Dante Moore has a chance to lead Oregon to its first national football title. And one day Moore is expected to be a prized NFL draft pick. But many in Detroit already view Moore as a winner in life.
Oregon QB Dante Moore on spreading passes to a variety of receivers
Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore speaks about spreading passes to different receivers.
- Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore is set to play in the College Football Playoff semifinal against the Indiana Hoosiers.
- Moore previously led Detroit’s Martin Luther King Jr. Sr. High School to two state championships.
- Family and former coaches from Detroit praise Moore’s character, work ethic, and leadership.
- The quarterback is viewed as an uplifting figure and a positive representative for the city of Detroit.
When Dante Moore steps onto the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta on Friday, Jan. 9 to lead the Oregon Ducks against the Indiana Hoosiers, Moore will perform something that Detroiters became accustomed to during his high school days at Detroit’s Martin Luther King Jr. Sr. High School.
That “something” amounts to playing in big games with championship ramifications, which Moore did often as the quarterback at King High, where he led the Crusaders to the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 state football championships at Ford Field in 2021 and 2022.
On Friday night, Moore and the Ducks (13-1) will vie for a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship game in a semifinal matchup against the No. 1 ranked Hoosiers (14-0), who toppled Oregon, 30-20, in a Big Ten regular season game on Oct. 11, 2025, at the Ducks’ home stadium.
Millions of fans from around the world are expected to watch the semifinal contest, which also is the 58th annual Peach Bowl. And among those viewers with a special connection to Moore will be enthusiastic men, women and children in Detroit. The faithful include Barry Cannon, an assistant principal and athletic director at King High, who still has vivid memories of Moore in a black and gold King Crusaders football uniform that has become known nationwide due to the many elite student-athletes that the program has produced.
“When Dante was at King, I just called him “my quarterback,” and I was always proud to call him ‘my quarterback’ because he was ‘Crusader like’ from the moment he arrived at our school as a ninth grader, meaning he was a gentleman first, a student second and an athlete third,” recalled Cannon, a basketball standout in Detroit’s Public School League during his own high school days in the early 1980s, who has come to embrace the rich legacy of PSL football through the relationships he has made with King players and coaches.
“From day one, Dante checked every box, starting with his character. He is definitely an uplifting person for Detroit, and this is an uplifting moment for our city that we really need to shine a light on.”
On the evening of Jan. 7, after a full day of classes and after-school activities at King, Cannon said he was excited about sharing some of his favorite “Dante stories.”
And as Cannon spoke about Moore’s high school and collegiate journeys — including significant acts of generosity that Moore has bestowed on the King football program without fanfare due to the opportunity that collegiate athletes now have to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) — he never expressed any doubt about what a team led by Moore can accomplish, even when facing an opponent like Indiana that demonstrated superiority over the Ducks in the teams’ most recent match-up.
Cannon eventually revealed one of the primary reasons for his optimism by sharing a story about a moment when Moore’s spirit was victorious, even when he was on the losing end of the scoreboard. That moment recalled by Cannon took place on Aug. 27, 2021, immediately after King suffered a stunning 42-40 road defeat against Carmel (Indiana) High School on a Hail Mary pass as time expired.
“I don’t think I would have been able to control myself if I was Dante’s age after a heartbreaking loss where he had done all he could to put us in a position to win,” Cannon said about a game that the Crusaders ultimately rebounded from by winning a state championship. “But on that long, four-hour bus ride back home to Detroit, Dante was talking to all of his guys, keeping them poised and upbeat. You could hear Dante saying: ‘We have more work to do.’
“And as we got closer to Detroit, Dante said: ‘I’m going to get a little rest when I get home and then I need to get up because I have a 6 a.m. workout with (former University of Michigan quarterback) Devin Gardner. Dante never missed any of those workouts and he never missed school.”
Cannon’s description of the early morning workouts performed by Moore as a young player echoed words that were spoken earlier in the evening by Darrell Moore, a longtime assistant high school football coach at King’s number one rival in the PSL — Cass Tech. Darrell Moore also happens to be Dante Moore’s uncle, and despite the close family bond, Darrell Moore was not able to persuade Dante to enroll at Cass when he was entering high school, which Darrell Moore says is a reflection of another type of loyalty that Dante has for his teammates.
“We wanted Dante to come over to Cass, but he wanted to stay with the guys he was with on the (Detroit) Spartans (youth football program) that were going to King,” said Darrell Moore, who had previously helped his son Keith to become an all-state quarterback at Cass (Class of 2011).
“Dante always had a work ethic, which he got from his father (Otha Moore), who could write a book about parenting because he instilled that work ethic in all of his children. Dante worked up to doing those 4-, 5-, and 6-a.m workouts around the eighth and ninth grades. So, when Dante was at King and threw touchdowns against us when he played Cass, all I could do was smile because I knew about all the work he put in.”
Darrell Moore says the smile that came to his face during Dante’s high school days still persists, along with other emotions as Dante, a redshirt sophomore, is a game away from playing for a national championship. The winner of the Oregon-Indiana matchup will play Miami, which earned a berth in the College Football Playoff title game with a 31-27 win over Mississippi in the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night. The title game will be played Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida where the Miami Hurricanes have played their home games since 2008. Hard Rock Stadium is also where Oregon defeated Texas Tech, 23-0, on Jan. 1 in the Orange Bowl, which advanced the Ducks to the semifinal round of the playoffs. Dante passed for 234 yards against Texas Tech and received the Orange Bowl Most Outstanding Player Award following the contest.
“I’m crazy proud at this moment, and not just because my family’s name is on the back of his jersey,” said Darrell Moore, who takes extra pride in Dante’s roll-out passing, which Darrell Moore helped Dante develop as a youngster. “Dante is also representing the PSL and the 313 area code.
“The truth is that we still live through these kids as coaches and as a community. We can see Dante play on ESPN every Saturday and watch him throw touchdown passes, but people have to like who you are before they want to watch and follow you. Did you see the children’s book (“From Journey to Dream”) he wrote? Dante is the epitome of what you want your son and quarterback to be, by the way he lives his life, and by the way that he tries to help other people.
“In Detroit, we can claim Dante as one of our guys and he is representing us well. That’s a big thing and that’s why we’ll be watching.”
Like Cannon and Darrell Moore, Myrlin Moore, Darrell Moore’s mother, also will be watching Friday’s game from the comfort of her home. As it turns out, Myrlin Moore’s connection to football in Detroit goes back further than most, given that she lives across the street from McCabe Field — 4400 W. Boston Blvd. at Petoskey — which has been the West Side Cubs’ field of dreams for decades. Founded in 1957, the Cubs’ history includes integrating youth football in Detroit, along with developing an extremely long list of young football players that later excelled on the collegiate and professional levels. And when the Cubs fielded its first cheerleading team, Myrlin Moore was a part of it.
But while Myrlin Moore is no doubt proud of being so close to Detroit football history on a grassroots level, she made it clear that from her home on Friday evening her focus will be solely on the present-day moves by her nephew and the entire Oregon team, whose roster also includes Detroit native A’Mauri Washington, a standout on the Ducks’ defensive line.
“My comfort level is watching the game from home, where I can scream and fuss at the TV when I need to,” said Myrlin Moore, who not only follows Dante’s play on the field but also the other forms of his leadership, like leading the team in prayer before the game. “My great nephew is playing a sport, but so much of this is about Dante’s character. He is just such a humble person and a firm believer in God, and our entire family has been so overjoyed by this entire experience.
“I’m just so proud.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.
