Lenny Moore
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Leonard Edward Moore (born November 25, 1933) is an American former professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player who was a halfback and flanker for the
Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) from 1956 to 1967. 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 Penn State Nittany Lions. He was named the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1956 and was selected to the
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...
seven times. Moore was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
in 1975.


Early life

Moore was born in
Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...
, on November 25, 1933. He had exceptional athletic ability. He attended Reading Senior High School, where his speed on the field earned him the nicknames "The Reading Rocket", "The Reading Rambler", "Lightning Lenny" (for his unmatched speed); and "Spats" (for the way he taped his high-top shoes, making them look like low-tops, and one of the first to expose tapings outside the shoes).


College career

Moore's speed and athletic ability earned him a football scholarship at
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
; when he enrolled in the fall of 1952 he was the first individual in his family to attend college. In an era before freshmen were allowed to play in games and "
redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...
" status did not exist, he achieved great success in three seasons on the Nittany Lions varsity, scoring 24
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
s in 27 games. Moore finished as Penn State's all-time leader in 100-rushing yard games (12), rushing yards (2,380), all-purpose yards (3,543), and single-season all-purpose yards (1,486 in 1954).


Professional career

Moore's achievements at Penn State did not go unnoticed by scouts from the NFL, and he was taken by the Baltimore Colts ninth overall in the 1956 NFL draft. Moore was both a great runner and receiver, lining up in the backfield as a halfback and split wide as a flanker, and was equally dangerous at both positions in the Colts' offense run by quarterback Johnny Unitas. Moore averaged at least seven yards per carry in three seasons, and has a career average of 4.8 yards per carry. He had 40 receptions for 687 yards and seven touchdowns in 1957, the first of five years in which he would have 40 or more catches. In an era of pounding running games, Moore was a glimpse of things to come in the NFL, with a career average of 30 receptions per year out of the backfield. During his rookie season in 1956, Moore established himself as one of the most well-rounded runners and receivers in the league, and won the NFL Rookie of the Year award. In 1958, he caught a career-high 50 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns in helping the Colts win the NFL championship. In 1959, Moore had 47 receptions for 846 yards and six touchdowns as the Colts repeated as champions. In a 1962 preseason game against the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...
at
Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the fir ...
, Moore was seriously injured being tackled out of bounds while running the ball as a halfback.Lenny Moore with Jeffrey Jay Ellish, ''All Things Being Equal: The Autobiography of Lenny Moore.'' Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC, 2005; p. 110. He recalled the event in his 2005 memoir: "I hit the ground hard and my knee slid over an exposed spike used to anchor first base during Pittsburgh's baseball season. The spike cracked my
kneecap The patella (: patellae or patellas), also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in m ...
in two. At first I didn't realize how severe the injury was. But as I tried to run back onto the field and join the huddle after the tackle, I was bewildered by the inability to bend my knee. It would only flex so far, and then it would lock up." The injury would force Moore into a cast encasing his leg from his ankle to his knee, causing him to lose half the 1962 season and ending his consecutive starts streak at 73 games. Moore lost his starting job in 1963. He rebounded in 1964 with his greatest overall season, scoring 20 touchdowns to lead the league in scoring and helping to lead the Colts to a 12–2 regular-season record and a trip to the NFL Championship Game for the third time in seven years. He was named Comeback Player of the Year and voted
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
by his fellow players, remarkable achievements considering he'd played most of the season with complications from appendicitis, and reinforcing his reputation as one of the toughest players in the NFL. Moore scored a touchdown in an NFL-record 17 consecutive appearances starting in 1963 and continuing through the entire 1964 season, ending in 1965. This record stood for 40 years until being equaled by
LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979), nicknamed "LT", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college football career with the T ...
in 2005. Because his streak was interrupted by a five-game absence due to injury in 1963, he does not hold the NFL record for scoring a touchdown in a team's consecutive games, only in games which he appeared.


Race and football

Moore faced the difficult task of being an African American in the NFL during the 1950s and 1960s. Most teams averaged about six African American players on their roster during his time in the league. His race also came into question after his retirement in 1968 when he was not given a long-term contract with CBS Television, ending his attempt to be the first black sports broadcaster for CBS. Moore occasionally speaks to student groups about his experiences as a black football player during an era when, in the words of ''
Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...
'' sportswriter Rick Maese, "Moore could travel with his teammates but couldn't always eat in the same restaurant, couldn't always stay at the same hotel, couldn't always fraternize with them the same way out of the locker room as he had in it." "There was never anybody ever closer than me and the guys that I played football with on that Baltimore team – on the field," Moore told the ''Sun.'' "We were just like glue. One for all, all for one." But "once they blew the whistle and the game was over, they (the white players) went their way, we (the black players) went our way. We split. It was race." Fellow NFL player
Ollie Matson Ollie Genoa Matson II (May 1, 1930 – February 19, 2011) was an American Olympic medal winning sprinter and professional football player. He played as a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL) from 1952 t ...
mentored Moore and warned him that "'they're going to call you the big N. You're going to hear it all. So don't get yourself all worked up, because it's going to happen.'"


Legacy

Moore retired from professional football after the 1967 season. In 12 seasons and 143 regular-season games he scored 111 total touchdowns, accumulated 11,213 total yards from scrimmage, made seven Pro Bowls, and five all-NFL teams. His uniform number 24 was retired by Baltimore, and in 1969 a sportswriters' poll named him to the NFL's 50th Anniversary Team. In 1975 Moore was elected to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
, and was named to the NFL's 1950s All Decade Team. In 1999, ''
The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
ranked Moore 71st on its list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2021, ''The Athletic'' listed him as the 92nd greatest player ever. He is the only player in NFL history to have at least 40 receiving touchdowns and 40 rushing touchdowns.
Football Outsiders Football Outsiders (FO) was a website started in July 2003 which focused on advanced statistical analysis of the National Football League (NFL). The site was run by a staff of regular writers, who produced a series of weekly columns using both t ...
, in their book ''Pro Football Prospectus 2007'', named six of his seasons among the top 500 running back seasons of all time, which was tied for the 5th most seasons among the top 500 of any player. Moore's retired number is honored along with all of the other Baltimore Colts retired numbers in M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the Baltimore Ravens. On January 19, 2008, Moore was inducted into the
East-West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...
Hall of Fame class. Moore was an honorary captain for Penn State's game versus Syracuse on September 12, 2009. It was the first time a former Penn State player had been invited to participate in the pre-game coin toss. Moore is a member of
The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. The Pigskin Club of Washington is an American sports organization based in the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia. Founded in 1938 by Dr. Charles B. Fisher, a former football player at Howard University, it is one of the oldest African Ameri ...
National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll. Moore retired in 2010 from the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services after 26 years of service. His job with the state included traveling to middle and high schools, mixing and mingling with at-risk children, trying to keep them straight. He was a keynote speaker for churches, organizations and youth groups, teaching children and adults about the risks of drugs and he worked to improve the lives of troubled teens. On October 8, 2013, Moore had a road in Baltimore County named after him in his honor. Moore's charity work includes raising money for the fight against
scleroderma Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas ...
. He holds an annual benefit dinner in memory of his son Leslie, who died at 43 of that disease.


NFL career statistics


Notes and references


Further reading

* Lenny Moore with Jeffrey Jay Ellish, All Things Being Equal: The Autobiography of Lenny Moore. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC, 2005. * George Sullivan, ''The Great Running Backs.'' New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1972; pp. 107–113.


External links

* *
"Lenny Moore,"
NFL Films via YouTube.com. (Video.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Lenny 1933 births Living people Players of American football from Reading, Pennsylvania American football halfbacks Penn State Nittany Lions football players Baltimore Colts players NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year winners Western Conference Pro Bowl players Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees NFL announcers 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen NFL players with retired numbers NFL Comeback Player of the Year winners