NASHVILLE – A special guest showed up at Cam Ward's introductory press conference on Friday, and presented him with a surprise.
It was Oilers great Warren Moon, who told Ward that he could wear his retired No. 1 jersey with the Titans.
"I have a lot of respect for this young man right here," said Moon, a Hall of Famer who threw for 49,325 yards in 17 NFL seasons (1984-2000) with the Oilers, Vikings, Seahawks and Chiefs after first playing for the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL. "A lot of our journey is similar as far as all the things he was told throughout the journey about not being good enough, nobody wanted to give him that great opportunity. But he just kept fighting, kept working, kept showing leadership, perseverance, and here he is today, the No. 1 overall pick in the National Football League draft. So that's the reason why I wanted to be here to let him know how proud of him I am.
"As far as the number and everything is concerned. I wore the No. 1 for a lot of different reasons, and I wore it for a long time, starting back to 1976 when I was in college. I think I wore it very honorably for the Houston Oilers organization to the point to where I created a Hall of Fame career for myself. Now, I'm part of the Tennessee Titans family. My Houston Oilers jersey will probably never be worn again, I hope it won't. But the Tennessee Titans jersey is going to be worn by Cam, and Cam will be starting a new freshness in this organization to kind of revitalize it and get it back to where it was a number of years ago, one of the more successful organizations in the league. So I am excited to see what he is going to do with his legacy wearing this number, and I am proud of the things I did to establish my legacy with the time I wore that number."
Moon told Ward, who wore No.1 at the University of Miami, he'll be available for him with anything he needs.
Ward acknowledged he called Moon to ask him for permission, and was honored it was granted.
"I've got a lot of respect (for Warren)," Ward said. "I am excited that Mr. Moon was able to bless me by giving me this number. … I didn't know much about him until the draft was really getting started. Before I called him, I made sure I watched his highlights to make sure he was legit. He was, he was legit. I'm trying to get up to his level one day."
