Emmanuel Moody (born February 21, 1987) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. He was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2011. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the University of Florida (UF) Gators football team winning a national championship. In 2013, he played in Germany for the Dresden Monarchs. He played in 2014 with the Vienna Vikings in Austrian Football League.

Early life

Moody was born to Young Sun (née Chang) as the youngest of three children, raised in the

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, area. His father left the family early, leaving him to be raised by his mother and his grandmother, Han Soon Chang. And Moody's uncle began helping him practice and train for football after seeing how well he performed in pee wee football.David Wharton,
Favorite Uncle
" ''Los Angeles Times'' (October 4, 2006). Retrieved July 12, 2008. Physically a late bloomer, coaches initially hesitated to put him in the running back role that he desired. When his family moved to the suburb of

Coppell, Texas Coppell ( ) is a city in the northwest corner of Dallas County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a suburb of Dallas and a bedroom community in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 42,983 at the 2020 census. A small area in th ...

, Coppell High School already had a highly regarded senior running back, one of the best in school history, and asked the sophomore Moody to spend a season at wide receiver. After insistence by himself and his uncle, Moody was allowed to play running back at the

junior varsity A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At High school, ...

level. During that time, Moody grew taller and put on 25 pounds. His junior season saw him rise to the varsity team where he finished the season with 1,319 yards and 12 touchdowns. His abilities attracted interest from a number of prominent college football programs, notably

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. Moody originally verbally committed to Texas, but USC linebacker coach

Ken Norton Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. (August 9, 1943 – September 18, 2013) was an American actor and professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981. He was awarded the World Boxing Council, WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978, after winning a ...

was able to eventually persuade Moody to change his commitment to the Trojans, enticing him to the challenge of competing against a number of other talented running backs.

College career

University of Southern California (2006–2007)

Moody started his college career at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. As a true freshman, Moody was the second leading rusher in the 2006 season, gaining 560 yards on 79 carries in a rotating platoon of running backs. He was named the

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

Freshman of the Year in 2006.Mark Schlabach,
USC transfer Moody laboring in Florida's spread offense
" ESPN.com (April 9, 2008). Retrieved September 8, 2008. In the summer before the 2007 season, he was featured as one of three USC running backs on the regional cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

s college football preview edition.Gary Klein,
Off the Deep End
" August 17, 2007). Retrieved July 3, 2008.Gary Klein,

" ''Los Angeles Times'' (August 16, 2007). Retrieved July 3, 2008. The Trojans entered their 2007 fall training camp with a high number of scholarship running backs (10), all of which were highly touted recruits; in August, midway through camp, Moody announced he was transferring from USC. Looking to be a featured player, Moody stated he had "felt forgotten" coming into training camp because of an ankle injury that forced him to sit out the Trojans' last four games of the 2006 season and a hamstring injury that caused him to sit out nearly all of spring practice; he then bruised his knee at a mid-camp scrimmage and had to sit out further. After looking at several schools, including

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, Moody transferred to the University of Florida.Joe Schad,
Moody says he will transfer to Gator country
" ESPN.com (August 27, 2007). Retrieved May 30, 2008.

University of Florida (2007–2010)

As required by NCAA transfer rules, Moody was forced to sit out the 2007 season with the Florida Gators; but was permitted to practice with the

scout team The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of ...

. Welcomed by a team that needed a power running back to relieve quarterback

Tim Tebow Timothy Richard Tebow (; born August 14, 1987) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Tebow played college football for t ...

, Moody had some difficulties adapting to the

spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the offense horizontal ...

used by the Gators. He had 58 carries for 417 yards in the 2008 season, 58 carries for 378 yards in the 2009 season, and 66 carries for 265 yards in 2010, scoring four total rushing touchdowns in his three seasons as a Gator. Moody participated in the Gator Pro Day but was not drafted in the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

On April 30, 2011, Moody signed with the

. He was released on October 21.

Europe

In 2013 Moody signed in Europe with the Dresden Monarchs in the

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is a professional American football league in Germany. The league was formed in 1979. In 1999, the league changed to its current name from American-Football-Bundesliga.

. Playing three games and rushing 11 times for 84 yards and one touchdown. In 2014 Moody signed with the Vienna Vikings in Austrian Football League. In seven games, Moody had 417 yards on 71 carries and scored six touchdowns. He also had nine receptions for 118 yards.

References

External links

Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Emmanuel 1987 births Living people American football running backs Florida Gators football players USC Trojans football players Buffalo Bills players Nebraska Danger players Sportspeople from Coppell, Texas American expatriate sportspeople in Austria American expatriate players of American football Boston Brawlers players Players of American football from Dallas County, Texas Sportspeople from Heidelberg Coppell High School alumni Austrian Football League players Asian American players of American football