Tag: Warren Moon

Nick Mullens accomplishes feat matched only by Warren Moon in Vikings history

Nick Mullens matches a feat only Warren Moon accomplished in team history

When the Minnesota Vikings fell to the Detroit Lions on Christmas Eve by a score of 30-24, they lost their chance to win back-to-back NFC North titles.

In the game, quarterback Nick Mullens accomplished something only Warren Moon had done in Vikings history: Throw for 400 yards and four interceptions in the same game. Moon did it on Nov. 20, 1994, in a 31-21 loss to the New York Jets at the Metrodome.

It was a very up-and-down game for Mullens. He had a few long touchdown drives where he hit his spots with explosiveness and anticipation. On the flip side, he also missed throws short, and the ball sometimes came out of his hand like a wounded duck.

Moon had a gunslinger mentality, and it brought both positive and negative results. Mullens has that same quality about him, and that’s not the worst thing for a backup quarterback. It leads to both fun and frustrating moments, but he will give you a chance to win.

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Hall of Famer Warren Moon impressed with Will Levis’ debut

Oilers great Warren Moon was impressed with Titans rookie QB Will Levis.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis made his NFL debut in the same week that the franchise welcomed back some of its former players and donned throwback jerseys.

And there’s no question he made all of the former Titans and Houston Oilers in attendance proud. One of the most notable names in attendance was Hall of Famer and Oilers great, Warren Moon, who was impressed with the rookie’s performance.

“Very impressive performance by Will in his first start,” Moon said to Paul Kuharsky. “He showed great poise in the pocket, nice pace and command of the huddle and showed off his big arm several times for explosive plays. Excellent confidence booster game for Will and the team.”

When asked who he’d compare Levis to, Moon mentioned a Hall of Famer who played for the team Tennessee is about to face in Week 9: Pittsburgh Steelers great, Terry Bradshaw.

Levis completed 19 of his 29 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns, marking the third time in NFL history a rookie has thrown for that many touchdowns in a debut — but these weren’t just any touchdowns.

As Moon said, Levis showed off his impressive arm (and accuracy), en route to completing three scores of 33 yards or more, including 61-yard and 47-yard connections to DeAndre Hopkins.

And, as Moon also explained, Levis didn’t look like a nervous rookie who was in over his head. Instead, the Kentucky product was poised, almost as if he had done this before at the NFL level.

It was about as positive a start to Levis’ career as anyone could have hoped for. Now, it’ll be on the rookie to stack good games and prove he’s a legitimate franchise quarterback for the Titans.

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1 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 1

7 players have worn the No. 1 for the Minnesota Vikings, including QB Warren Moon.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 1 day at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players who have worn that specific jersey number.

Kicker Greg Joseph is currently wearing the No. 1 for the Minnesota Vikings.

With 1 day until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 1 in a regular season game with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

4 ways the Texans can lower the casket and bury the Houston Oilers once and for all

The Oilers are a tender subject for Houston sports fans. However, the Texans can help them let go and start embracing the future.

It wasn’t bad enough the Tennessee Titans decided to take the Houston Oilers throwback jerseys out of mothballs. The Titans have decided to wear the throwbacks specifically for the Houston Texans in their Week 15 matchup at Nissan Stadium.

The Oilers are a tender subject for Houston sports fans. So many of their NFL memories are associated with Bum Phillips, Earl Campbell, Robert Brazile, Warren Moon, and others who are now considered Titans greats. The late Bud Adams, who founded the franchise, would not leave team records and jerseys with the city of Houston, not like Art Modell did with the Cleveland Browns as he took the guts of the franchise to begat the Baltimore Ravens in 1996.

The more the Titans use the Oilers insensitively towards Houstonians, as exemplified by picking the Week 15 game to sport them, the more the city must distance itself from the Oilers.

Here are four ways the Texans can help Houston let the past die.

Robert Brazile: ‘The Oilers are Titans history, not Texans history’

Oilers greats and Hall of Famers Warren Moon and Robert Brazile made it quite clear that the Titans should have Oilers history, not the Texans.

Despite the fact that there should be zero debate about it, there are still some out there — and particularly in Houston — who believe the Tennessee Titans shouldn’t have a claim on Oilers history, let alone be allowed to wear the throwbacks, which the team will do twice in 2023.

After all, the Titans’ owner, Amy Adams Strunk, is the daughter of Bud Adams, who literally founded the Oilers. And, not to mention, the Titans were once the Tennessee Oilers before changing their name.

As if all that wasn’t enough, allow me to present quotes from Oilers legends Robert Brazile and Warren Moon, both of whom unequivocally back the Titans having the team’s history in a great article from Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.

“I am going to make this as plain and simple as I can for anyone who has any doubts about this: The Oilers are Titans history, not Texans history,” Brazile said. “Look at the Titans Ring of Honor, and how many Oilers are in there? It’s a good number (10). How many Oilers are in the Texans Ring of Honor? The answer is zero.

“I was born an Oiler and I’m going to die a Titan.”

Moon added that while he understands it’s a “very sensitive subject” in Houston, he also noted that the Texans never really reached out to former Oilers, while the Titans did quite the opposite, which was to give those franchise greats a place to call home.

“I know this is a very sensitive subject in Houston, but the Texans never really reached out to any of the (former Oilers) and never made it feel like they wanted anything to do with the Oilers,” Moon said. “They wanted to just create their own identity. And since Amy has taken over, she has really had a passion for the Houston Oilers — she wanted to bring everybody into one family, Oilers and Titans, and that’s why she’s had these alumni weekends, and been doing that for the last five years.

“Now all the Oilers feel really comfortable going to Nashville every year for their reunion, and they never had a reunion before Amy came aboard. I know my number is retired in the stadium in Nashville, and it’s where I’m in the Ring of Honor, and that’s what I identify with now.”

Upon seeing the Titans’ reveal of the Oilers jerseys they’ll wear in 2023, Brazile said he got emotional.

“I was in tears when I saw these uniforms, because I was so excited,” Brazile said. “My wife heard me and woke up, and said: ‘Robert, is everything OK?’ And I said: ‘Brenda, it’s finally going to happen! It’s going to really, really happen! My colors, my Luv ‘Ya Blue, it’s coming alive again.’ And it makes me, and it makes everybody that played with the Oilers know, ‘We’re not dead. We’re alive. The Oilers are alive.’

“I don’t think you can really understand it unless you were an Oiler. But I gave my heart and soul to that organization — it’s the only organization I ever played for — and for Amy (Adams Strunk) and the team to keep our memory alive, it’s heartwarming. Every time the Titans wear those Oilers jerseys, I don’t care where they are at, I want to be at that stadium.”

Fans and media alike were hoping that the Titans would wear their Oilers throwbacks in Houston against the Texans this year, but instead Tennessee will wear them for two home games, one of which will come against the Texans.

But Moon made it clear he would love to see Tennessee rock them in H-town one day, although not for the trolling purposes fans want them to do it for.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “I’ve been talking to Amy about this for two years now and she’s been wanting to do this for a long time, and I am glad it is going to happen.

“I would love to see them wear those Oilers both times against the Texans — once in Houston, so the Houston fans can see it, and of course in Tennessee so the fans there can see the uniforms.”

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Eddie George, Warren Moon react to Titans’ Oilers throwbacks

Franchise legends Eddie George and Warren Moon weigh-in on the Titans’ Oilers throwbacks.

We’ve covered reactions from both sides of the aisle when it comes to the Tennessee Titans wearing Houston Oilers throwbacks since the team unveiled the uniform they’ll wear for two games during the 2023 season.

However, what are some of the franchise’s greatest players saying about those sweet Oilers threads? Well, we have reactions from two of them.

Oilers legend and Hall of Famer, Warren Moon, took to Twitter shortly after the uniform was revealed, rightly calling the throwbacks the “best looking outfit in football.”

“Can’t wait to see our old uniforms on the field again,” Moon tweeted. “Best looking outfit in football. Go Titans.”

On the team’s Instagram, a video was posted showing the team FaceTiming Oilers/Titans great Eddie George during the actual photoshoot ahead of the reveal, and he had quite the positive reaction (H/T Titans Opinion).

After it was originally thought the team would only wear the throwbacks once in 2023, the Titans’ official site revealed it would actually be two, although the exact games have yet to be revealed.

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How to buy Titans’ Oilers-inspired throwback jersey

Be the first to get your hands on the Titans’ new throwback jerseys for the 2023 season.

The Titans are kickin’ it all the way back to pre-Tennessee days with their upcoming retro throwback jersey the team has revealed.

Over the course of last week, the rumor mill was churning out Houston Oilers chatter. The team itself solidified that when it took to social media teasing the Oilers logo.

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Turns out the Titans really are going to give a shoutout to their original roots.

From 1963 to 1996, Houston was an Oilers town until they became the Titans in Tennessee. In 2023, the Titans are going to wear this blast from their Oiler past with this classic look:

Derrick Henry Tennessee Titans Nike Oilers Throwback Vapor F.U.S.E. Limited Jersey
Derrick Henry Tennessee Titans Nike Oilers Throwback Vapor F.U.S.E. Limited Jersey – Light Blue (Fanatics)

Will you be ready when the Titans take on an Oilers look in 2023? Make sure you are.

Head over to Fanatics and grab your brand new Titans throwback jersey now:

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Several Titans, Oilers listed among best to ever wear their numbers

Several Titans and Oilers were listed as either the top choice or an honorable mention on Touchdown Wire’s list.

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The Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers franchise has had its fair share of truly special talents ever since the organization began its existence back in the 1960s.

A total of 17 Hall of Famers spent time with the franchise, while several others on the list were great in their own right despite not being recognized by the Hall of Fame committee.

Doug Farrar of ‘Touchdown Wire’ recently created an article naming some of the best players to wear each jersey number, and three players from the franchise were selected as the best in NFL history to ever wear their respective jersey numbers:

  • QB Warren Moon (No. 1)
  • RB Eddie George (No. 27)
  • DL Elvin Bethea (No. 65)

Tennessee/Houston also had several players who earned an honorable mention for a handful of different jersey numbers, including:

  • QB Kerry Collins (No. 5)
  • QB Steve McNair (No. 9)
  • RB Derrick Henry (No. 22)
  • RB Earl Campbell (No. 34)
  • LB Robert Brazile (No. 52)
  • OL Mike Munchak (No. 63)
  • OL Kevin Mawae (No. 68)
  • OL Jon Runyan (No. 69)
  • OL Bruce Matthews (No. 74)
  • OL Steve Hutchinson (No. 76)
  • DL Ray Childress (No. 79)
  • WR Derrick Mason (No. 85)

In order to view the rest of the rankings, make sure to check out Farrar’s article to see the list in its entirety.

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Warren Moon thinks Russell Wilson can bounce back in 2023

“I think Sean [Payton] will get Russell [Wilson] getting back to what he does best,” Warren Moon told the Denver Gazette.

Russell Wilson got his fair share of criticism for his play for the 2022 NFL season. Wilson posted career lows in touchdown passes (16) and completion percentage (60.5 percent) and passer rating (84.4) in his first year with the Denver Broncos. 

Wilson didn’t do himself any favors with his off-field endeavors and antics, from rehab on the plane to his Subway commercials. On the field and off of it, Wilson took a beating optics-wise. 

The Wilson hype train should restart due to the hiring of Sean Payton. Payton successfully coached the New Orleans Saints for 15 seasons, winning one Super Bowl in 2009.

Hall of Famer Warren Moon had a legendary career as a quarterback and perhaps knew what Wilson was going through as he spoke with the Denver Gazette‘s Chris Tomasson in a recent interview. This is why Moon believes Wilson will bounce back fully in 2023 with Payton as his head coach. 

“He definitely didn’t play up to his standards last year and it kind of surprised me that he played as poorly as he did because I watched him play his whole career here in Seattle and I watched him practice and I got to know him very well,” Moon told Tomasson. “And he was just a different player (last season). … But I think Sean will get Russell getting back to what he does best.”

We will see what Wilson will do next season as the Wilson-Payton partnership enters Year 1. 

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Kirk Cousins named 2023 winner of the Bart Starr Award

Cousins is the third Minnesota Viking to win the award

The Minnesota Vikings announced on Wednesday that quarterback Kirk Cousins was named the winner of the Athletes in Action/Bart Starr award. Founded in 1989, the award is meant to honor the NFL player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.

Kirk Cousins will be the third Viking to receive this award since its inception. Quarterback Warren Moon and wide receiver Cris Carter also won the award.

Cousins briefly touched on the award in his weekly press conference, where he went on to talk about getting the opportunity to meet Bart Starr.

Cousins will receive the award at the Super Bowl breakfast in Phoenix, Arizona on February 11th and hopefully, the Vikings will also be preparing to play in the Super Bowl that weekend.