Kenneth Moore was in his Detroit apartment Tuesday watching “The Wire” on television when the telephone call came.
It was Moore's agent Alan Herman and he had news: The Carolina Panthers had just acquired Moore from Detroit. The Lions had taken Moore, a receiver out of Wake Forest, in the fifth round of the draft in April and put him on their practice squad.
The move by the Panthers had a lot of significance for Moore, beyond giving him a shot at being on a team's 53-man roster for the first time in his brief career. Moore is a Charlotte native who played at Butler High and a life-long Panthers fan.
Now he's on the team.
Minutes later after Herman's call, Moore was on a plane from Detroit to Charlotte.
He arrived at Charlotte-Douglas International about 11p.m. and was greeted by several ecstatic family members – many of them carrying celebratory balloons.
“My mama was there, daddy, uncle, niece, sister, brother, everybody,” said Moore.
“It was a thrill for them because Carolina is definitely a team we grew up watching. To be part of this is exciting.”
Moore was a record-setting all-purpose player at Butler who had an equally successful career at Wake Forest. He set an ACC record for receptions with 98 in 2007 and was MVP in Wake Forest's victory against Connecticut in the Meineke Car Care Bowl at the Panthers' Bank of America Stadium.
Moore takes the place of Ryne Robinson (who went on injured reserve Wednesday) on the Panthers roster. It's unlikely Moore will be active for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay, although he could help the Panthers' depth at two spots – receiver and returner.
Notes
Backup quarterback Matt Moore practiced for the first time since breaking his leg in an Aug.28 exhibition against Pittsburgh. Moore said he's not fully recovered but hopes to get full movement and strength back in the leg quickly. D.S.
Rookie defensive end Hilee Taylor practiced fully after leaving Sunday's game against Kansas City with a knee injury.
Taylor, who played at North Carolina, said he injured his patella and that he'll have to monitor it throughout his career because it's “basically just like tendinitis.” Charles Chandler
The Panthers practiced without three offensive line starters – tackles Jordan Gross (concussion) and Jeff Otah (ankle) and center Ryan Kalil (ankle). Coach John Fox wouldn't comment about their status for the Tampa Bay game.
If Kalil doesn't play – he missed some of the fourth quarter against Kansas City – he would likely be replaced by the versatile Geoff Hangartner, who started 15 games at center in 2006.
“Actually, I've taken numerous more snaps with Hangartner than I have with Kalil, if you look at it over the course of the past few years,” said quarterback Jake Delhomme.
“So I'm very comfortable with him. Naturally, I've gotten very comfortable with Ryan also. There is a difference between guys, but Geoff's a veteran, he's been around, he's played a few games.
“You just kind of get a comfort level and go.”
Stan Olson
Others not practicing: Receiver D.J. Hackett (knee), safety Quinton Teale (ankle) and defensive tackle Darwin Walker (thigh). Linebacker Na'il Diggs (foot) practiced on a limited basis. D.S.
Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden hasn't announced whether Brian Griese or Jeff Garcia will start at quarterback against the Panthers.
Garcia was injured during training camp and lost to the job to Griese, who hurt his elbow and shoulder in a loss Sunday in Denver.
“Everything we do is based on a good reason,” said Gruden.
“Obviously, Jeff missed the entire training camp. Not a couple days but almost every day.
“Jeff is returning to health and that's a very good thing for us, because Jeff is a very good quarterback. I think that he put forth a pretty good effort (Sunday in Denver) while he was in there.” D.S.
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