Moore football ahead for Kellen

YAKIMA, Wash. — Sometimes it’s obvious.

Even to someone not trained to recognize major college and/or professional athletic talent, a football, basketball or baseball player will do something so profound that the observer’s mind immediately says, “Big time.”

In 1991, for example, I covered a South Kitsap High School football game won decisively by the Wolves. SK, as was usually the case for one of the state’s biggest high schools, had several NCAA Division I recruits on its roster and was meticulous-ly coached by Ed Fisher.

But the eye-catcher that night was a Lincoln High School running back/defensive back. His name was Lawyer Milloy.

The score, as best I can recall, was 50-something to 20-something, but I’m fairly certain that Milloy rushed for close to 200 yards, scored all the Abes’ touchdowns and might also have intercepted a pass or two.

To use a phrase popular with my parents, who grew up in Arkansas, Milloy stuck out like a sore thumb.

So it was no surprise, to me or probably anyone else, when Milloy went on to become an All-American at Washington, became a second-round draft pick by the New England Patriots in 1996 and continues to excel in the NFL as a Seahawk.

In 1988, I covered the Class 3A high school baseball semifinals and finals, won by North Kitsap. The Vikings reached the championship game behind a poised, smooth-throwing senior named Aaron Sele, who beat Mt. Vernon 4-1. They won the title 12-4 over Tahoma the next day.

Sele was a football, basketball and baseball standout who was voted Male Athlete of the Year by the newspaper I worked for, The (Bremerton) Sun, and went on to pitching stardom for Bobo Brayton at Washington State.

Nothing unusual about that, I figured, for someone as competitive, athletic and mature as Sele. What I didn’t see was a 14-year major league career in which Sele was a two-time all-star.

It might have been apparent to his high school coaches, Virgil Taylor and Larry Harvey, or to Brayton and others. But I must admit it wasn’t to me.

Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes not so much.

When I watched Kellen Moore play multiple games at quarterback for Prosser, I was amazed.

I marveled not just at his accuracy, but at his consistency. I marveled not just at how thoroughly he knew the Mustangs’ offense, but at how effectively he improvised when the occasion arose.

Moore threw the short ball, the deep ball and everything in between.

Of course there were size issues — he’s listed at 6-0 and 171 pounds by Boise State — which scared off the upper-echelon Division I schools. And Moore’s speed and mobility are not what most envision when thinking about blue-chip, big-time college playmakers.

What allows Moore to play taller, faster and stronger than he is are the indefinable and initially undetectable intangibles that separate good players from great ones.

Not that I was aware of them when I watched Moore surgically dissect high school defenses for his coach and father, Tom Moore. But since his star has so meteorically risen at Boise State, I’ve seen, heard and read all about it.

Could I have envisioned Moore, during his Prosser days, starring for a program like Boise State’s? Absolutely. Would I have seen him becoming an All-American? Not quite.

As for Moore’s becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist — nope, didn’t see that coming.

Now that it has, though, since Moore has become an authentic American success story, nothing he might do in the future will come as a surprise.

Meaning a comparatively short, modestly built left-handed quarterback wearing jersey No. 11, and usually smiling, might very well be taking snaps in a Pro Bowl or triumphantly lifting the Lombardi Trophy after a Super Bowl win.

Why? Given everything Kellen Moore has accomplished already in his remarkable football career — and he has another year left at Boise State —  why not?

• Roger Underwood’s Under the Radar blog is at sportsyakima.com He can be reached at 509-577-7694 or runderwood@yakimaherald.com