BALTIMORE COLT LENNY MOORE---LIGHTNING LENNY
"I CONTINUALLY REMIND MYSELF THAT THE ONE THING I MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO DO IS TRY TOO HARD. WHEN I RELAX, STAY COOL AND THINK OF WHAT I HAVE TO DO ON EVERY PLAY I FIND THINGS WORK OUT A WHOLE LOT BETTER THAN GETTING SENTIMENTAL OR INSPIRATIONAL.” ---LENNY MOORE
Leonard Edward Moore (born November 25, 1933) played for the Baltimore Colts from 1956 to 1967. He was named the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1956 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975.
Moore was both a great runner and receiver. He was first used as a combination flanker and running back but his primary responsibility was to catch passes. Teaming with quarterback Johnny Unitas, the two formed a terrific pass-catch combo that devastated the opposition for almost a dozen years. Moore averaged at least 7.0 yards a carry in several seasons. He made 40 receptions for 687 yards and seven touchdowns in 1957, the first of five straight years in which he would have 40 or more catches. In 1958, he caught a career-high 50 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns (1638 combined net yards and seven rushing touchdowns) in helping the Colts win the NFL championship. In that title game, Moore had 5 catches for 99 yards. Then in 1959, Moore had 47 receptions for 846 yards and six TDs as the Colts repeated as champions.
Moore was tagged with a number of nicknames: "Sputnik," for the fear he incited in opposing defenses; "The Reading Rambler" and "Lightning Lenny," for his unmatched speed; and "Spats," for the way he taped his high-top shoes, making them look like low-tops.
"Baltimore was like a small town when I got there - the Colts, the Orioles, guys like Frank Robinson, we all knew and respected each other. Everyone would cross paths at one point at Lenny Moore's Sportsman's Lounge, trading stories and having some fun." ---Earl Monroe
Following the season, he earned first-team All-Pro honors, something he would do again in 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1964. Seven times he would be selected to play in the Pro Bowl.
In 1962, Moore was moved inside to the running back’s slot fulltime instead of flanked outside. A series of injuries seemed to slow the fleet-footed back and caused him to miss a number of games the next two seasons. In 1963, Moore could play in only about half the team's games.
But Lenny bounced back magnificently in 1964 and enjoyed the finest season of his career, scoring 20 touchdowns. That year, one wire service picked him the Comeback Player of the Year and another named him the NFL's Most Valuable Player.
From 1963 to 1965, Lenny scored touchdowns in 18 consecutive games, an NFL-record. When Moore retired following the 1967 season, he left behind some amazing statistics, 12,451 combined net yards, 5174 yards rushing, 363 pass receptions, and 113 touchdowns.
Moore occasionally speaks to student groups about his experiences as a black football player during an era when, in the words of Baltimore Sun sportswriter Rick Maese, "Moore could travel with his teammates but couldn't always eat in the same restaurant, couldn't always stay at the same hotel, couldn't always fraternize with them the same way out of the locker room as he had in it."
"There was never anybody ever closer than me and the guys that I played football with on that Baltimore team – on the field," Moore told the Sun. "We were just like glue. One for all, all for one." But "once they blew the whistle and the game was over, they (the white players) went their way, we (the black players) went our way. We split. It was race."
Fellow NFL player Ollie Matson mentored Moore and warned him that "'they're going to call you the big N. You're going to hear it all. So don't get yourself all worked up, because it's going to happen.'"
Moore retired after the 1967 season. His uniform number 24 was retired by Baltimore, and in 1969 a sportswriters' poll named him to the NFL's 50th Anniversary Team. In 1975, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1999, Moore was ranked number 71 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. He is also the only player to have at least 40 receiving touchdowns and 40 rushing touchdowns. Football Outsiders, in their book Pro Football Prospectus 2007, named six of his seasons among the top 500 running back seasons of all time, which was tied for the 5th most seasons among the top 500 of any player. Moore's retired number is honored along with all of the other Baltimore Colts retired numbers in M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the Baltimore Ravens.
On January 19, 2008, Moore was inducted into the East-West Shrine Game Hall of Fame class. Moore was an honorary captain for Penn State's game versus Syracuse on September 12, 2009. It was the first time a former Penn State player has been invited to participate in the pre-game coin toss. Moore is a member of The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll.
On October 8, 2013, Moore had a road in Baltimore County named after him in his honor.
