Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 11, 1992 TAG: 9201110234
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MOORE PLAYING TIME WOULD SUIT LION FINE
On the biggest day of his brief National Football League career, Herman Moore wasn't sure what kind of role he would play until 15 minutes before game time.Moore, a rookie wide receiver from Virginia, had been told by the Detroit Lions' coaches to be ready in case starter Robert Clark could not play.
"He was injured in the walk-through [a non-contact drill], and I didn't think it was that severe," Moore said. "They thought he might be able to stretch it out during warm-ups."
Clark was second on the team in receptions during the regular season with 47, six for touchdowns, but the Lions hardly noticed he was missing. Moore had six catches for 87 yards, including his first touchdown of the season, as the Lions trounced the Dallas Cowboys 38-6 last Sunday.
Detroit (13-4) will play the Washington Redskins (15-2) for the NFC championship Sunday at 4 p.m. at RFK Stadium.
"This week Coach [Wayne] Fontes is still going to play me regardless of whether Clark is injured or not," Moore said. "But it's not like college, where if you can't practice by a certain point, you don't play. If he's ready to go Sunday, he plays."
The Lions frequently employ four wide receivers in their Silver Streak offense, a variation of the run-and-shoot, but playing time has come sporadically for Moore, the 10th player selected in the NFL draft last spring.
"A lot of people have asked, `Why aren't you playing?' " said Moore, who had 11 receptions for 135 yards during the regular season. "It's not because of my performance in practice. I've been doing well in practice since the start of the season.
"Once the chemistry got going, it didn't make sense for the coaches to change things. I had to take a back seat."
Fontes has predicted a bright future for Moore, but it's uncertain when - and how - his playing time will increase. Moore is the top backup at the outside spots manned by Clark, 26, and Willie Green, 25.
"I don't think a person would be picked where I was picked just to be sitting around," said Moore, originally from Danville. "I don't think that was their plan. I don't think that will be their plan next season."
Moore got off to a slow start in the preseason when he mysteriously started dropping passes, a condition that was remedied after he was fitted for contact lenses.
"I was catching 60-yard bombs and coming across the middle and plucking the ball out of the air," Moore said, "but on some of the little 3-yard routes, I totally lost the ball. I could hardly get my hand on the ball and, when I did, I couldn't hold onto it.
"I wish I had gotten my eyes checked sooner. It set me back. Now, a lot of other players are seeing the same things I did. I was having a problem with depth perception, but the lights in the corner of the end zone are so bright that, when passes are thrown a certain way, they can almost blind you."
The low point of the season for Moore was in the opening game. He did not play until the end of the third quarter and did not have a reception as Washington drubbed the Lions 45-0 at RFK.
"I think a lot of guys believed we had a chance to salvage our season and still finish on a winning note," Moore said. "We knew we were in for a long season if we didn't. But I don't think anybody at that point was thinking conference championship or division championship."
Moore's only prediction on Sunday's game is that the final score will not be 45-0.
"I look at the team as opposed to the first game - Barry [Sanders] was out, the defensive scheme was different, the offense was basic," Moore said. "It's a totally different team, a totally different motivation.
"Then, it was just a game. It wasn't going to make or break our season."
Many have traced Detroit's resurgence to an injury to offensive guard Mike Utley, who was paralyzed from the waist down Nov. 17. The Lions, who adopted the "Thumbs Up" motto in honor of Utley, are 7-0 since his loss.
"For a lot of us standing on the sidelines, no one realized it was as serious as it turned out," Moore said. "When we found out the next day that he was paralyzed, it made each of us re-evaluate himself and say, `We can give a little bit more. Here's a guy who's not going to be able to play - even walk - for the rest of his life. The rest of us have our health and we need to take advantage of it.' "
Moore could have had the best intentions in the world, however, and it wasn't going to matter if he never got on the field.
"It gets frustrating, especially when the coaches are continuously telling you how well you're doing and you're not getting any playing time," Moore said.
Moore was left to wonder why the Lions would commit a high draft pick to a wide receiver when there already was such depth at the position.
"I didn't understand at first what the rhyme or reason of drafting me was if they had no intention of playing me," he said. "This offense features more of a possession-type receiver, and those kind of players are available later in the draft."
Although he does not have blinding speed, Moore was a big-play receiver at Virginia, where he scored 27 touchdowns and had 20 receptions for 40 yards or more.
"We don't go deep that much," said Moore, whose listed height has dropped from 6 feet 5 to 6-3 since college. "We run a lot of shorter routes to keep the defense guessing. So, you wouldn't have thought they'd be looking for an explosive-type receiver. I thought Pittsburgh needed receivers more."
One move Moore does not question is his decision to pass up his final season of eligibility at Virginia, where he was a consensus All-American in 1990 as a redshirt junior.
"Things could have been totally the opposite if I had stayed," said Moore, a May graduate. "I could have sustained an injury; things could have been disastrous. I never once second-guessed myself."