New Falcons safety William Moore looks to lay the hits and the beats in Atlanta

April 30, 12:49 AMAtlanta Falcons ExaminerDaniel Cox

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William Moore, AP Photo

The Atlanta Falcons new safety is a man of many talents and he wants you to know all of them.

Not one to be scared of the spotlight, Moore emerged on the college football scene in 2007 when his eight interceptions led the nation. That season he also added 117 tackles, two sacks, nine tackles for loss, six pass break ups, and returned one interception for a touchdown.

2007 earned him All-American and All-Big 12 first-team honors and great expectations for his senior season in 2008.

It proved to be a tough season for Moore by his own standards. He finished the year with 86 tackles, one sack, 6.5 tackles for loss, forced three fumbles, one interception (returned for a touchdown), and had six pass break ups.

Not a bad season, but Moore was expecting more, had it not been for a few injuries. 

He started the '08 season recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and in the first game of the season he suffered a foot sprain. Later in the season, he had rib cartilage damage, suffered in a game against Oklahoma.

Playing through the injuries, his numbers fell in his senior season, as did his draft stock. Once considered a top-15 pick in the 2009 NFL draft, he was projected to go anywhere from the second round to the fourth once the offseason began.

While some franchises saw a risk, Falcons' General Manager Thomas Dimitroff saw value in Moore at the 55th pick in the second round.

Moore thinks it fell that way for a reason. He doesn't look back on what could have been, instead looking forward to playing, and hopefully starting, for the 2009 Atlanta Falcons.

He told Atlanta's AM 790 (The Zone)'s Mayhem in the A.M. on Sunday that the entire experience made him more prepared for the next level.

"I'm a strong believer of everything happens for a reason. I fought through a lot of injuries, and when I say 'fought,' I literally fought," Moore said of his senior season. "I didn't sit out. I kept going and I feel like that made me a tougher player. I'm really going to come in and show that I can play."

One of his new bosses, Dimitroff, already knew he could play and looks forward to what Moore can bring to Atlanta's young and rebuilding defense.

"He is a downhill, blow-you-up kind of tackler. He’s a guy that is very physical on the field, but he also has range," Dimitroff said of Moore. "He is a mid 4.4 guy so he has speed for us. This guy definitely brings speed and urgency to our football team and this defense.”

Moore is looking forward to the opportunity.

He expects to start at strong safety out of the box. But he knows everything he gets has to be earned.

"Coach laid it out there for me. It's my job from now on to learn my playbook and go in and play physical," Moore told 790. "It's on me now."

But football isn't Moore's only passion. Music is as well.

In high school, he was the director of the church choir and he played the tuba in the marching band.

It turns out he was a dual-threat in more ways than one on the football field (he was also a receiver and originally recruited for that position) in Hayti, Missouri.

During halftime on Friday nights, Moore would change into his marching uniform and perform with the band before rejoining the team for the second half.

In an October 17, 2007 article in the Columbian Missourian, Moore told reporter Jeff Birnbaum "I loved the band. My band instructor always told me if I didn't get a scholarship in football, I would have gotten one for band."

He didn't stop there. Not one to chose between his two passions, he brought his love of music to Missouri.

Moore told KOMU in Columbia, Missouri in August 2007 that his mother originally wanted him to choose one or the other.

"I always started to make the drum beats anywhere. My mom always said you gotta pick which one you want to do. Sports or rap? I said 'why not both.'"

Willy-Mo, as he's called on stage, started a rap group with some fellow athletes called "Rap-letes." He and the band have opened for such acts as Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Nelly.

The well-mannered (listen to him speak and you'll hear "yes sir" sprinkled in everywhere) 23-year-old is also compassionate.

Moved by the loss of teammate Aaron O'Neal, who died in 2005 during the team's summer workouts, Moore and the Missouri seniors hatched a plan during the 2008 season to pay tribute to O'Neal, culminating on senior night.

"When we came up with the plan, I wanted to play 25 on senior night," Moore told the Rocky Mountain News in November 2008. "It was kind of emotional. I started crying when I saw it. We did it for him."

Moore hopes to keep the memory of O'Neal alive even in his professional career by wearing the No. 25.

"I'm really trying to get it, and if not I'll get it some time," Moore told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "What I'm trying to do now is play for him."

Falcons' cornerback Von Hutchins currently wears No. 25. Moore has settled for 24, but it's a safe bet that he will do what is necessary to take that number off Hutchins' hands.

Moore's football hero growing up was seven-time NFL Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins, a player noted as much for his leadership and preparation as his talent.

The newest Atlanta Falcons safety believes he can provide a similar Dawkins-like influence to the young Falcons defense. He likens the building of the team to that of the program he joined in 2004.

Moore said in his 790 interview that coming to the Falcons is "similar to (my) college career when I first got to Missouri.  You just had a good feeling for the coaches. ...Also a young team where you can see the future of it and the success they're trying to build and I wanted to be a part of it."

He added, telling the AJC "It's like when I went to Missouri, I had the feeling, the players, the direction they're headed. I know I can go in and make an instant impact."

With the Falcons losing five starters from 2007 on defense, Moore hopes to bring his football skills to Atlanta in the role of the starting strong safety, but also his music chops to the city that is considered to be one of the hotbeds of rap talent.  

Everyone will be watching and listening.

Like he told 790, "I plan on coming in and making some noise instantly."

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