MOORE THAN QUALIFIED

Texan safety gains national recognition as Campbell award nominee

BY NATHAN BURAL

Director of Athletic Communications

When Charles Moore arrived for two-a-day practices last August, the Texan senior had no idea he was beginning a season that would culminate with national recognition in New York as a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy. The National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete recognition brought 17 finalists from all levels of collegiate football to a presentation ceremony in New York on December 9. As a finalist, Moore received the Eddie Robinson Scholarship, providing $18,000 for graduate studies.

“The National Football Foundation award and being able to go to New York was incredible,” said Moore. “I never thought that my grades would take me that far. To see all that hard work and all those long nights pay off really meant a lot to me.”

The event also enabled Moore to reward his mother. Before he knew of the award, “I had actually asked her, ‘where is the one place you would like to go if you get the chance?’ and she said New York. So I called her first...” When he greeted her in New York, “it was great to see her face light up.”

The Campbell Trophy is “the most unbelievable award I've ever heard of,” said Tarleton head coach Cary Fowler. "This is something that encompasses every athlete across the nation in every division. When you look at Charles' grades and his community service, he is a coach's dream.”

The national recognition was just one of a series of academic honors Moore received. He garnered academic all-conference and CoSIDA Capital One Academic AllAmerica honors, as well. An all-conference safety, he also was a three-time member of the Lone Star Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Moore also was honored as Most Outstanding Graduate this past December for his 3.83 grade point average in addition to his football efforts and more than 200 total hours of community service. The Robinson scholarship he received now allows him to pursue his master’s degree in kinesiology at Tarleton and serve as a graduate assistant for the Texan football team.

His mother contributes to Moore’s motivation. “She works so hard and I think, if she can do that for me, with three kids, then I can play the game of football,” Moore said.

Moore than Qualified

And play well. Moore churned out one of the best seasons from a defensive player in recent Tarleton history as he tallied 76 tackles and a team-high five interceptions for the season to earn all-conference, all-region and All-American honors.

“Of all the awards I received last year,” Moore said, “AllAmerican probably was the most surprising. I thought I had a lot of great seasons here, but when the awards started to come in it became so surreal.”

As a team leader, Moore “was trying to set good examples for the young guys,” he said. “I had great mentors show me the right way to do things and I wanted to continue that tradition for our young guys.”

After completing his master’s degree, Moore plans to teach and coach at the high school level.

The year and all the honors were “such a blessing,” said Moore. “I’ve always dreamt about these types of things happening, but for them to come around my senior year and to have everything come together was remarkable in how I was able to see my hard work pay off.” 19