Blue White Illustrated

A new Penn State football book by Lou Prato with a forward by Adam Taliaferro The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions Price: $14.95 plus shipping Published by Triumph Books (soft cover) Autographed copies available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-272-1853. Autographed copies of Lou's book We Are Penn State: The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions are still available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-272-1853. Price: $14.95 plus tax where applicable and shipping winner and now a CBS analyst, is credit- ed with creating the Joe Moore Award after a conversation with Ferentz a few years ago. He is the chairman of the award voting committee. "Coach Moore was a man of principle, and the principles he embodied helped us become the best versions of our- selves," Taylor said in the news release announcing the award. "His focus on toughness, teamwork and hard work helped us become better football players and made us better men. The Joe Moore Award is an appropriate symbol of that legacy." In that same news release, Barry Al- varez, Wisconsin's former football coach and current athletic director, also had high praise for Moore. Alvarez was Notre Dame's defensive coordinator and line- backers coach during Moore's first two seasons with the Irish. "Joe was the best teacher of offensive linemen who I've ever been around, and no one got more out of his players than Joe did," Alvarez said. "It is only right that this award honors Joe's name and his legacy." But it was at Notre Dame where Joe's illustrious career would end at age 64. After the 1996 season, Holtz's successor, Bob Davie, shockingly fired the veteran assistant coach, triggering an age-dis- crimination lawsuit and highly publi- cized trial. It was a classic example of betrayal and disloyalty. Moore had helped the much younger Davie get an assistant's job at Pitt during Sherrill's tenure, and then recommended Davie for the defensive coordinator position at Notre Dame in '93. The lawsuit went to trial and Moore won, with the jury awarding him a cash settlement. It's all chronicled in a well- respected 2001 book entitled "Personal Foul: Coach Joe Moore vs. The Universi- ty of Notre Dame." I remembered seeing Joe on the Irish sideline when they played Penn State in the early 1990s. I thought about trying to say hello, but I was just a fan then, and I didn't want to be embarrassed if he didn't remember me. Sometime after the lawsuit, Dave Put- man, a reporter for my hometown news- paper, the Indiana Evening Gazette, came to my Beaver Stadium tailgate near the soccer field. He took a photo of all the Indiana natives who were there (which was later published in the Gazette) and then told me he was Joe Moore's cousin. I didn't know that. He had told Joe about me and Joe wanted to come to one of my tailgates in the near future. I was quite enthused, and from that moment on I looked forward to re- newing my friendship with him. What I didn't know was that Joe was suffering from lung cancer. He never made it to my tailgate, passing away on July 3, 2003, at his home in suburban Pittsburgh. Joe's obituary in the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette included the perfect physical description of him. It was an excerpt from a 1983 profile in the Pittsburgh Press by Tom Wheatley: "At 51, Joe Moore is a man among men in a man's game. He has a leathery face, leathery ears and even leathery-looking hair. Above all, there is that matchless leath- ery voice." Before the creation of this new nation- al award for offensive lines, Joe was be- ing honored annually by some of his for- mer Pitt players. Grimm and Covert are the leaders of a group that operates the two-day Joe Moore O-Line Camp for high school players in early June at West Allegheny High School in suburban Pittsburgh. The camp just completed its fifth year. "Nobody [who coaches] gets paid to come to this camp," Grimm told a reporter from a Pitt-oriented website during the 2013 camp. Added Covert, "Guys come in from everywhere. Every year, we get about 25 to 30 guys. [Coach- ing at the camp] is just a good way to pay back for all the things [Moore] did for us." From now on, all of college football will know about the coaching greatness of Joe Moore. You missed a great tailgate, Joe, but you'll be happy to know Bad Rad and I also have become very good friends. Were you really as crazy as he is? Quit laughing, Joe. ■

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