Mewelde Moore

Mewelde Jaem Cadere Moore (born July 24, 1982) is a former American football running back. He was originally drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Moore also played with the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning a Super Bowl ring over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. He played college football at Tulane, just down the road from his hometown of Baton Rouge, LA where he was a standout performer at Belaire High School.

College career

Moore is only the second player in NCAA history to rush for 4,000 yards and have 2,000 yards receiving in a career, joining former Viking Darrin Nelson (Stanford). Known for his high-stepping gait and effective straight-arm tactics, Moore ranks 11th in Division I history in all-purpose yards with 6,505 yards. He ran for 100+ yards in 22 games to set Tulane and Conference USA records. His 36 career TDs rank second in Tulane and C-USA history. Moore ran for 1,138 yards as a junior and 1,421 as a sophomore, respectively, to set Tulane’s single-season rushing record. Moore was also drafted in the fourth round of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres. He spent three summers in the organization while in college.

2000

In 2000, Moore was named C-USA's Freshman of the Year. He was also a Freshman All-America choice by The Sporting News and Football News. Moore started 7 of the 10 games he played in on the season for the Tulane Green Wave. He hauled in a 74-yard scoring pass against Army. Posted a season-high 131 rushing yards and had 56 receiving yards against East Carolina. He carried the ball for 114 yards against Cincinnati. He also had 100-yards rushing against Memphis and Southern Methodist.

2001

In 2001, Moore was named 1st-Team All-C-USA. He also set Tulane single-season rushing record with 1,422 yards. He broke the 100-yard rushing mark 7 times during the season. Moore also set school record with 249 rushing yards on 28 attempts, breaking the old mark by 2 yards that had stood since 1970 by former Tulane Green Wave great David Abercrombie while hauling in 6 passes for 87 yards. He became the first Tulane player to break the 100-yard mark in rushing and receiving, in a game against Navy with 131 rushing yards and 130 receiving. Moore also ran for 201 yards and had 70 yards receiving against Southern. He had a career-best 168 receiving yards with TDs of 32 and 40 yards along with 80 rushing yards and a touchdown against Army.

2002

In 2002, Moore, once again, was named to the All-C-USA team by The Sporting News. Moore became only the second player in Tulane history to run for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons, joining Eddie Price in 1948–49. Led the team in rushing and receiving. He averaged 129.5 all-purpose yards per game for the season. He scored a pair of ground TDs and caught a touchdown pass against East Carolina. He also ran for season-high 147 yards against Southern. Moore carried the ball 32 times for 136 yards and had 5 catches for 58 yards against Southern Mississippi. He caught a 47-yard TD pass against TCU. Moore ran for 116 yards on 30 carries and had 6 receptions for 80 yards against Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl.

2003

In 2003, Moore earned 1st-Team C-USA honors. He was named to Doak Walker and Walter Camp Award watch lists honoring the top running back and player in college football. Moore started the first 9 games of the season but missed the final 3 with broken hand that required surgery. He ranked second in C-USA with a 101.0 rushing average per game and 147.0 all-purpose yards per game. Moore ran for 100 yards and had 116 receiving yards against Northwestern State, scoring on passes of 32, 28 and 23 yards. He also, posted 114 rushing yards against Texas and had TD runs of 6 and 32 yards. Also, he ran for season-best 159 yards against Memphis. Moore had 123 yards on the ground and a 25-yard TD against Louisville. Moore recorded 115 yards rushing and 55 receiving against Army before suffering season-ending broken hand.
Moore was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the fourth round of the 2000 MLB draft but did not sign.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 23rd pick of the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft out of Tulane University.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On March 3, 2008, Moore signed a three-year contract to join the Pittsburgh Steelers. Moore was given the opportunity to start after Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall were injured. Although he was a backup for most of the year, he racked up 588 yards and 5 touchdowns rushing and 320 yards and one touchdown receiving. He also has one passing touchdown.

At the end of the 2010 season, Moore and the Steelers appeared in Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers. He had three rushes for 13 yards and had one kickoff return for 11 yards in the 31–25 loss.

Indianapolis Colts

During free agency, Mewelde signed a one-year contract with the Colts. He didn't record a touchdown and was waived on October 29, 2012. The Colts re-signed him in December in time to play against Houston, but he lost a key fumble on the Indianapolis goal line in the loss.

Accomplishments

* Holds Vikings record with a 10.5-yard career punt return average.
* Owns 2 of the 10 longest punt returns in team history with his pair of 71-yard TDs.
* The Vikings are 4–0 in games when Moore runs for 100+ yards.
* Ranks tied with Herschel Walker for 10th place in Vikings history with 4 career 100- yard rushing games.
* Along with Koren Robinson, who had a kickoff return TD at N.Y. Giants (11/13/05), marked only the second time in team history posted a punt return and kickoff return TD in the same game, the other occurring in 1999 at Kansas City when Robert Tate (KOR) and Randy Moss (PR) accomplished the feat.
* Set a Vikings’ record with 610 combined net yards in a 3-game span in 2004 (at Houston, at New Orleans, vs. Tennessee), topping the old mark of 573 set by Chuck Foreman in 1976.
* Joined Onterrio Smith as the only Viking rookies in team history to rush for consecutive 100-yard games (at New Orleans, vs. Tennessee) in 2004. He has since been joined by Adrian Peterson in 2007.
* Was the first running back selected from Tulane by the Vikings since taking Tommy Mason #1 overall in the 1961 inaugural draft, the first player ever drafted by the team.

Personal life

Moore took 24 credits in spring 2004 so he could graduate on time with a double major in Finance and Accounting from Tulane University. Moore was noted for winning mathematics contests before matriculating at Tulane. Moore is active in the Twin Cities community with the National Football Foundation, United Way, and Memorial Blood Center. Moore was a recipient of the Community Service Award for Business Ethics at the Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs and Business School Council Awards Gala in spring 2003. Moore was a member of the National Honor Society at Belaire High School in Baton Rouge. He also supports youth education through his Mewelde Moore Knowledge First Foundation. Moore regularly visits his alma mater, Tulane for fundraising events. He married his college girlfriend, Tymeka. Chris Berman gave him the nickname "Waltzing" Mewelde, a play on the song Waltzing Matilda. In 2005, he was questioned as a participant in the Minnesota Vikings boat party scandal. His wife Tymeka played basketball for Tulane. His brother-in-law Willie played basketball for University of Houston.

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioPittsburgh Steelers bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Mewelde
1982 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Hammond, Louisiana
Players of American football from Louisiana
African-American players of American football
American football return specialists
American football running backs
Tulane Green Wave football players
Minnesota Vikings players
Pittsburgh Steelers players
Indianapolis Colts players
Baseball players from Louisiana
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American people