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• "'No regrets' for years as an Eskimo--Moon"
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NFL Hall of Fame quarterback weighs in on how the fans in Philadelphia will react to Michael Vick's return. (1:49)
 

Full interview. (12:08)
 

[Begin video clip]

Michael Vick: The first day I walked into prison and they slammed that door, I knew the magnitude of the decisions that I made and the poor judgment and what I allowed to happen to the animals. And it's no way of explaining the hurt and the guilt that I felt, and that was the reason I cried so many nights. And that put it all into perspective.

[End video clip]

Tavis: Michael Vick Sunday night in an interview with James Brown on "60 Minutes." For more on the Vick situation, I'm pleased to be joined now by Warren Moon. In 2006 he became the first, and at this point the only, African American quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He now covers the NFL on TV and radio with the Seattle Seahawks - Seattle Seahawks, that is. His new book is called -

Warren Moon: Yes.

Tavis: How could I mess that up? (Laughter) The new book is called "Never Give Up on Your Dream: My Journey." Warren Moon, always good to see you, man.

Moon: Always great to see you too, Tavis.

Tavis: I'm glad to have you on. Let me start with Michael Vick and I'll get right into the text. What did you make of what Michael had to say last night? How'd he come across to you?

Moon: I thought he came across very well. I thought he came across showing remorse. He apologized for a lot of the different things that he did. I think that's what people wanted to see. And then James Brown asked him the tough questions that I think people wanted to hear the answers of, and I think he gave good answers for those questions.

He talked about how tough it was for him to say this type of news, that he was going to prison for the things that he had done to his young kids. I can imagine how tough that was, to tell your young kids some of the things that you had done, and those things are tough.

Tavis: Remorseful - I heard you say you thought he was. Believable, yes or no?

Moon: The proof is in the pudding. I think that's going to come in time. I don't know if you can go by an interview, whether - people are talking about was he coached or not. Of course you're going to be coached, because I get coached before I go to see the media after a game. They tell you what you're kind of going to be asked, and what some of your answers should maybe be.

So yeah, for him to be coached, of course. But the proof is going to be in the pudding whether he goes out and does the things that he talked about, whether he's going to try and make a difference as far as dogfighting is concerned. He's going to keep himself on the straight and narrow as far as the way he leads his life. And then, of course, on the football field - is he going to do the things he needs to do to be the best football player he can be?

Tavis: To your point now about his play on the football field, before I get to the play, and we'll talk about whether or not he's ready after a few years of almost being out of the game, I was in Philadelphia the day that Vick made the announcement. I was going to Philadelphia for some appearances, I get off the plane, and it's on and popping in Philadelphia. (Laughter) Because Vick has just given his live press conference, and I'm Philadelphia all weekend.

So I was in Philly and I love Philly, but I was in the thick of it and just watching and listening and reading the back and forth and the fans. Some fans, I've been a life-long Eagles fan, I'm giving up my tickets. The dogs can't play again, why should he play again?

Moon: Right, right.

Tavis: And then of course the other side - a lot of folk embracing Michael Vick, glad he's with the Eagles. But I'm in Philadelphia catching all of this and I'm thinking even before you get to whether or not he can perform on the field, I ask you now, Warren Moon, how is he going to deal with the reaction in the stands?

And I'm not even talking about on the road. I'm talking about in Philadelphia, where they booed Santa Claus, where they booed Kobe Bryant when he went back - he's from Lower Merion. How is he going to handle this in Philadelphia?

Moon: Well, I think he'll handle it. I think he just knows as a quarterback, first of all, you got to have that tough skin. You got to have big shoulders, and he, I think, understands that this stuff is going to happen and it's going to be a few weeks there where people's emotions are still going to be venting as far as when he goes out in the field or when he walks out of that tunnel.

But I think he can answer a lot of that by the way he plays, and as long as he plays well in Philadelphia, he'll start to make acceptance. Now on the road, I don't think that's going to happen as quickly. He's going to have to - first of all, he's the opponent, so when he goes out in the opponent's field they're not going to like him anyway, whether he killed a dog or not.

And then the fact that he's got this behind him as well, this type of baggage, well, they're going to let him know about that. And that's one of the things they're going to keep trying to harp at him and try and intimidate him with those type of rants and those type of taunts.

Tavis: I assume - I don't want to make an assumption, but I'm assuming for the moment until you correct me that you think he does deserve another chance to play, though.

Moon: I really do. I think anybody who goes to prison and does what they're supposed to do and comes out and lives their life the right way deserves a second chance. That's what rehabilitation is all about. If that was the case, Michael Vick, if he doesn't deserve a second chance, then what prisoner does that comes out of prison?

So you want to try and rehabilitate people. They don't always do the greatest job of that when a lot of guys come out of prison because a lot of criminals end up going back and becoming repeat offenders. But I don't think that Michael Vick is a criminal. I just think he did something that was very wrong and he understands that now, and I don't think he'll go back down that path again.

Now, if he does something else, that's totally different. But I don't think he'll go back down the dogfighting path again.

Tavis: How much respect do you have for Tony Dungy for putting himself on the line this way?

Moon: He really, really, really did. But he's been working with ex-prisoners for a long time, as far as helping them with that rehabilitation process and getting acclimated back into society. So this is nothing different - it's just you're dealing with a more high-profile player in Michael Vick.

So he did put himself on the line because he is out there and a lot of that responsibility is going to be put on his shoulders if Michael fails again, but that's Tony Dungy. That's the kind of person he is.

Tavis: Tony Dungy, of course, former coach of the Indianapolis Colts, the first African American head coach to win in the Super Bowl.

I want to go to the book now and I want to start with a parallel. Thankfully, you never got caught up in a dogfighting scandal or anything anywhere near like that in your career, but there was a line that you had to walk as an African American quarterback, not being accepted.

Here you are now, you're the only player in the Canadian and NFL halls of fame, and the only Black quarterback, as I said, to be in our hall of fame. Tell me about the ugly side, the darker side of being a Black quarterback when you were back in the day.

Moon: Well, it was just a lot of people - first of all, they didn't want to accept the fact that African Americans could even play the position, so there were a lot of stigmas out there, a lot of stereotypes about it. I don't know if it was necessarily racism when it came to professional football, but I think in the minds of a lot of owners, in the minds of a lot of general managers and possibly even in a lot of coaches that we couldn't play that position.

That we couldn't play a position where you had to lead, where you had to think, where you had to make quick decisions. And it wasn't just the quarterback spot, either - it was any position down the middle of the field. The center, a guy who makes all the calls on the line of scrimmage. Middle linebacker was another spot where there wasn't a lot of African Americans, and also safety.

But quarterback was the last horizon, so it was tough because I knew in my mind and in my heart that I could play the position. I watched myself against different competition. I kind of could size myself up as to whether I had what it took to be a quarterback, and I was always a pretty good leader as a young kid.

A lot of that started from my upbringing and my family background because of my dad passing away when I was seven. So I was a very mature kid for my age, and I knew how to be mature and knew how to think and knew how to make decisions and all the things that come along with being a quarterback.

Tavis: I know your mother was a great mother, obviously; has been a great mother, and yet I'm thinking of the sport you play, football, and how so many guys who play football are supported in it, some of them coached in it, coached into it because of their father's dreams.

You think of Eli and Peyton Manning, their father, of course, a great quarterback, Archie Manning, in his own right. Your father passes when you're seven. You become the man of the house, if you will. You got six sisters. Who's helping you, who's guiding you, who's supporting you? You don't have that father figure to help you in this football journey.

Moon: I had an uncle. My Uncle Roy was probably the biggest father figure in my life at that young, young age, and then he was actually my great-uncle, my father's uncle, and also my coaches - the people that I was around in parks. And that's one of the reasons I think my mom got me involved in sports, was to get me around more males, more Black males, more people that could be mentors, and just have me around more boys as well because it was all women around my house all the time.

So those tended to be my mentors and the guys that I looked up to - my coaches, and also my uncle.

Tavis: I should mention for those watching here in L.A., the pride of Hamilton High School.

Moon: (Laughs) That's right - go, Yankees.

Tavis: There you go - right here in L.A. That said, I'm sure guys will get a kick out of this - the flip side of having that father figure around is the ritual your mother told you to engage in to keep yourself calm before games. She wanted you to keep yourself calm, keep your nerves low. And what did your mama have you do? What did she suggest you do before every big game, Warren Moon?

Moon: Well, she taught me to cook at a very, very young age, and bake, and she (laughter) told me that I should bake cookies the night before my games to kind of relax me and get me ready to play so I could get my mind off of it. Because I got really intense, and I really got into what I had to do the next day, so this kind of relaxed me and got my mind away from it, and it eventually turned into a cookie business.

Because I had a chocolate chip cookie business when I went to Canada, and then I came back to the United States to play and had five stores down here. So it was a very good suggestion by my mom. (Laughter)

Tavis: So chocolate chip was your specialty?

Moon: Exactly, yes.

Tavis: You could still hook it up now?

Moon: I can still hook it up now.

Tavis: And you came to see me and you didn't bring me no cookies?

Moon: I didn't bring you any, though. (Laughter) That's the next visit.

Tavis: I ought to kick you out of here for that, man.

Moon: Maybe you'll invite me back and that'll be the next visit.

Tavis: Yeah. (Laughter) Yeah, if Warren Moon ever gets back here again, Holly, make sure he brings cookies for his admission.

Moon: Oh, yeah, it'll be more than just chocolate chip.

Tavis: All right.

Moon: I got all different types now.

Tavis: What else you got? Chocolate chip, what else?

Moon: I got oatmeal-raisin and it's called Warren's special.

Tavis: Right - I like it.

Moon: I got peanut butter, all different types of chocolate chip, and I got a combination oatmeal-chocolate chip, too.

Tavis: Wow, okay. Now I'm getting hungry.

Moon: There you go. (Laughs)

Tavis: When you heard that you were being inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, what did that do, if anything - I remember your career well, I'm watching you as a kid growing up - what did that do for - I'm trying to phrase this the right way - for all that you had to endure to get to that place as a Black quarterback? Did getting to the Hall of Fame take whatever animosity, disappointment, angst you might have had away?

Moon: What it did was just made a stamp of approval on my career. The one thing that I didn't do and that I didn't accomplish during my football career in the NFL was the Super Bowl, and that was something that I had every opportunity to win but we just never got it together and did it.

But to make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to be considered one of the best ever to play the game, consider where everybody was saying I was coming out of high school, coming out of college, that I couldn't even play the position, didn't want me to play the position. To make it to that level, yeah, it really put that stamp of approval. It was almost like the cherry on top of the sundae that I really had a great career.

Tavis: When you say never give up on your dream, the title of the book, what's the lesson? And I believe there are lessons, which is why I love sports. Sports at their best underscore for us, everyday people, what we can do when we put our mind to it, when we practice, when we prepare ourselves. That's why I love sport as a great metaphor for life.

What's the lesson that we take from the life and legacy of Warren Moon about never giving up?

Moon: Well, I think in young kids I always try and tell them to dream big and make your goals high, and I dreamed big when I was a young kid. This started when I was seven, eight years old in the front yard on the grass in my house in Los Angeles, emulating who I thought I was going to be, whether it was Roger Staubach or Roman Gabriel, who played for the Rams, or James Harris, who played for the Rams later on.

I put myself in their uniforms, and one day I wanted to play in the National Football League. So that was my dream as a young kid, and I wasn't going to let anybody tell me that that dream wasn't going to be accomplished. And even though there were some tough times along the way, a lot of adversity, a lot of twists and turns, I kept my eyes on the prize and I kept myself focused and I eventually accomplished it.

And that's what this book is all about, and that's what I try and tell young kids. Even though you might run into some adversity along the way, somebody might tell you, “No, you can't do this or do that.” I'm a prime example of a guy who didn't come from a whole lot, went through a lot of tough times in a very tough time in history, but I still made it.

Tavis: I can guarantee you this - and I don't need to ask him to even know this, even though I know them and certainly could - Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Dante Culpepper - run the list. All these guys would love to win the big game, the Super Bowl, but they'd all love to end up where Warren Moon is right now - the NFL Hall of Fame.

His new book is called "Never Give Up on Your Dream: My Journey." Warren, glad to have you here, man.

Moon: Great to be with you, Tavis, as always, man.

Tavis: Good to be see you. Cookies next time.

Moon: Yes, sir.

Tavis: All right. (Laughter)