After missing a season (to fight in Vietnam), 61-year-old kicker Alan Moore is back in college football

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Some things have changed since Faulkner University junior kicker Alan Moore first took the field as a starry-eyed college freshman. Kickers for one, from a straight-on style to soccer sidewinders.

What else has changed? Well, there was a moon landing, three kids, five grandkids, military service in Vietnam and, in general, 40 years of a life well lived.

At age 61 -- he turns 62 in February -- Moore is set to become the oldest man to play NAIA college football when he takes the field for the Montgomery school as a place-kicker.

For Moore, it's the continuation of a journey that began at Jones (Miss.) Community College in 1968, before heading off to Vietnam for an 11-month tour as a member of the U.S. Army infantry.

After his discharge, he returned home and went straight to work in construction, where he remained until retiring to an avocado farm he owns in Homestead, Fla.

A trip to see his grandchildren in Mississippi brought a chance to see his former team go through a fall practice. Moore got the bug and started kicking on his own, using an old-fashioned square-toed shoe and building makeshift goalposts in his daughter's yard for practice.

Once he got reacquainted with his old form, he approached Jones about going out for the team. Alas, the school wasn't interested. SWAC member Mississippi Valley State was intrigued enough to call, but Moore didn't have any eligibility left at an NCAA-sanctioned school.

Something about the 42-year gap between classes.

Enter another Mississippi community college, Holmes, with a coach named Danny Robertson who had a twinkle in his eye.

"It piqued my curiosity so I set up a time for him to come kick for me," Robertson told ProKicker.com. "He did a good job. I told him we only had one kicker coming back, and if he wanted to earn a spot with us, we would welcome him to two-a-days.



He showed up here, and things have worked out for him."

With an incumbent kicker already on the roster, Moore's chances were limited to a field goal attempt and an extra point.

But after his sophomore season, he learned he had eligibility remaining at an NAIA school, after getting a waiver.

Enter Faulkner, which is giving him the chance as a transfer. He'll officially be introduced to the media at a Friday press conference.

Faulkner opens the season Sept. 10 at home against Ave Maria out of Florida.

"Faulkner has been -- I can't even explain it -- they've embraced the whole thing," Moore said.

"You look at it, it's like, from what I'm told, I'm the oldest person to play. To bring that to Faulkner, doesn't take just me, it takes coaches (and) the institution."

At 61, Moore will join Austin (Texas) College kicker Tom Thompson as the NCAA's oldest. Austin is an NCAA Division III school. Thompson was 61 in 2009 when he played at Austin, where he kicked off once for his team.

No big deal. Moore has two years of eligibility to break the mark. The oldest college athlete on record is 73-year-old Ken Mink, who played basketball for Roane State Community College in East Tennessee.

For Moore, the real lesson is about perseverance.

Not in pursuing football again, but in pursuing his education. That's the real message he hopes to get across, noting that nurturing youth is the best solution for a better future.

"Spend money on education instead of incarceration," Moore said.

Birmingham News photographer Joe Songer contributed to this story.