This damn pandemic really sucks. It really sucks for a lot of people, from the people who've been directly affected by it, the people who've lost loved ones to it, the people who've lost their livelihoods to it and on down the line.
Somewhere toward the lower half of the list of what's really important in life, COVID-19 especially sucked today for Purdue football and all its stakeholders, because it cost them their signature star, the icon who was around not nearly long enough.
Rondale Moore, the 5-foot-9ish dynamo whose star-power was so outsized that it merited a larger-than-life mural in the middle of Downtown Indianapolis, is gone after just 17 games, off to prepare for the NFL draft instead of a college football season that may or may not even get off the ground.
You can't blame him.
Ever since Moore's star turn as a freshman in 2018 — the perfect player with the perfect talent and the perfect work ethic playing for the perfect coach at the perfect time — the NFL has been almost a singular focus, and this isn't just about concerns over the virus, it's about diminishing returns. Would it have been worth the risks of all kinds to maybe play this oddball season mid-pandemic? This was about the NFL more than it was about COVID, I'd think.
It's just business, as college football will continue to learn in the days and weeks to come. There are millions of dollars at stake for players in Moore's position, and they only get one shot at capitalizing on that shot for a fixed amount of time. I'll never in my life have to make a decision like the one Moore just made, but I'd have done the same thing if I were him. (Keep in mind, he can get paid now, too.)
Had Moore stayed at Purdue, he'd have left next spring, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, assuming he was healthy, but maybe even if he wasn't. Right now, Moore is viewed by many as a first-round pick. He will crush his workouts when that time comes, because as awesome a football player as he is, he'll put on an even better show on the track and in the weight room.
It's just business, same as it was when Caleb Swanigan started really enjoying being at Purdue at the end of his sophomore season, but simply couldn't come back even if he might have wanted to.
Moore's off, and in the short term Purdue's worse off because of it, because it's a considerable blow to this 2020 team, for sure.
In the long term, though, Purdue is so much better off for Rondale Moore having passed through its campus, even if it was just for 17 games.
That 2018 season was one for the ages, and what it meant for the Boilermaker program can't be overstated. Moore pushed Purdue straight into the hearts and minds of fans and recruits all over the country, and you can't put a dollar figure on that sort of thing. Without Moore, there may not be a David Bell, may not be a George Karlaftis, may not be any of the players who could have gone a lot of places higher up on the college football food chain than Purdue at the time they made their decisions.
Moore's viral appeal gave Purdue a cool-ness it benefited profoundly from, and a credibility that paid immense dividends in recruiting, because everything Purdue's coaches were telling prospective Boilermakers, Moore was providing living proof. Months earlier, his drive helped shape the culture its new staff was trying to foster.
That 2018 season — that Ohio State game — can't be undone. Those memories are immortal, and they were made by Moore, who won't soon be forgotten around these parts, on the back of just one season. One season!
It's a damn shame for Purdue it doesn't get more time with its best Heisman shot since Brees, but those 17 games, they were some kinda ride.
Somewhere toward the lower half of the list of what's really important in life, COVID-19 especially sucked today for Purdue football and all its stakeholders, because it cost them their signature star, the icon who was around not nearly long enough.
Rondale Moore, the 5-foot-9ish dynamo whose star-power was so outsized that it merited a larger-than-life mural in the middle of Downtown Indianapolis, is gone after just 17 games, off to prepare for the NFL draft instead of a college football season that may or may not even get off the ground.
You can't blame him.
Ever since Moore's star turn as a freshman in 2018 — the perfect player with the perfect talent and the perfect work ethic playing for the perfect coach at the perfect time — the NFL has been almost a singular focus, and this isn't just about concerns over the virus, it's about diminishing returns. Would it have been worth the risks of all kinds to maybe play this oddball season mid-pandemic? This was about the NFL more than it was about COVID, I'd think.
It's just business, as college football will continue to learn in the days and weeks to come. There are millions of dollars at stake for players in Moore's position, and they only get one shot at capitalizing on that shot for a fixed amount of time. I'll never in my life have to make a decision like the one Moore just made, but I'd have done the same thing if I were him. (Keep in mind, he can get paid now, too.)
Had Moore stayed at Purdue, he'd have left next spring, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, assuming he was healthy, but maybe even if he wasn't. Right now, Moore is viewed by many as a first-round pick. He will crush his workouts when that time comes, because as awesome a football player as he is, he'll put on an even better show on the track and in the weight room.
It's just business, same as it was when Caleb Swanigan started really enjoying being at Purdue at the end of his sophomore season, but simply couldn't come back even if he might have wanted to.
Moore's off, and in the short term Purdue's worse off because of it, because it's a considerable blow to this 2020 team, for sure.
In the long term, though, Purdue is so much better off for Rondale Moore having passed through its campus, even if it was just for 17 games.
That 2018 season was one for the ages, and what it meant for the Boilermaker program can't be overstated. Moore pushed Purdue straight into the hearts and minds of fans and recruits all over the country, and you can't put a dollar figure on that sort of thing. Without Moore, there may not be a David Bell, may not be a George Karlaftis, may not be any of the players who could have gone a lot of places higher up on the college football food chain than Purdue at the time they made their decisions.
Moore's viral appeal gave Purdue a cool-ness it benefited profoundly from, and a credibility that paid immense dividends in recruiting, because everything Purdue's coaches were telling prospective Boilermakers, Moore was providing living proof. Months earlier, his drive helped shape the culture its new staff was trying to foster.
That 2018 season — that Ohio State game — can't be undone. Those memories are immortal, and they were made by Moore, who won't soon be forgotten around these parts, on the back of just one season. One season!
It's a damn shame for Purdue it doesn't get more time with its best Heisman shot since Brees, but those 17 games, they were some kinda ride.
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