At 61, Vietnam Vet Kicks His Way Into College Football History
October 21, 2011
Talk about dreams deferred! Consider 61-year-old placekicker Alan Moore, a laid-off construction worker who has become the oldest college football player to score points on the gridiron.
Forty-two years after Vietnam War interrupted his athletic and academic career and out of work, Moore returned to college to study for his bachelor’s degree and to play football again, cheered by fans and teammates at Faulkner University, a small Christian college in Montgomery, Alabama.
He was spurred to return to football after watching a game at another small college while visiting his grandchildren in Mississippi. “Their kicker wasn’t doing well that night, and I just joked to some people that I thought I could kick for them the next year,” he told the Associated Press.
He had, after all, been pretty good in his day. In 1968, as a freshman at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss., Moore’s placekicking helped his team clinch a national championship. But with the Vietnam War beginning, he quit college and enlisted. After his discharge, he returned home, went to work, was twice married and had three children.
Five decades after leaving college, he approached officials at Jones about returning to play football. The school wasn’t interested. But at Holmes Community College, coach Danny Robertson was intrigued and offered Moore a try out. “He did a good job,” Robertson told the Birmingham News. “I told him we only had one kicker coming back, and if he wanted to earn a spot with us, we would welcome him to two-a-days. He showed up here, and things have worked out for him.”
This year, Moore transferred to Faulkner (a four-year institution) and on Sept. 10, wearing the Faulkner Eagles’ cobalt-blue home uniform, he made history when he calmly split the uprights with a kick for an extra point after a touchdown, boosting the Eagles to a 25-0 advantage over visiting Ave Maria University. (The Eagles won the game 41-19.)
The College Hall of Fame has since requested a football signed by Moore for display. But questioned about his accomplishment, a smiling Moore demurs. “It’s not about me, and it’s not about being old,” says Moore, whose teammates jokingly call him Moses, Old School and Grandpa. “It’s about the team.” The lesson, he says, is simple. “Never, ever, give up.”
And the kick is…
Moore’s extra point
Interview with Moore:
61-year-old place kicker