Michigan edge rusher and Baltimore native Derrick Moore has witnessed some of his home city’s challenges firsthand.
While at Saint Frances Academy, Moore worked out near vacant homes and the Baltimore City Correctional Center. He said that motivated him and his teammates to pursue their football aspirations even more. It also inspired Moore to start the Be Moore Foundation and to host a youth football camp at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School on July 19.
“My thought of launching my foundation was really … show [children from the city] it’s a bigger lifestyle outside of Baltimore and there a lot of things you can do once you make it outside of the city,” Moore said on Glenn Clark Radio July 17.
Moore credits football and his time at Saint Frances with developing his character. He hopes his camp at Dunbar introduced children to the sport that did so much for him.
“It’s just pretty much a good time for everybody to come out, have good vibes and pretty much play football and have fun with it,” Moore said. “And just learn how to play ball, if any of the kids haven’t played ball before. Also, I just want to be able to send a message out to at least two, three of the kids if I’m not able to get to all of them.”
Those who came to the camp received T-shirts, bookbags and other gifts.
Moore views his foundation as an opportunity to broaden the horizons of Baltimore children and for them to explore possibilities beyond the city. The 22-year-old did that when he was younger, leading him to star for the storied Wolverines football program.
The 6-foot-3, 256-pound edge rusher has spent three years at Michigan, tallying 11 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 65 total tackles. He appeared in all 15 games of Michigan’s national championship 2023 season.
Last season featured marquee wins against No. 2 Ohio State and No. 11 Alabama in the final two weeks, but an 8-5 final record was certainly a step down for Michigan compared to its 15-0 season the year before.
Moore saw areas for improvement on a team and personal level last season, particularly with so many players stepping into bigger roles.
“Going into this year, I feel like we’re learning more about team chemistry, building more as a team because I feel like that’s where we were slacking at,” Moore said. “… Really, for me, I would say being more of a leader, finding ways to step up and talk more. Personality-wise, I’m not too much of a talker. I don’t like to speak out, out loud in front of everybody … but that’s my biggest challenge — holding everybody accountable, even myself.”
This coming season will also be a Saint Frances reunion of sorts in Ann Arbor. High school teammate Jaishawn Barham transferred from Maryland to Michigan last year. Former Saint Frances head coach Biff Poggi, whom Moore and Barham played under, has rejoined the Wolverines as an associate head coach.
Entering next season, Moore is confident that Michigan is ready to leap back into national championship contention.
“Going into this year … a lot of the young guys who are coming up playing in starting roles, or even a leadership role, I feel like they’re ready to get their name heard,” Moore said. “This year’s team is pretty much hungry, and we ready to just show the world it don’t matter who we have or don’t have, we’re going to dominate anybody who comes across us.”
For more from Derrick Moore, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of U-M Athletics