Atlanta Falcons' William Moore's approach is with common sense and no expectations

July 2, 10:08 AMAtlanta Falcons ExaminerDaniel Cox

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William Moore, center, AP Photo/L.G. Patterson

 Every summer for the last 12 years, the NFL gathers its rookies in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida for some quality time.

For the rookies, it's less of a vacation and more time spent being force fed a lifetime's lessons and warnings in 3 1/2 days.

The NFL sees it as a 'Scared Straight' convention and most of the 250-plus players present heed the lessons taught at the symposium.

This year's was as focused as ever which is to be expected with a handful of the league's players finding themselves in unwanted spotlights lately.

The symposium covers every topic imaginable from sex education to finances in an effort to prevent today's rookies from repeating the mistakes of yesterdays, while at the same time continuing to polish the image of the league.

Former and current players alike make appearances at the gathering to share their own stories of poor judgment turning for the worst, overcoming the perceived charmed life of a well paid young athlete, and tips on the day-to-day life of an NFL player.

Atlanta's wide receiver Harry Douglas made an appearance at a panel discussion on Sunday night. He was flashing some large diamond earrings, something not uncommon for a player of his age and income level. But his message to the players was simple: be mindful of how you spend your money.

The twist on Douglas' story was that the earrings were fake, proving two points: most people assume he'd have real ones and the real ones aren't worth it because no one would ever know the difference.

Former wide receiver Chris Carter delivered an explosive presentation on Wednesday, reminding the players of his own personal mistakes, pointing out that players like he and Michael Irvin may not have lasted very long in today's NFL, with Commissioner Roger Goodell showing little patience for players who land in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

His message was succinct and powerful, telling the players that the NFL is a lot different from college, calling it a "grown man's league."

He also stressed the importance of seizing the opportunity before them. For many of them, they've been working toward the chance to play in the NFL their whole life.

"This is your time," Carter told the rookies. "...You were born for this day."

Atlanta Falcons' rookie safety William Moore has been listening to all the messages. He told Atlanta's AM 680 (The Fan) on Tuesday that much of it should be common sense, but the lessons are still very valuable, no matter how many times they've heard it.

"We're down here a total of four days. We're touching on different subjects as far as saying no to family and friends, as far as the finances we're coming into as NFL players, and also take care of your business," Moore said. "You're here to play football. The game hasn't changed. At the end of the day, it's going to be football but there's going to be a lot of distractions. A lot of life lessons."

He's obviously been paying attention to the outcome of some of his fellow players around the league. Getting caught up in the fame and fortune can be a quick path to handcuffs. He understands living in Atlanta (he compared it to Hollywood) and being well paid and young could offer temptations the normal 20-something-year-old may not experience.

"We're 21-25-year-old young males who are coming into a whole 'nother lifestyle. It's going to be brand new and overwhelming to most of us. Especially me, I come from nothing and it's all brand new to me. But common sense kicks in somewhat. You know there are some good people out there and you've got to be around those good people."

One of those good people he's been spending time with is Kevin Winston, Atlanta's Senior Director of Player Development. Listening to Moore speak about Winston is like hearing someone speak in awe of an older sibling who routinely goes out of his way to help.

"If it weren't for him, we'd be mentally broken down by now. He definitely keeps us organized and gives us hints as far as the financial education," Moore said of Winston. "We have so many meetings, but not once have I heard any one of these rookies complain about the meetings because we know we're going to need those lessons later on in our careers."

While many of the rookies are hearing and learning these lessons for the first time, the 24-year-old Missouri native credits the Falcons with making sure he and the other rookies had already been exposed to this long before the symposium.

"...We thank Kevin everyday and half the stuff we've heard at the symposium we've already heard before. But we're taking more notes...you can never get enough of hearing stuff that you need to know."

Listening to Moore speak about learning and listening to those that know what they're talking about you get the sense that he's one of those rookies with his nose buried in the playbook every chance he gets and the rest of the time he's talking with vets to see what he can learn.

He's a player with his head on straight, not needing it to be scared straight. He takes in all the information, filing away the information he'll need when the paychecks start rolling in.

But some of the other stuff? He's listening, but Moore believes he's already been taught the simple right and wrong rules.

"I mean it's nothing that I didn't have common sense about," Moore said of the cautionary tales delivered to the rookies about drinking and driving, drug use, and other illegal decisions.

There is one thing he's heard a lot about, but on which he's decided to follow his own instincts.

It seems everyone has told him what to expect from training camp and his rookie season. He's heard so much in fact that he's decided not to expect anything. He plans to simply go in, work hard, and have no expectations, which seems to fairly sum up Moore as a ball player and a person. 

"I'm just going to play ball. I don't know what to expect," he said.

Hard working, focused, and straight-and-narrow. It's exactly what you want out of a safety. 

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