Almost immediately after winning the Heisman Trophy, Tim Tebow, holding firm on the hardware on a New York stage and the sporting world watching his every move, was handed a cell phone.
It wasn't his mother on the other line, or any of his hometown buddies. It was Carl Moore.
"Carl!" the Florida quarterback practically yelled to the Sierra College receiver planted on his mother's couch near Placerville, "I just won the Heisman! Come on down here, and let's win a national championship!"
Moore thanked the quarterback for the chat and urged him to phone his mother before she caught wind of this. Might that be Tebow's first hookup with Moore? At the very least, it was another spin on an otherwise whirlwind recruiting session for Moore, the community college All-American receiver who graduated from Cordova High School. Florida coach Urban Meyer placed the call and then placed the device in the hands of Tebow.
Within a week of the Heisman presentation Dec. 8, Moore gave the Gators their much-coveted verbal commitment. Upon hearing this bit of news from Moore, Gators assistant coach Billy Gonzalez burst out of his house, cell phone in hand, and high-tailed it down the cul-de-sac, yelling, "I got him! I got him!"
"I heard the whole thing," Moore said, "and the neighbors were asking, 'Billy, you OK?' "
Moore is quite a catch, every bit a difference-maker with sure hands, blazing speed, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame – all at the disposal of the returning Heisman winner. But a verbal commitment is not binding, meaning Moore still is legal and live game. He will sign his official letter of intent Wednesday, insisting, "I'm going to be a Gator."
But not officially until the letter is faxed back to the coaches' offices in Gainesville. And to that end, USC and Cal have maintained a full-court press on the five-star recruit.
Recruiters from USC and Cal continue to sweet-talk Moore. They still tell him over the phone and in text messages how great he is, how good a diploma from their school would look on a résumé, that he is destined for the NFL, especially if he comes their way. Cal coach Jeff Tedford stopped by Sierra College two days after Moore committed to Florida, just to be sure, just to check in. On Monday afternoon, before a workout at Velocity Sports Performance, Moore scanned his cell. Sure enough, a missed call from Tedford.
A day after Tedford stopped by Sierra, Moore came home to find USC coach Pete Carroll charming Moore's mother, Jackie, on the back patio.
"I was like, Wow, that's coach Carroll talking to my mom," Moore said Monday. "It was neat, but crazy."
Moore had visited USC in October and gave a "semi-commitment" after "they threw out the red carpet for me." Carroll paraded Moore around Heritage Hall and warned the receiver he might need to squint at the sight of all the Heisman Trophies and national championship hardware. Moore said the program even promised him jersey No. 6 – his favorite number – if he wanted it. Never mind that quarterback Mark Sanchez already had it. He dined at expensive restaurants with coaches and was housed at a five-star hotel. And he was trucked around Hollywood by Warren Sapp, who just happened to be at USC that day. The Raiders defensive tackle has no connections to the program otherwise.
"Warren Sapp!" Moore said. "Just me and him in his Escalade. Great guy. … I really thought about USC, how I could help them."
Cal also was right there. Logistically, it made perfect sense. Close to home, close to his mother, who raised him and daughter Jessica alone. Though committed to Florida, Moore still took a recruiting visit to the Berkeley campus over the weekend.
Friday's festivities included dinner at Tedford's house and a hearty meal of steak, buffalo wings and "the biggest shrimp I've ever seen," Moore said. Saturday, it was more dining in San Francisco and a lot of chatter about the benefits of Berkeley.
Sunday, a breakfast buffet and more talk of Cal, of how Moore would be the program's next star receiver, that he could take over for DeSean Jackson, whom Moore was told "is headed to the NFL draft." What's more, Moore's high school pal James Montgomery, a Bears tailback, also was trying to get a commitment.
"Tedford's real good, fun to talk to," Moore said. "He told me it'd be a mistake if I went to Florida, that I should come to Cal. I thought about it."
On the drive home Sunday, Moore was firm – still the Gators.
Two things sealed it for Florida, Moore said: instincts he shared with his mother, and Florida willing to budge a bit more. Moore said if the Gators could grant a gymnastics scholarship to girlfriend Maranda Smith, he was headed to the Sunshine State. And yes, Smith is a gymnast, having earned a scholarship to UCLA out of high school. Moore said he will head to Florida next month, days after graduating from Sierra. He got out of Sierra in 18 months by dedicating himself after a so-so academic showing at Cordova and piling on the units each semester. He has treated the recruiting process as something of a national job interview.
"He's a different kid than he was in high school – mature, grown up," said Jackie, a data processing manager for the Department of Transportation. "He's up every morning at 6 to work out or go to school. It's a dream of his to play in college like this. I'm so proud of him. I would turn blue in the face getting on him about school at Cordova, but after a while he has to do it himself, and he did. He's on his way."
To Florida. Mom and son will drive together within the month.
"It'd better be Florida," Jackie cracked. "Otherwise the apartment I just rented for him becomes my new vacation home."
Call The Bee's Joe Davidson, (916) 321-1280.
