Emmanuel Moody (born February 21, 1987 in

Heidelberg, Germany Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the University of Florida (UF) Gators football team winning a national championship. In 2013, he played in Germany for the Dresden Monarchs. He played in 2014 with the Vienna Vikings in Austrian Football League.

Early career

Moody was born to Young Sun (née Chang) as the youngest of three children, raised in the

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

area. His father left the family early, leaving him to be raised by his mother and his grandmother, Han Soon Chang. And Moody's uncle began helping him practice and train for football after seeing how well he performed in pee wee football.David Wharton,
Favorite Uncle
" ''Los Angeles Times'' (October 4, 2006). Retrieved July 12, 2008. Physically a late bloomer, coaches initially hesitated to put him in the running back role that he desired. When his family moved to the suburb of

Coppell, Texas Coppell ( ) is a city in the northwest corner of Dallas County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a suburb of Dallas and a bedroom community in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 42,983 at the 2020 census. A small area in the ...

, Coppell High School already had a highly regarded senior running back, one of the best in school history, and asked the sophomore Moody to spend a season at wide receiver. After insistence by himself and his uncle, Moody was allowed to play running back at the

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

level. During that time, Moody grew taller and put on 25 pounds. His junior season saw him rise to the varsity team where he finished the season with 1,319 yards and 12 touchdowns. His abilities attracted interest from a number of prominent college football programs, notably

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Moody originally verbally committed to Texas, but USC linebacker coach

Ken Norton Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. (August 9, 1943 – September 18, 2013) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981, and held the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978. He is best known for his fights with Muhammad Ali, i ...

was able to eventually persuade Moody to change his commitment to the Trojans, enticing him to the challenge of competing against a number of other talented running backs.

College career

University of Southern California (2006–2007)

Moody started his college career at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. As a true freshman, Moody was the second leading rusher in the 2006 season, gaining 560 yards on 79 carries in a rotating platoon of running backs. He was named the

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

Freshman of the Year in 2006.Mark Schlabach,
USC transfer Moody laboring in Florida's spread offense
" ESPN.com (April 9, 2008). Retrieved September 8, 2008. In the summer before the 2007 season, he was featured as one of three USC running backs on the regional cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

s college football preview edition.Gary Klein,
Off the Deep End
" August 17, 2007). Retrieved July 3, 2008.Gary Klein,
Tailback Moody to transfer
" ''Los Angeles Times'' (August 16, 2007). Retrieved July 3, 2008. The Trojans entered their 2007 fall training camp with a high number of scholarship running backs (10), all of which were highly touted recruits; in August, midway through camp, Moody announced he was transferring from USC. Looking to be a featured player, Moody stated he had "felt forgotten" coming into training camp because of an ankle injury that forced him to sit out the Trojans' last four games of the 2006 season and a hamstring injury that caused him to sit out nearly all of spring practice; he then bruised his knee at a mid-camp scrimmage and had to sit out further. After looking at several schools, including

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, Moody transferred to the University of Florida.Joe Schad,
Moody says he will transfer to Gator country
" ESPN.com (August 27, 2007). Retrieved May 30, 2008.

University of Florida (2007–2010)

As required by NCAA transfer rules, Moody was forced to sit out the 2007 season with the Florida Gators; but was permitted to practice with the scout team. Welcomed by a team that needed a power running back to relieve quarterback Tim Tebow, Moody had some difficulties adapting to the

spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the defense horizontall ...

used by the Gators. He had 58 carries for 417 yards in the 2008 season, 58 carries for 378 yards in the 2009 season, and 66 carries for 265 yards in 2010, scoring four total rushing touchdowns in his three seasons as a Gator. Moody participated in the Gator Pro Day but was not drafted in the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

On April 30, 2011 Moody signed with the

. He was released on October 21.

Europe

In 2013 Moody signed in Europe with the Dresden Monarchs in the German Football League. Playing three games and rushing 11 times for 84 yards and one touchdown. In 2014 Moody signed with the Vienna Vikings in Austrian Football League. In seven games, Moody had 417 yards on 71 carries and scored six touchdowns. He also had nine receptions for 118 yards.

References

External links

Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Emmanuel 1987 births Living people American football running backs Florida Gators football players USC Trojans football players Buffalo Bills players Nebraska Danger players People from Coppell, Texas American expatriate sportspeople in Austria American expatriate players of American football Boston Brawlers players Players of American football from Texas Sportspeople from Heidelberg