Photo by Tony Gonzales
LB Sio Moore is a ball of energy. Raider Nation has seen that energy on full display at O.co Coliseum. He is a passionate person on and off the field.
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| Photo by Tony Gonzales | |
"I do everything with my heart on my sleeve, that's how I play, that's how I live my life," said Moore. "I really believe there's a strong correlation between how you live your life and how you play ball. You should be able to tell somebody's personality just by how they carry themselves on the field because if that's the last place I'm going to be, that's how I'm going to enjoy."
Moore's emotions are most evident when he is in front of the fans out on the field. "You just feel so much love and energy and electricity in that place," said the second-year player out of the University of Connecticut. "I'm somebody that's always had to work hard every day in my life, somebody that had to earn everything. I had to starve for everything that I've gained. When you're in that stadium, they're starving for wins, they're starving for championships, they're starving for it. The same energy that they're giving to help propel you to do it, you want to give it right back."
Moore was born in Monrovia, Liberia, Africa, and spent his childhood in Connecticut before moving to North Carolina. He was raised by his mother and grandmother and attributes the person he is today to their strength. "With them, they showed me a lot of things that I'm fortunate to know," said Moore. "They showed me a true definition of hard work and sacrifice. My mom made sure everybody was taken care of as they were coming up, between her and my grandma. They made sacrifices through their lives for everybody around them. The amount of time and energy they spent with their kids, as I'm older now, it makes me appreciate it so much. Those ladies, they know what hard work is. They know what dedication is. They know what sacrifice is and that's all I've grown up around."
He has taken those lessons to football.
When Moore moved to North Carolina, he wanted to be on the field with his friends. He was challenged on a daily basis by more experienced kids. But Moore didn't want to be second string or third string; he wanted to be first. "That was the first time it kind of lit my fire to really try and do something with ball," he said.
The second time was in college when he was up against a top offensive line prospect. "One day he blocked me and he was going in talking about how good he was and how bad I was and that was the first time it lit a fire that nobody was going to tell me what I can and cannot do on this field. I haven't lost it since," said Moore.
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| Photo by Tony Gonzales | |
Once he had the desire to be the best, Moore began to really appreciate football. "When I was younger, it was me proving to myself that I can be whatever I want to be. At the time, I didn't love football," Moore said. "I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew that if I set my mind to doing football, that I could do it. Now, it means so much to me because last year it stood for an accomplishment. Last year it stood for me having a dream and actually seeing a dream come true with work made possible. Now, I've accomplished that dream, now I have to dream again and now it's finding a way to define myself with football not through football."
Moore understands that he is still growing as a player, person and a professional, but he has made significant strides between his first and second year in the NFL. "I think I've learned more about myself through the game," said the linebacker. "I've learned more about what I have to do, whether it be on the football field or off it, how to conduct myself, who I have to be on a consistent basis and just what I have to do to get to the level to where I know I can get to."
Moore feels fortunate to have had veteran LB Nick Roach to guide him since he was drafted in 2013. "My rookie year was a little bit of up and down and I didn't really know what was going on and Nick is like a best friend, he's like your big brother, your old head, he's like your friend," Moore explained. "I can call Nick whenever whether it's to laugh or joke or we want to talk about God and our faith, whether we want to talk about ball, whether we want to go hang out. He was one of the people I can say in my life I know and value because he's somebody that's doing it right. That's a guy I try to look up to and emulate every day."
When the Raiders added several veterans on defense this season, Moore was able to look to them for additional guidance. "They've provided a lot of knowledge, a lot of living examples, of what to do to get to a certain level of success, what to think like to get to a certain level of success, what you should deem as important," Moore said. "I think a lot of parts of success that has to do with the game of football has to do with outside of football, what you do outside of football."
As Moore works to be the best person he can be outside of football, he's seeing it translate to the field. And understanding who he is, what's important, and how to conduct himself has given him an even greater love for football.
"The battle that you have with yourself on how great you're going to be today and what you're going to decide to do to be great, I think that's the biggest part of [why I love football] because you start to see the sacrifices you have to make to do that," he said. "Once you have success, you start to see the person who you can become, whether you see the success on the field first or off the field first. For me, I saw the success on the field first. Then you learn that the person I am on the field has to be the person I am off the field – reliable, accountable, responsible, going to make the play, that means you can count on me whenever. It all works in."
Raider Nation may still be getting to know the young player from the East Coast, but they see him with his signature dance every week. Moore wants to bring a positive energy to everyone. "I love to be that energy, that motivation," said Moore. "They probably already know that, but I mean it from a place of true genuineness. When I got picked to be here, I literally felt like there was a reason."
