Warren Moon: Managing Your Time On and Off the Field

One of the NFL's all-time greats, Warren Moon will be contributing a weekly column to NFLHS.com this season. An outstanding quarterback at every level, Moon played 17 years in the NFL and six years before that in the CFL. He owns the NFL record for most passes completed in a season (404, 1991), is second in NFL history in passing yards-per-game (527, vs. Kansas City, Dec. 16, 1990), and stands third in the NFL record books in passing attempts and completions. The 1977 Pac 8 Player of the Year for the University of Washington and an All-American at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, Moon is not only a leader on the field. He was named the NFL Man of the Year in 1989 for the tremendous work he does with numerous charitable organizations.

I think it's important to practice as much as you can on your own time, but it's also important to remember that you have to have enough energy that night to do your studying and homework. You should gauge how much work you have to do and determine from that if you have time to work out or not on any given day. On the days you don't have a lot of homework, those are probably the days that you want to spend a little more time on the practice field.

Time management is the most important thing for young people out there. Whether you're playing a sport or doing another extra-curricular activity, you have to know how to balance going to class and also playing a sport or participating in another activity. You definitely don't want your academics to fall off because if they do, you might not even be eligible to play anymore. You have to realize what's more important, and academics definitely are. It's going to drive everything in your life, including getting to the next level. The better job you do managing your time in high school, the easier your transition will be to succeeding in college.

I don't think I personally did as good a job in high school managing my time as I did in college. I learned the importance of the academic part of an education. You don't want to limit yourself in any way. I definitely qualified to participate in NCAA Athletics right away, but because I didn't have really good grades, I couldn't have gotten into some schools that have tougher requirements, like Stanford.

I usually did my schoolwork at the end of the day. I always had school right up to the start of practice, so depending on how long it took to go from practice, get showered, and have some dinner, it would take me some time to get to it. Some guys can sit down right away and start working, but I needed to have a little bit of time in between dinner and studying to relax and focus my mind. You have to give yourself the right amount of time to do your work because it's tough to study when you're tired. That's one of the sacrifices you have to make if you want to play a sport.

The main thing is that you have to find out what type of schedule works for you, and make sure you follow it.

Previous Articles:
Warren Moon: A Lot to Think About
Warren Moon: De La Salle - Poly Preview
Warren Moon: Improving Your Athleticism
Warren Moon: Fundamentals Are Key
Warren Moon: Success Through Adversity
Warren Moon: Don't Underestimate Chemistry
Warren Moon: How I Was Recruited
Warren Moon: Mid-Season Report
Warren Moon: How to Handle Sitting on the Bench