A. J. Moore
| No. 33 – Houston Texans | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Safety | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | December 15, 1995 Bassfield, Mississippi | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 202 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Bassfield (Bassfield, Mississippi) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Ole Miss | ||||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2018 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||||||||
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Alvin James "A. J." Moore Jr. (born December 15, 1995) is an American football safety for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels.
Early life and high school
Moore was born and grew up in Bassfield, Mississippi and attended Bassfield High School. He played both safety and running back for the Yellowjackets. As a senior, Moore was named first team All-State by The Clarion-Ledger after he made 132 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks on defense and also rushed for five touchdowns as Bassfield went 15-1 and won the Class 2A state championship.[1] He was a childhood friend and high school teammate of future Texans teammate Cornell Armstrong.[2]
College career
Moore played four seasons for the Rebels, appearing in 39 games. Over the course of his collegiate career he accumulated 132 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, and 5 passes deflected.[3] As a senior, Moore started all 12 of the Rebels' games at nickleback and registered 48 tackles, as well as a sack, a fumble recovery, and three passes deflected.[4]
Professional career
New England Patriots
Moore signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent on April 30, 2018.[5] He was waived by the Patriots at the end of the preseason as part of the team's final roster cuts.[6]
Houston Texans
Moore was claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans on September 2, 2018.[3] He made his NFL debut on September 9, 2018 during the Texans season opener against the Patriots.[7] In his rookie season Moore appeared in all 16 of the Texans regular season games, playing exclusively on special teams and making a team-leading 11 tackles and recovering one fumble.[8][9] In 2019, he played in all 16 of the Texans regular season games, appearing mostly on special teams but also playing 19 snaps on defense, with 14 total tackles and also played in both of the team's postseason games with one special teams tackle.[10]
Moore was named a team captain by the Texans for the 2020 season.[11] He was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury on September 28, 2020.[12][13] He was activated on November 14, 2020.[14] In Week 13 against the Indianapolis Colts, Moore recorded his first career sack on Philip Rivers during the 26–20 loss.[15]
Personal life
Moore has an identical twin brother, C. J. Moore, who was also a defensive back on the Ole Miss football team and now plays for the Detroit Lions. They played in the same defensive backfield for the Rebels.[16]
References
- ^ "Twin Rebels Bring Athleticism to Defense". HottyToddy.com. February 5, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ Barshop, Sarah (September 25, 2019). "Three NFL players from a tiny town of 300? Meet the Bassfield Boys". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ^ a b Williams, Charean (September 2, 2018). "Texans claim Buddy Howell, Natrell Jamerson, A.J. Moore". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
- ^ Buchmasser, Bernd (July 2, 2018). "New England Patriots 2018 roster breakdown: #TBD CB A.J. Moore". Pats Pulpit. SB Nation. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
- ^ Hurley, Michael (April 30, 2018). "Patriots Sign 10 Undrafted Free Agents; Two Punters, Two Cornerbacks, Productive Defensive End Among Them". boston.cbslocal.com. CBS Boston. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
- ^ Buchmasser, Bernd (September 1, 2018). "2018 Patriots roster cuts: New England releases linebacker Marquis Flowers, safety A.J. Moore". Pats Pulpit. SB Nation. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
- ^ "Houston Texans at New England Patriots - September 9th, 2018-Snap counts". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
- ^ "A.J. Moore Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
- ^ Dougherty, Drew (January 15, 2019). "Oh how special: Texans improved drastically from 2017 in key area". HoustonTexans.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- ^ "Texans' A.J. Moore: Fills special-teams role in 2019". CBSSports.com. RotoWire. January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- ^ Garrett, Ben (September 9, 2020). "Former Rebel A.J. Moore named a captain for Houston Texans". 247Sports.com. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ^ Rapien, James (September 28, 2020). "All-Pro safety Earl Thomas has workout scheduled with Texans, expected to sign this week". SI.com. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
- ^ "Texans Roster Transactions (9-28-20)". HoustonTexans.com. September 28, 2020.
- ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (11-14-20)". HoustonTexans.com. November 14, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ^ "Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans - December 6th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- ^ Morales, Antonio (September 8, 2017). "The Moore twins, A.J. and C.J., have taken a long route to Ole Miss' starting lineup". The Clarion-Ledger. USA Today. Retrieved October 24, 2018.