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Welcome To The Hotel California, Damontre Moore...

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"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair - Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air - Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light - My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night"-

Texas A&M's DE Damontre Moore's story is one of the most talked about this offseason, with the hopes of stardom, glitter, and glamour. His resume followed him (Moore led the Aggies in tackles (80), sacks (12½) and tackles for losses (20) this season. He was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference pick and was a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award) out of college and down that dark desert highway to the #3 ranking on Mel Kiper's board (February 8, 2013)...

ESPN NFL draft gurus Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay released new (early) mock drafts for April's NFL draft, and both are chock-full of SEC talent. Both Kiper's mock draft and McShay's mock draft have 16 SEC players going in the first round. Kiper has six SEC players going within the first 10 picks, including Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel going No. 1 to the Kansas City Chiefs and A&M defensive end Damontre Moore going No. 2 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

"There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell - And I was thinking to myself", "This could be Heaven or this could be Hell"

During the 2012 college football season, draft analysts fell in love with Texas A&M outside linebacker/defensive end Damontre Moore, who had a breakout year playing for a new coaching staff that seemed to be getting the most out of his talent. ESPN’s Mel Kiper has even gone so far as to rank Moore as the third-best player in the entire draft.

"Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way - There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say"...

"Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)Such a lovely face - Plenty of room at the Hotel California - Any time of year (Any time of year)You can find it here"

But over the last few days at the Scouting Combine, there’s been increasing chatter about whether Moore really has all that much talent. Bruce Feldman of CBS notes that there are concerns Moore is too stiff to play well in space, and Moore’s numbers at the Combine were not impressive: He managed just 12 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, with a 4.95-second 40-yard dash. That’s not a strength/speed combination you want for an outside linebacker/defensive end, or for any other position, besides maybe kicker.

"Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes Benz - She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends - How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget"

"I had a rocky start with the bench press," Moore said. "I was really disappointed I was nowhere near what I did when I was training. I was disappointed in that, but it’s just like football. There’s always adversity, you gotta learn from it and move on." If Moore doesn’t move on with a much better Pro Day, NFL teams will likely be moving him down on their draft boards.

That's right, Moore's head is 'tiffany twisted' if he really believes he can fool the big boys... And that Mercedes Benz? Well he might be working a few years to buy that thing...

Damontre Moore's stock is sliding: It figures to be if you were one of those draft observers who had the Texas A&M DE/OLB as a top-five pick. Moore made a lot of plays in 2012 and benefited from the Aggies' coaching change as much as anyone. He played the Joker spot before last season but really thrived in A&M's new scheme. He learned to become more of an effort guy. But his performance in Indy -- running a terrible 4.95 40 and only getting 12 reps on the bench -- will scare a lot of people projecting him as a linebacker with concerns he's too stiff to play well in space to justify a very high pick. Moore said his slow time was due to a tight hammy. It'd better loosen up by A&M's Pro Day on March 8.

"So I called up the Captain, "Please bring me my wine" - He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine" - And still those voices are calling from far away, Wake you up in the middle of the night - Just to hear them say"...

Texas A&M's Damontre Moore devastated by poor showing at NFL Combine: 'I was a little baby, crying around the corner'

Moore admittedly isn't a weight room warrior, so he wasn't expecting to blow other defensive linemen out of the water with his number of repetitions at 225 pounds. But the number he posted, the number that stuck out like a sore thumb on his combine résumé -- 12 -- was one that brought him to tears. "I was really disappointed, upset," Moore said on Friday inside the McFerrin Athletic Center after Texas A&M's pro day. "I even cried like a little baby. I cried in the corner and then came back and start encouraging."

"Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place) Such a lovely face - They livin' it up at the Hotel California - What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise) Bring your alibis"...

"I tweaked my hamstring but I fought through it and I feel like I put my best foot forward," Moore said. "At the end of the day, that's all you can do. I'll let God take over the rest."

"I was really disappointed, upset," Moore said on Friday inside the McFerrin Athletic Center after Texas A&M's pro day. "I even cried like a little baby. I cried in the corner and then came back and start encouraging." The 6-foot-4, 260-pound prospect laughed and smiled about it on Friday, because it's in the past now. During the Aggies' pro day, Moore put up a better number in the bench press -- 19 -- but it still wasn't an ideal performance. During the three-cone drill, he aggravated a hamstring injury that he suffered at the combine, so it wasn't his best output.

"Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice - And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device"

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, who coached Moore in his final season with the Aggies, feels like Moore's on-field performance speaks for itself.

"You utilize the bench press to get off the ground," Sumlin said. "There's a lot of people that put up really good numbers that don't end up playing at all. I think for him, the key will be the evaluation off of video and how he played. "Certainly, people wouldn't regard him the way they do as a projected first-round pick if he hadn't played extremely well. There's a combination of different thoughts, different opinions. I'm not a guy that's involved in the draft, but obviously a lot of people have a very high opinion of Damontre. And that comes off of the way he played. He played with great effort, was extremely productive and had a tremendous year playing for us last year."

"And in the master's chambers, They gathered for the feast - They stab it with their steely knives, But they just can't kill the beast"...

Damontre Moore on the Archer and Bell show - 970 The Zone...

Has it been tough being measured against Von Miller at Texas A&M?

"Oh yeah. It was very tough because you look at his junior year and the sack numbers that he put up, those are unheard of. The numbers that he did, it’s always tough being a young guy coming in and replacing arguably one of the best defensive players that came through A&M. That is a tremendous amount of pressure. I think I handled it pretty well but I also had a great support system around me. I had a great coaching staff, my teammates were supportive and it also helped that I was going against the two best offensive tackles in practice (Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews). That made me better. Von, to see the things that he did and follow in his footsteps, it was really challenging. At the same time, I couldn’t look at it as I’m living in his shadow, I’ve gotta be the best Damontre Moore I could be. Not be the best ‘next Von Miller.’ It was challenging."

"Last thing I remember, I was - Running for the door - I had to find the passage back - To the place I was before "Relax, " said the night man, "We are programmed to receive. You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave"...

Whatever happens with Damontre Moore, I wish him the best, but a timeline is like a fineline, you never go to a job interview unprepared - It just might cost you that Mercedes Benz you've been dreaming about...

"The book is still wide open," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. "I think there’s more questions than answers on him right now. I think all the teams are looking at him as a potential draft pick are going to have to do some homework."

By the way, Mel Kiper now has Damontre Moore to the Broncos! Not in the first round though - In the 2nd...

Contributing sources -

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/26/combine-wont-help-damontre-moores-draft-stock/

Top 10: Compelling NFL Combine story lines

TAMU pro day: Moore welcomes challenge

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/texas-aggies/20130409-texas-am-s-damontre-moore-i-m-trying-to-prove-my-stats-werent-a-fluke.ece

http://www.metrolyrics.com/hotel-california-lyrics-the-eagles.html

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