Kendall Moore‘s football career did not end as planned. The fifth-year senior never saw the playing field after being pulled from the team in August as part of an academic dishonesty probe that kept DaVaris Daniels, KeiVarae Russell and Ishaq Williams out for the 2014 season -- and school year -- as well. (Eilar Hardy returned to the team in late October.)
But Moore hopes that his football career isn’t over. And he spoke about the turbulence of the last six months with the South Bend Tribune’s Eric Hansen.
Moore will take part in this weekend’s College Gridiron Showcase, hoping that some team is willing to take a chance on the seldom-used linebacker who was stuck behind Manti Te’o, Dan Fox and Carlo Calabrese for most of his career.
“There was a while when I was thinking I’m never going to get another opportunity to strap up and do it,” Moore told Hansen. “To have this chance, however it turns out, just makes me feel super blessed and very humbled.”
Perhaps more interesting that any update on Moore’s football career is his take on the case of the Frozen Five.
Held in purgatory as the academic wheels of justice slowly churned at the university level, Moore was candid with Hansen about how he’ll discuss the probe that ultimately cost Moore his final season of eligibility and has kept Daniels, Russell and Williams off campus with a reported two-semester suspension.“I’ll just explain to them that with the whole investigation ... that what it all came down to was just a violation of school policy,” Moore said. “It wasn’t a cheating scandal. We violated a school policy as far as the honor code goes and as far as peer editing goes.
“It ended up being a situation where Notre Dame holds their academics to a high standard, and nobody’s getting mad about that. We knew the whole situation, what we were getting into as far as the whole high academic prowess and stuff.
“We all understood what was going on. We all said there were mistakes made on everybody’s part, and we’re just looking to move past it and get on to the next chapter of our lives.”
Moore also talked about the support he received from teammates and head coach Brian Kelly. While Kelly served as the university’s spokesman during the frustrating period where information and details of the Honor Code process were so hard to come by, he also supported Moore and will continue to do so.
“We had a chance to talk after their season ended,” Moore told Hansen. “Coach Kelly told me they’d welcome me back with open arms, and that I’m still a Notre Dame guy, a Notre Dame grad.”
The whole column is worth a read, shedding light on a difficult situation while also reminding fans that Moore is a terrific representative of the university.