06-11-2019, 12:31 AM
PITTSBURGH -- The chip is still there, Lance Moore insists, just as weighty and sharp as ever. Eight years in the NFL and a Super Bowl ring have done little to make the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver forget his modest roots. He can still rattle off the name of the players who beat him out for a job with the Cleveland Browns during his first training camp nearly a decade ago even though he was a long-shot undrafted free agent at the time. Most of them are long gone. Not Moore. Hes still around, still trying to prove himself, still nervous he could find himself out of a job at any minute. "I dont know if I ever really let myself get comfortable," Moore said. Even if Moore spent eight productive seasons helping Drew Brees and Sean Payton turn the New Orleans Saints into one of the NFLs most consistent winners. On a team of undersized and underappreciated talent, the 5-foot-9 Moore found a home. He caught 38 touchdown passes in 101 games with New Orleans, morphing from special teams ace to indispensable red zone target. Until, of course, the math got in the way. A hand injury limited Moore to just 37 receptions and two scores in 2013. Knowing he was owed $3.8 million in 2014, Moore wasnt surprised when the Saints cut him loose this spring. "Thats how it goes in this game," Moore said. "A lot of teams are trying to get younger and cheaper at the same time." Moore turns 31 in August. He understands hes well into the second half of an NFL journey that is already longer than he ever anticipated. Yet there is something about the opportunity with the Steelers that intrigues him. Maybe its because playing slot receiver in Pittsburgh is like discovering the NFLs fountain of youth. Hines Ward was effective well into the final days of his 14-year career before retiring in 2012. He was replaced by Jerricho Cotchery, who scored a remarkable 10 touchdowns for the Steelers in 2013 at age 31. Cotchery turned all those scores into a lucrative contract with Carolina. Enter Moore, who lacks Cotcherys size and Wards tenacious blocking skills but makes up for it with what he describes as "football savvy." "Ive been little for a long time," Moore said. "I am not getting any bigger. I am 30 years old. I am happy in this body. I feel like I have made a lot of plays and will continue to do that." Its exactly what the Steelers had in mind when they signed Moore to a two-year deal in March, an agreement that came with more than a little help from backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, who spent four years rooming with Moore when the two played at Toledo. Gradkowski started calling Pittsburgh coaches about Moore the second his good friend was released by New Orleans. It didnt take long for something to get done. Moore wasnt about to sit around and wait for a more lucrative offer than the one that will pay him a total of $3 million if he makes it through the 2015 season. "You look at this franchise, what it stands for and you know theyre about winning," Moore said. "You get a chance to play with somebody like (quarterback) Ben (Roethlisberger) and you dont turn it down." It hasnt taken long for Moore to win over Roethlisberger, who called his newest target "a pro" who hasnt needed much time to pick up the nuances of an offence that is reshaping itself, particularly at wide receiver. Pro Bowler Antonio Brown is the units unquestioned leader, but the departure of Cotchery and Emmanuel Sanders a year after Mike Wallace bolted for Miami has spearheaded a youth movement. The list of players jockeying for position with Moore include second-year players Justin Brown and Markus Wheaton and rookie Martavis Bryant. Moore admits its a little weird being the old guy in meeting rooms. Hes nearly five years Browns senior and will be one of only three players in their 30s among Pittsburghs offensive regulars, joining Roethlisberger and tight end Heath Miller. It could be worse. Moore couldnt be here at all. If this is the beginning of the end, hell take it. Hes close to his boyhood home in Ohio on a team expecting to win after a pair of mediocre 8-8 seasons. His new team expects to play a lot like its new wide receiver: with a chip that likely wont go away anytime soon. "Youve got to keep that," Moore said. "In this league, that can make the difference." Chandler Jones Jersey .J. - Several people have collapsed in an overcrowded New Jersey train station while waiting in long lines to get to the Super Bowl. Kurt Warner Jersey . TSN was honoured with several awards, with Rod Smith and James Duthie sharing the win for Best Sports Host for SportsCentre and the NHL: Season On The Brink coverage, respectively. http://www.officialarizonacardinalspro.com/Customized/. -- Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. Christian Kirk Jersey . The 55th-ranked Istomin saved 11 of 14 break points to win in just over two hours, setting up a second round meeting with Australian Marinko Matosevic. It was the Uzbeks third win in three matches against fifth-seeded Kohlschreiber, the 2007 and 2012 tournament winner. Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear. WASHINGTON -- Ryan Zimmerman came forward to make a head-high running catch on a slicing line drive off the bat of Chase Utley, a routine play that drew a disproportionately grand ovation from the home fans. "Thats almost the awkward part of it," Zimmerman said. "Yeah, I caught the ball. Yeah, like, I can catch a fly ball." He might have been embarrassed by all the fuss, but it was nevertheless a landmark moment in career of the player long considered the face of the Washington Nationals franchise. It was his first putout as an outfielder after more than 1,100 games as a third baseman, part of a good night all around for him and his club Tuesday in a 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Jordan Zimmermann rebounded from a mini-slump to throw eight scoreless innings, Zimmerman hit a pair of doubles and handled his two chances with aplomb in left field, and the Nationals moved back to .500 by taking the opener of the three-game series. "Theres nothing like getting into the first game and getting a couple of balls," Zimmerman said. "And getting a couple of hits helped, too." Zimmermann (4-2) allowed five hits and struck out four, recovering well from four middling starts that had raised his usually impeccable ERA to 4.07. He got all the support he needed when the Nationals scored three in the third inning off David Buchanan (1-2), making his third career start. "May was a pretty rough month for me, and hopefully June has better things to come," Zimmermann said. "I wanted to go nine, but eightll be good enough." Zimmerman went 2 for 4 with one RBI after being reinstated before the game following 44 games on the disabled list with a broken right thumb. Of greater interest was his move to the outfield, a switch necessitated by his throwing problems and the need for a strong hitter to play left field while Bryce Harper recovers from thumb surgery. Zimmerman said he was initially hesitant to try the outfield, but he realized his chronic shoulder problems mean his days as a regular third baseman are numbered. Ever the team player, he said he just wanted to help the club win -- even if theres likely not a Gold Glove in it for him, like the one he won playing third in 2009. &"I feel like Im athletic enough to at least blend in," he said.dddddddddddd "And not cause problems." Like many infielders-turned-outfielders before him, he learned the action isnt as fast and furious when stationed 300 feet from home plate. Playing deeper than a usual left fielder and using a glove borrowed from teammate Jayson Werth, he fielded only the liner from Utley and a shallow flyout by Marlon Byrd in the sixth before being removed for defensive replacement Nate McLouth after seven innings. There was no complaint about the lack of work. "That means our pitchers are doing a good job," Zimmerman said. "I just catch what comes to me." Its Zimmermans bat thats really needed by the Nationals, who slumped at the plate for most of last month and have been hovering around .500 in the NL East. They started hitting better in a weekend series against the Texas Rangers, however, and have scored 26 runs in their last four games. Zimmerman doubled to left in the second and to right in the fifth, and each time a black padded glove was brought to him to wear to protect his thumb as he ran the bases. Werth added a two-run double in the third, Denard Span had three hits, and Ian Desmond and Anthony Rendon homered for the Nationals. The Phillies lost their fourth straight and were shut out for the eighth time this season, failing to get any impetus from a pregame team meeting called by manager Ryne Sandberg. Sandberg addressed focus and fundamentals, but theres only so much the manager could do about Zimmermanns mid-90s fastball and debilitating slider. Philadelphia is 9-18 since May 4. "We werent able to get anything going offensively, got shut down by a good pitcher," Sandberg said. "He kind of set the tone for the game." NOTES: The Phillies optioned RHP Phillippe Aumont to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and recalled RHP Ethan Martin from Lehigh Valley. ... Philadelphia signed RHP Jason Marquis to a minor league contract. He will report to Class-A Clearwater for extended spring training. ... Nationals LHP Gio Gonzalez, on the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed pitching shoulder, will make a rehab start with Single-A Potomac on Friday. 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