In Memoriam: Former Sooner All-American and Saints great Derland Moore dead at 68

After receiving a scholarship to throw the shot put, Moore walked onto the football team and became a two-time All-Big Eight defensive tackle and an NFL star

Photo: New Orleans Saints

Derland Moore, a 1972 All-American defensive lineman at the University of Oklahoma, died Thursday at 68 after a long illness.

The news was announced by his former NFL club, the New Orleans Saints.

Moore signed with OU as a track and field athlete, but walked onto Chuck Fairbanks’ football team and helped lay the foundation for Barry Switzer’s national championship squads in 1974 and ’75.

The Saints chose Moore in the second round in 1973, 29th overall, and he played 13 seasons in New Orleans before finishing his career in 1986 with the New York Jets.

The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Moore, a native of Malden, MO, played in 170 games for the Saints, including 146 starts, which ranked 10th in team history when he retired. He led the team in tackles in 1980 and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl in 1983. He’s in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the Saints Hall of Fame and was selected to the team’s 40th anniversary squad and in 2016 was named one of the franchise’s 50 greatest players.

“It was damn nice to be selected on the 50th team in New Orleans as the best of the best,” Moore said in a story published by the Saints. “That was a damn nice feeling. There are some good guys involved in that. John Hill was part of that. John passed away a year ago. John and I actually lived together for three years, so we were close friends. To be a part of it with him and Archie Manning, Stan Brock, Tommy Myers, Rickey Jackson and the rest of those guys was special.”

Moore also gained recognition as the highest-drafted former walk-on (a distinction now owned by former Sooner quarterback Baker Mayfield).

Derland Moore / Photo: New Orleans Saints

He thought about going to Missouri out of Poplar Bluff, MO, but chose OU because of an unlikely opportunity throwing the shot put.

“Track was my entry into college football,” Moore said. “I was involved in Junior Olympics in Poplar Bluff. A gentleman who was my mentor, Sam Giambelluca, was badgering my dad to have me do shot put. I hadn’t even practiced it that summer. I set the record and won the AAU meet there in Poplar Bluff. It just so happened that the regionals were at the University of Oklahoma.”

That’s where OU track coach J.D. Martin saw Moore and offered him a full scholarship.

“My God, Oklahoma,” Moore said, “if you get an opportunity to go there…That was the golden nugget!”

Moore accepted the scholarship offer for track and soon went out for football. He eventually made the starting lineup and earned first-team All-Big Eight recognition in 1971 and ’72 as well as All-American accolades.

Moore said he inquired to Missouri about playing there, but said he was told it would be a waste of their time if he walked on in Columbia. So when the Sooners met the Tigers every year in Big Eight play, “I made sure that they paid a price. They got the 120 percent game. I got a game ball every year we played against Missouri.

“Dan Devine was the head coach at the University of Missouri. It was my sophomore year and I nailed one of the running backs. He went flying underneath their bench. It was on their side of the field and the game was played in Oklahoma. So, I got up and there’s Dan Devine right there and I said, ‘Hey coach Devine, Derland Moore. Remember? I wasn’t good enough to play for you.’ Then I was jogging on the field and I heard his voice, ‘Would you allow me to reconsider?’ “

Moore is survived by his wife Frannie, children Michelle, Brad and Chip, and six grandchildren.

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