Second in a five-part series

By Roy Mitchell, Cherokee County Post Herald

In the mid-1990s, Cedar Bluff athletic teams roared through the state like a tornado, often sending opposing teams for cover. At the center of the storm stood a natural in Tyrone Moore.

At 5-foot-8, this sparkplug of an athlete excelled at literally every sport, even the ones he barely trained for. The star running back not only led the Tigers to its first undefeated regular season in 34 football seasons, he also played point guard on a Sweet 16 basketball team, third base on consecutive 20-win baseball teams, and sprinter on a track team that won four straight county championships.

On June 6, Moore will be recognized for his individual success. He will be inducted into the Cherokee County Sports Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Richard Lindsey Arena on the campus of Gadsden State Cherokee in Centre.

The star athlete remains humble and credits athletes in the classes above him.

“In Cedar Bluff at the time we had a lot of good leaders,” Moore said. “Devlin Clifton, Howard Long, Jonathan McWhorter, Eric Garner, Joey McElroy, they made sure I didn’t get involved in drugs or alcohol and that I wasn’t in the wrong place. They really took care of me.”

While Moore excelled in all sports, he’s widely known for his gridiron prowess. At the end of his freshman year in 1995, then-coach Bobby Mintz pulled the starting outside linebacker into his office.

“He said that I couldn’t go to college taking the courses I was in,” relayed Moore, who had been in special education classes. “We had some juniors and seniors that were just as good as me on defense, but they couldn’t remember the plays. He said that my comprehension level was very high, and that I didn’t have a learning disability.”

The conversation lit a fire under the ninth grader who had college aspirations.

“Two weeks later,” Moore said. “I tested out of special education. Years later I got to play college football, and I graduated college. That talk with Coach Mintz was the key to all that.”
By Moore’s sophomore year, Mintz went into administration and the Tigers hired a new football coach.

“Steve Smith came my sophomore year,” said Moore. “It was a new system, a new way of doing things. Smith was a very smart guy, and it turned out pretty good in the end.”

While the team went 2-8 Smith’s first year, the Tigers turned it around their next two seasons, posting an 8-4 mark, then an 11-1 record.

“Everything was at its pinnacle toward the end of my junior and senior year,” said Moore. “The ship was turning. Coach Smith had everything going in the right direction. I played two years of college ball, and my high school coaches ran a better program than we ran in college.”

The coaching staff also included Dewayne Pierce, Jason Howard – who Moore called “one of the best motivators to walk the earth” – and Joe Carpenter, whose defensive schemes padded Moore’s stats.

“My junior year we got beat by Sand Rock, and we didn’t get much pressure on the quarterback,” said Moore. “After that, Carpenter became a mad scientist. We blitzed every play. That’s why I had so many tackles and sacks. I could have run for 250 yards on the offensive side, and Coach Carpenter would still dial up a blitz for me.”

Moore gained nearly 5,000 yards before the woman who raised him ever saw him play. His grandmother, Rosella Harkness, raised nine kids including Tyrone and his two sisters. On senior night she walked out with him onto the field.

“I broke down,” Moore said. “It was the first time she was able to come to a game because she was either working or had to take care of the family. They were tears of joy.”

The accolades accumulated for Moore.

In 1996 he was named the county’s Defensive Most Valuable Player. A year later, he was named the county’s Offensive MVP and a First Team All-State selection at running back. His 5,139 career yards still have him ranked in the top 50 all-time career high school rushing yards in the state of Alabama.

Moore even excelled at sports he didn’t practice much for.

“Since I played baseball, I didn’t have an opportunity to go to track practice,” said the three-time 100-yard and 200-yard dash county champion. “If I were to have dedicated just to run track, I could’ve been pretty good at that. In my senior year we won sectionals. That’s one of the sports I should have put some more time into.”

Moore’s 100-yard dash time placed fifth in the state his senior year.

Moore was recruited as a football player, ultimately signing with Missouri Valley State.

“Man, that place was a long way from home,” he said. “I thought I was a country boy. You get up in the Midwest there, and that’s really country. They had cornfields for miles and miles and miles. I’ve never seen so much corn in my life.”

The freshman not only fought his way up the depth chart and onto the field, he averaged 10 yards a carry, earning Heart of America Athletic Conference honorable mention.

Before his sophomore season, Moore transferred to the University of North Alabama in Florence, where he also got playing time.

Then injuries came.

“I kept pulling my hamstrings, first the right one then the left,” Moore said. “I’d get it rehabbed back up then my leg would fall out from under me again.”

It was the first real physical adversity Tyrone had experienced.

“We were losing, and the coach was pushing me to get back out there. I didn’t know how to deal with it all. I got behind on my school work and went through some hard times. It was overwhelming. I came home.”

Moore enrolled at Gadsden State and kept working out, opting the next year to walk-on at the University of Alabama. Before he had the chance, Moore’s hamstring tore, ending a stellar career. He earned a degree in business administration at Alabama with a concentration in health care management.

“I’d like to thank the Hall of Fame committee, Cedar Bluff alumni, and my great teammates for selecting me as a recipient of the award,” Moore said. “I have a son now and he’ll be able to see this award. I’m just an old country boy. I don’t ask for a lot, but I really appreciate this.”

Today Moore lives in Hoover, enjoying life with his fiance Jessica and his son, 3-year-old Peyton.