Moore having to improvise with workouts
Unlike hundreds of high school football players across the state of Texas, Rowlett defensive end and Texas A&M commit Damontre Moore is not working out at his high school right now. However, this should not be any cause for alarm for Aggie fans.
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"[Rowlett] give us the month off and then they will have a camp up there in July for us," said the 6-foot-6, 222-pound Moore. "We start workouts in August so they want us to try to come in July which will get us in shape."
As a result, Moore has found another way to get in his workouts.
"Actually, I have been going to Dallas Skyline to work out," said Moore. "My pastor's son is transferring from Rowlett to Skyline and I take him up there. It's been me and their guys over there. They have been real cool about it since I can't work out yet at Rowlett."
Mind you, there's nothing easy about either the drive or the workouts themselves. An interview with Skyline linebacker and fellow A&M commit Domonique Patterson indicated that the air conditioning in their workout facility had failed last fall, which means that current workouts are taking place in near 100-degree heat.
"Oh, it's real hot in there," said Moore with a laugh. "You are going to work up a real big sweat and sweat out some pounds. I appreciate the opportunity to work out with them anyway. I lift and then run 12 minutes nonstop. After that, the receivers go out there and I work out with their receivers."
In addition to working out and improving his physical ability, Moore has been attempting to improve his technique as well. He participated in a National Underclassmen Combine in April and then went to one of A&M's camps earlier this month.
"It was real good," said Moore of the Aggie one-day camp. "The only commits there were Jameill Showers and myself. I got a chance to work with the coaches and they gave me a couple of pointers.
"They were telling me about getting leverage and getting lower, to extend my arms so I could fight around the tackle. They filmed us and they told me that I should take full advantage of my speed to get around people. We could work on the other stuff later."
Moore is planning on attending another camp in late June and does not think that he will be able to make any other camps this summer. He regrets that because virtually all of A&M's commits in the 2010 class will be at the one-day camp on July 13.
"Jameill and I were at the June camp and I have been hanging out with Domonique, too," he said. "We have been talking to other commits. Everyone that I have talked to is planning going on down there like the Joeckel brothers, Ben (Malena), and Domonique."
In the meantime, Moore is working on two goals this summer and fall. He feels that one will be directly related to the success of the other.
"If I have a real good year, I hope I get invited to an all-star game," he said. "It's a personal goal, but it will also help the team out. I've already accomplished the goal to get a scholarship.
"[Rowlett wants] to prove people wrong. Some people don't think that we will be very good since we lost the starting quarterback and Marquise (Goodwin, a receiver). They weren't just the whole team. We have got some good talent coming in. We're excited about all of the people that are moving up from the freshman team. It's a pretty good feeling and hopefully we can go all the way to state."
Given Moore's length and speed, he could be a very versatile player on the Aggie defense, playing either defensive end or the new "jack" position.
"They recruited me as both," he said. "As quick as I am, I can play the jack or defensive end. They will start me out at the jack. They said that I was as quick in person (at the camp) as I was in my video."
Moore was originally hoping to graduate in December so that he could enroll at A&M in January 2010. However, he lost some credits when he transferred into Rowlett two years ago and can no longer do that without dropping football.