He was 20 then and attending the University of Virginia. Now he’s 55 and living in Detroit, but the passage of time doesn’t prevent Herman Moore from recognizing a town bursting with football fever when he sees it.
“We never left the party back then because it was always on Grounds. The buzz was always around us,” Moore said. “The buzz is similar here, now. You go to the grocery store, you go downtown, you go to the suburbs and it’s all anyone’s talking about. It takes me back a little bit.”
Moore was a star receiver for the UVA football team in 1990 when the Cavaliers made their celebrated rise to a No. 1 national ranking for the first and only time in program history. That season, which ended with a Sugar Bowl appearance, launched Moore’s next chapter. He soon was a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions and became a franchise staple, setting numerous team records while earning four trips to the Pro Bowl.
Moore, a Detroit-area resident since 1991, remains linked to the Lions. He shares in the city’s excitement for the local team as they enter Saturday night’s playoff game against the Washington Commanders as a Super Bowl favorite.
Still, Moore hardly goes a day without remembering his Wahoo roots. His wife, Angela, is a fellow UVA graduate, and a lesson from his former coach, the legendary George Welsh, guides his successful post-playing career.
Moore is the founder and CEO of Team84, a minority-run holding company that, among other services, helps with product manufacturing and fulfillment and generates promotional materials for a variety of subsidiaries. The company has a wide umbrella that includes Lions Nation Unite, a digital community for Lions supporters. Moore said he’s in the final stages of launching a similar platform for UVA fans.
Moore’s method of operation as a business leader is connected to his days playing for Welsh, UVA’s all-time winningest coach.
An impactful moment in their relationship happened while at practice during Moore’s junior season. Then an established player for a Cavalier team with championship aspirations, Moore drew the ire of Welsh after casually reacting to a tipped pass that hit the ground in his vicinity.
More than three decades after his final season as a Cavalier, Moore remains one of the program’s all-time greats. He teamed with quarterback Shawn Moore, jersey No. 12, to form a lethal duo for the Wahoos from 1988 through 1990. Both Moores (no relation) finished among the top six in the voting for the 1990 Heisman Trophy. (UVA Athletics photos)
Welsh called Moore out for not hustling to pick the ball up and running it back to the huddle. When Moore questioned his authority, Welsh snapped back and instructed him to begin removing all UVA-related gear.
That’s when Welsh’s lesson clicked in Moore’s head.
“It made me realize that it’s bigger than me,” Moore said. “I don’t own the uniform. I don’t own this team. I don’t own the University. There’s nothing here that I own other than my character and the person that I am.
“Coach Welsh wasn’t going to compromise the standards that he set as a coach for the team. It was a great sign of leadership.”
Moore recently shared his story on social media and added: “In business, just like on the field, the same principle applies. We succeed when we set our egos aside and focus on the collective goal. We respect each other’s contributions and understand that every role is vital. It’s not about the title you hold; it’s about the effort you bring to the team.”
[♪ Music plays ♪]
Herman Moore:
Quarterback threw me a pass to the right. It got tipped at the line of scrimmage. The ball rolled in front of me. He blew the whistle. “Moore, pick up the pass.” I looked at him like this, and I walked back over to pick up the ball. He says, “No, don’t walk. Run.” Walk? Run? It’s right here, man. Here’s the ball, I pick it up. I threw it back. He says, “No don’t toss it back. Run it back. All the way back.”
My ego got in the way. And I was like, I don’t know why all this is going on and why we are having this problem. He said, “You know what? If you don’t want to be here, you can leave.” I said, “Bye.” He says, “Well, if you’re going to leave, take off everything that you have on that belongs to the University of Virginia.”
I understood what he was meaning. It was to teach me a lesson. That listen, you’re not bigger than all of this. You’re part of the solution. You’re part of the whole. Everyone is important. Every action is important. Everything that we do has purpose. And from that time on, never argued with him. I never talked back.
When he said, “Go do this.”
“Yes, Coach.”
When he asked me a question, he asked me to be prompt, I was there. He taught me that. Off of that moment.
You’ve got to set your attitude aside. You’ve got to set your ego aside for the better good.
[♪ Music ends ♪]
Some 35 years later, Moore, a father of two grown sons, still practices what Welsh preached.
“That’s why I call it Team 84,” he said. “We all have a role to play, and I don’t minimize anyone’s role. I know that they’re there because they serve a very necessary purpose for our accomplishment as a company and as a corporation
“I use that in my life, even as a father. There’s a responsibility of leadership and accountability. It’s the same thing all the way around, and it allows me to be very consistent in who I am as a person.”
