Born November 18, 1956, in Los Angeles, California, Harold Warren Moon was the middle child among six sisters. His father, Harold, a laborer, died of liver disease when Moon was seven years old. His mother, Pat, worked as a nurse, and Moon learned to cook, sew, iron, and housekeep to help care for the family. He decided early that he could play only one sport in high school because he had to work the rest of the year to help his family, choosing football after discovering he could throw a football longer, harder, and straighter than anyone he knew. Moon enrolled at Alexander Hamilton High School and had little playing time until his junior year when he took over as varsity starting quarterback, earning all-city honors as a senior in 1973.