North Carolina State inside linebacker Isaiah Moore is one of the easiest guys to root for. A sixth-year senior, Moore is not only a great football player, but he’s also a great leader and person. Moore recently spoke to Steelers Depot at the East-West Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas about his growth as a football player and person throughout his time at school.
To start, Moore is a heck of a player. Coming in a 6’2″ and 234 pounds, he is built like a prototypical inside linebacker and has used his size to rack up some impressive stats. A redshirt senior, Moore recorded 341 career tackles, 11.5 career sacks, 43.5 tackles for a loss in five seasons. In his second year at NC State, he was given the green dot which meant he called the plays on defense. In 2020, he was voted team captain. He would keep the captaincy the rest of his collegiate career.
Given the green dot in his first year starting is rare. You don’t see many redshirt freshman across the country given play-calling duties on the defensive side of the ball, but it showed the trust the NC State coaches had in Moore early on.
“It’s just another thing I don’t take for granted,” Moore said to Steelers Depot. “It comes with a lot of responsibility that my coaches place on me and then my teammates as well.”
Moore spearheaded a very good defensive unit that finished 15th in the country in points allowed per game with 20.5. This season he put up impressive numbers, recording 82 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, three sacks, and four pass breakups. This saw him placed on the Honorable Mention All-ACC Team.
College production isn’t everything though, and lots of great players have elite traits that make them special. Troy Polamalu was super instinctual, Tyreek Hill is insanely fast, and Luke Kuechly was always a step ahead due to his football IQ. Moore thinks his best trait is who he is as a person. You have to be a good leader and person to be captain, but Moore goes above and beyond.
After George Floyd’s death in May of 2020, Moore started his own non-profit student-led organization on campus at NC State called Pack United.
“[At] NC State I was able to start a fully operating non-profit student student-led organization called Pack United,” Moore said. “It started as a response to the death of George Floyd in 2020 and it’s now grown into an organization that takes in donations. We put on programs that focus housing security, food insecurity, social justice. It’s a variety of things. So we do a lot through it.”
If you’d like to read more about Pack United, click the link attached.
Despite being a great person and a productive college athlete, Moore’s collegiate career did not really go as he expected. Moore planned on leaving school in 2021 but a season-ending knee injury derailed that and led to him returning in 2022. Instead of entering the draft last year, at 22 years old, he had to wait one more season and is now entering it at 23 after a long year of rehab. Moore called it a humbling experience.
“It was a very humbling experience. I mean, I put a lot going into that 2021 season. I put a lot into it,” Moore said. “I for sure thought that it was going to be my year, I would have a great year and I was going to leave. And I think I was playing the best football of my career leading up to the injury so it was very humbling. I think it also allowed me to just get back to my roots. Just go back to work, go back to everything that got me to sit to where I was and I think I’m better for it.”
Moore is right that he was having a great year before the injury. In seven games played, he recorded 43 tackles, five tackles for a loss, one sack, and four pass breakups.
Now, Moore has a chance to show what he can do at the Shrine Bowl. Moore is on the West team, overseen by Bill Belichick and coached by the New England Patriots staff. He has a week to work with the Patriots staff and show scouts from every single NFL team what he can do in a week of practices and a game. It is the perfect opportunity for him to raise his draft stock in front of many important people.
Moore also talked about how wherever he goes he wants to impact their community like he did at NC State. He desires to make an impact off the field that is as big or even bigger than he has on the field.
“I think any NFL team that were to pick me, I would try and make that place better. And that’s a big thing. My big thing is anyone room I step into it will leave everyone better than I found it.”
Wherever Moore lands he will certainly impact on that community. If he ends up making a team do not be surprised if he wins the Walter Payton Man Of The Year Award one day. He truly is a leader on and off the field.
