Signing off to sound off

Dave Moore recently spoke with reporters about his NFL experiences, and if the stories are any indication, he is about to put the color in commentating.

By Joanne Korth
Published June 24, 2007

Dave Moore recently retired after 15 seasons in the NFL, including a franchise-record 13 with the Bucs. He played tight end, fullback, halfback and every specials teams position imaginable, including long snapper. He wore creamsicle uniforms, closed down Tampa Stadium and opened Raymond James Stadium. He did everything with the Bucs except win a Super Bowl; he left for two seasons to play in Buffalo before returning in 2004. The next phase of Moore's football career will be as color commentator for Bucs radio broadcasts alongside play-by-play man Gene Deckerhoff. Moore recently spoke with reporters about his NFL experiences, and if the stories are any indication, he is about to put the color in commentating. 

On reporting to the Dolphins as a seventh-round draft pick out of Pittsburgh in 1992:

When I walked into the locker room and got my pads, I said, "Well, here I am." I moved all my equipment out of the way and I had an ashtray in my locker. I kind of looked around like, "You've got to be kidding me." I thought it was a joke. Not 10 minutes later I come out of the locker room, make a left-hand turn and one of the wide receivers - if I said his name you would certainly know who he was - was standing there, full pads, helmet in one hand, cigarette in the other, puffing away. He continued to toke on that cigarette until it was time to practice, threw it on the ground, stomped it out with his cleat and went and ran routes for the next 2 1/2 hours. Obviously, from that to today, where you see guys who are teetering on the edge of supplements, what's legal, what's not legal, everything they can do to give themselves a fair advantage as a competitor, it's really amazing how the league has gone.

On closing Tampa Stadium with a playoff victory in 1997 against Detroit:

I remember the last game in the old stadium, when we beat Detroit with the fireworks. That was when we kind of looked around at each other and thought, "Wow, we really turned it around." It was unbelievable from the two years before that, when the stands were completely empty.

On opening Raymond James Stadium with a bang, a touchdown catch in a 27-15 victory against Chicago on Sept. 20, 1998:

It was a 4 o'clock game and it had rained. We were losing and it was the third quarter and coach Tony Dungy called up to the box. There was a misdirection play we'd been working on. He said, "This is the time to pull it out if you're going to." Mike Shula called it. When we came out of the huddle I was just trying to find a way to get off the ball because I think the defensive end was Alonzo Spellman, which is like three of me. Once I got off the ball it was wide open, there was nobody around. Trent Dilfer kind of threw it high and behind me and I jumped and tried to get a hand on it and deflected it to myself. I told myself to run and not get caught, because that wouldn't have been good coming to the sideline. That was the year we had five preseason games on the road and our first two regular-season games were on the road. That was a tough start for us and that was a big game for us, the first one in that stadium.

On the demands his football career put on his family:

When I played fullback I had a tendency to knock myself out. My wife, Ann, and I were at the old stadium, got into my truck one day and I was kind of sitting there. She was like, "What are you waiting for?" "I don't remember where we live." She said, "Out! Out! Get out of the truck now. I'm driving." She's certainly been through the wringer.

On missing the Super Bowl:

It was tough at the time because I had been here for so long. I was here when it was ugly football. We'd go out there and it was 25, 000 or 30, 000 Green Bay or Chicago fans and 11, 000 Tampa Bay fans. It wasn't a fenced in parking lot and there'd be McDonald's cups on your car and people booing you. We were able to turn that corner and to say that you were a part of that was really something special. It doesn't make me feel great walking up and down the hall and every other picture is a Super Bowl picture. But I think I'm okay. There was a while there that it did feel like I deserved to be there. But as you look around, what about the Paul Grubers and the Brad Culpeppers and the guys that were just as big a part of turning that thing around that didn't have the opportunity?

On becoming a broadcaster:

I look forward to still being a part of the game without coaching for 80 to 100 hours a week. I can still do what I love to do, and that's be around football. The kind of player I've always been, I had to pay attention to the details. I was always undersized and had to be very good at technique and learning defenses and anticipating what was going on around me. Hopefully, I can take that and be a guy who can give something to the people listening about the game and why things happen and what to look for.

On preparing to be an analyst:

We sat in a room with the sound off on a big screen TV and did a game as if it was real. After a little shaky start it went pretty well. Once I got the flow of what Gene was saying and how much time I was going to get, I really enjoyed it. I think all of us as players watch TV sometimes and listen to guys and the things they say and they're not even close. I'm sure people will say the same about me.

Joanne Korth can be reached at korth@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8810.

[Last modified June 23, 2007, 23:47:15]