his graduation. In 1993 he was inducted into College Football Hall of Fame. In 2005, he was awarded the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award. In 1967, Page participated in the East-West Shrine Game and 25 years later received the \"Babe Hollingbery\" Award for his performance as he was inducted to that game\'s Hall of Fame. Named to the Academic All-American Hall of Fame in 2001 and as such received the Dick Enberg Award. Also a winner of the Walter Camp Alumni of the Year in 1988. In 2002, he was inducted into International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame. He was the 2004 winner of the Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA), which is awarded to graduates from an NCAA institution who earn a varsity letter for athletics and who ultimately become distinguished citizens of national reputation. A bronze of Page is on the just-completed Pro Football Hall of Fame-themed gate at Notre Dame Stadium (Gate C). After graduating from Notre Dame, Page was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, for whom he played from 1967 until 1978. In 1978, Page joined the Chicago Bears, with whom he played through the 1981 season and where he amassed 40 of his career sacks. As a right defensive tackle, he had an unusual 3-point stance, placing his left rather than his right hand on the ground. During Page’s 15-year NFL tenure, the Vikings won an impressive four conference titles. Page was a member of the Vikings\' \"Purple People Eaters,\" a defensive line adept at sacking or hurrying the quarterback. Page played in 218 consecutive games without an absence (215 consecutive in the starting line-up), during which he recovered 22 fumbles, made 148½ sacks (Vikings-108½, Bears-40), and scored three touchdowns (two on fumble recoveries and one on an interception return). He also had three safeties, the second most in NFL history. He set a career high with 18 sacks in 1976 and is unofficially credited with five other seasons of 10 sacks or more. While in the NFL, Page earned All-Pro honors six times and made second-team all-league three additional times. He was voted to nine consecutive Pro Bowls. He was voted All-Conference 11 times, in 1968 and 1969 as All-Western Conference and in 1970 through 1977 and 1980 as an All-National Football Conference. In 1971, Page was named both the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (the first player to be named such) and the AP’s NFL Most Valuable Player. Page was the first defensive player to be named MVP since the award’s inception. Only one other defensive player has ever received the award. In addition, he was voted the NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1973. Page was National Football League Players Association player representative, from 1970 to 1974 and in 1976–1977, and a member of the NFLPA Association Executive Committee from 1972 to 1975. He was named to the Vikings\' 40th Anniversary Team in 2000. Along the way, Page was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week three times: Week 9, 1967; Week 8, 1968; Week 13, 1971. In 1988, Page was further honored by his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was ranked number 34 on The Sporting News\' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Viking player. He received the NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award in 1995 for attaining success in his post-NFL career. Long before Page’s football career came to a close, he was laying the groundwork for his future role as a justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. While still playing for the Vikings, Page attended the University of Minnesota Law School, from which he received a Juris Doctor in 1978. Following graduation, he worked with the law firm Lindquist and Vennum in Minneapolis from 1979 to 1984 outside the football season. In 1985, Page was appointed Special Assistant Attorney General, and was soon thereafter promoted to Assistant Attorney General. In 1992, Page was elected to an open seat as an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, becoming the first African-American to ever serve on that court. He was reelected in 1998 (becoming the biggest vote-getter in Minnesota history), again in 2004, and for a final time in 2010: Minnesota has mandatory retirement for judges at age 70. On January 7, 2009, Page was appointed by Chief Justice Eric Magnuson to select the three-judge panel that heard the election contest brought by Norm Coleman in the 2008 U.S. Senate election. Alan at the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
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