| . Now the Indianapolis Colts cornerback has a starting job and a lucrative new contract.Less than three years after entering the league as an undrafted rookie Anthony Castonzo Jersey , Moore was rewarded by the Colts with a four-year deal that will keep their top three cornerbacks together through 2021.Financial details were not immediately available, but NFL Network reported the deal would make Moore the league’s highest-paid slot cornerback.“There’s a lot of odds against you, but it’s possible (to make it),” he said Friday after the team’s final offseason workout. “They believe in me.”It’s a remarkable ascension for Moore, who didn’t play high school football until his senior year. That came at the urging of a friend, who lost his starting job when he was booted off the team. Moore considered joining the Air Force after high school but played at his hometown college of Valdosta State in Georgia. He appeared in 46 games, including 10 as a freshman.But at 5-foot-9, Moore was overlooked by NFL scouts.Instead, he signed with New England as an undrafted rookie in May 2017, was released during September’s final cutdown and was claimed by the Colts off waivers the next day — after a team scout convinced general manager Chris Ballard that Moore’s long arms made up for his lack of height.He made an immediate impression.Moore recorded 37 tackles in 16 games as a rookie. Last season, he won the starting job, led the team with three interceptions and finished fifth with 77 tackles.That was all Ballard and coach Frank Reich needed to see.“Kenny is the consummate pro,” Reich said. “It’s not only a high level of play, it’s the consistency of play that I really think he embodies. We saw his play-making ability last year on the ball, sack, blitzer, but just really the way he brings that energy every day out at practice. And in the community, he’s a leader.”Moore could have become a restricted free agent in March, but apparently Ballard didn’t want to take the risk.So he stuck to his philosophy of re-signing Colts players first, even after using a second-round draft pick on cornerback Rock Ya-Sin in April. Ballard has given three players — Moore, punter Rigoberto Sanchez and long snapper Luke Rhodes — contract extensions in the last week.“He has made it clear that those three guys are what being a Colt is all about,” Reich said. “I’m so excited for them. I think that sends the right message. Those are the kinds of guys you want around for the long term.”Keeping Moore should give the secondary some long-term continuity.Pierre Desir Ryan Kelly Color Rush Jersey , the other starting cornerback, signed a three-year deal in March. Ya-Sin already has signed his three-year rookie contract and Moore has his big deal, too.“Along the process, I grew a passion for (football), I grew a love for it,” he said. “I learned how to believe in myself, to trust myself, in my own ability.”97<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:2018-19 NBA cheerleadersJoe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports | Joe Camporeale EAST HANOVER, N.J. (AP) — At 43, Baylor coach Matt Rhule is far removed from a playing career. That doesn’t mean he won’t run the gauntlet with his guys to prove a point.When Rhule was helping turn around the program at Temple, he already had many of his players outfitted with XTECH shoulder pads, a revolutionary protective device that is gaining traction on all levels of football.“I even wore the XTECH pads and went through bull-in-the-ring while I was at Temple,” he recalls, “and I can tell you that the next day I felt less sore than I should have felt.”That’s the refrain from many a player, including NFL stars such as Khalil Mack, Matt Ryan, Odell Beckham Jr., and Andrew Luck — who missed an entire season because of shoulder issues.“I had a unique history after being at the New York Giants where several players wore the XTECH pads ,” says Rhule, who left Temple for Baylor in 2016. “Then Muhammad Wilkerson, who played for me at Temple, was a proponent of the pads. I had a chance to see them work firsthand. When we went to Temple https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Margus-Hunt-Jersey , we put them on several guys, and they all had positive reviews. Shoulder injuries went down. Upon coming to Baylor, we had a chance to implement the same thing. We’ve watched our occurrence of injuries and postseason surgeries come down subsequently.“The pads have been shown to work at a high level, and we have had tremendous personal success with them. The vast majority of our players have enjoyed the pads and appreciated the commitment to their health and welfare. I’ve even had other coaches reach out to me over the years to ask about them.”That seems to be the reaction from high schools — famed Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California, originally bought three sets and now the entire team is wearing XTECH — to college, where company co-founder Bob Broderick says close to 500 schools across all levels have players suiting up in the pads, with virtually the entire Washington State roster using them.Dozens of players at the likes of Michigan, Penn State, Syracuse, Mississippi and Notre Dame use the pads.As for the pros — the NFL does not survey shoulder pads as it does helmets — Patriots running back James White, in the midst of the finest season of his five-year career, says: “I like that the pads are light and give me a lot of range to move my arms. But at the same time, they give me all the protection my shoulders need. I’ve always given thought to my shoulder pads because as a person who runs and catches the football, I feel like you should have the right pads to help you get your job done.”XTECH has been on the job for six years, though the work staff is small: 11 full-timers, seven part-timers. That could be increased as Broderick and co-founder Ted Monica break into the European market; there are distribution deals in place for January to expand in Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Also next year, XTECH will make available its first five-padded girdle; most states require all high school football players to wear a five-padded girdle.Their Cover-2 Program works with NFL teams, current and former coaches and players to buy pads and donate them back to their high schools. Zach Ertz, Melvin Gordon and the McCourty brothers have done so, and the Giants donated equipment to the New York Police Department’s football squad.Monica has worked in the football equipment world for nearly 38 years. He custom designs every pad Peyton Manning Jersey , which Broderick says are the only pads made entirely in the United States.What makes those pads stand out?The patented design features the only dual-cantilever system on the market, an adjustable three-piece body system that allows each pad to fit the player’s body at the proper angle while creating a natural channel for the AC joint to sit in. On the performance side, a three-point swivel system allows for enhanced range of motion, and air flow occurs into the front and back to work in conjunction with uniforms, allowing for maximum ventilation.Additionally, XTECH uses XRD Technology, which is well known in the military space and is the foam XTECH uses in the entire pad. XRD, a division of Rogers Corporation, has a multi-year exclusive partnership with XTECH for American football. Monica calls it “smart foam,” which is water resistant as well as highly protective and durable.The majority of the shoulder pad industry uses foam from China and an “air management” system which was developed in the 1970s. Think of a pillow and every time you hit it air goes out the side, and it compresses down and is therefore less protective for the subsequent hit.According to many of the players using XTech’s pads, that’s never been a concern.Recent company addition Brooks Barnard is the vice president of sales and left Under Armour after 12 years overseeing its high school properties to join XTECH. He was attracted by XTech’s implementing “an idea that was disruptive and challenged a predictable way of thinking.”“As I spent time in locker rooms across the country, I noticed the XTECH brand growing in popularity with elite athletes as their choice of pads to wear on Friday nights,” he says. “The design of XTECH naturally captures your attention and automatically engages any football mind. It was evident that XTECH was sought by top players at the NFL and NCAA level and a groundswell was happening at the high school level. Several of the nationally ranked programs in the country already had players in XTECH and I witnessed first-hand what top recruits were saying about the pad.”If anyone needs a reliable shoulder pad, naturally it is Luck. The first overall selection in the 2012 draft and the Colts‘ franchise QB since then never suited up in 2017. He’s back now and having a strong season despite a general dearth of talent around him.Luck is intrigued by technology, but his reasons for switching to XTECH appear simpler.“Just a little lighter,” Luck says. “Been wearing the same shoulder pads and thought I’d try a new one out. It didn’t come from a place that I need something different, I need more protection. It was just some new technology that our equipment managers came to me about and it’s worked well so far.” |
