Huskies' Quentin Moore Mixes Family and Football

Preparing for his final University of Washington football game on Saturday against Boise State in the LA Bowl, Quentin Moore has every reason to feel a little weary, if not distrustful, by what's happened in his world.

No father in his life, the junior college detour, the knee injury, the concussion.

Yet here comes the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Husky tight end from Kenmore, Washington, finishing strong, feeling optimistic, looking like an NFL prospect, more content than ever.

For his final Husky home game against Oregon, Moore did the Senior Walk in a memorable fashion, tightly holding onto his nine-month-old daughter Tatum as if he were gripping a football and scoring the winning touchdown in the 2023 Pac-12 championship game against the Ducks, which he did once.

"It's been amazing, been a blessing, learned a lot, a lot of patience," he said of fatherhood. "it's like definitely changed my whole outlook on life."

What's happened is Moore became the dad he didn't have growing up.

He's the son of former Seattle Seahawks defensive back Mark Moore, who played briefly in the Northwest, and they didn't have a relationship. It was just Quentin and his mom Sarah growing up.

Curiously enough, the older Moore left his own mark in Husky Stadium while playing for Oklahoma State in 1985 and returning an interception 49 yards for a touchdown with 5:14 left to play in the Cowboys' 31-17 victory.

Quentin Moore comes to the end of a long-winding college career that began in 2019 at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas, in the southeastern corner of the state, near the Oklahoma state line.

Quentin Moore had a 10-yard catch against Ohio State. | Dave Sizer photo

His grades at Inglemoor High School forced him to take the JC route. At Independence, he caught 38 passes for 547 yards and 5 touchdowns limited to one season by the COVID pandemic and he couldn't leave there fast enough to try and make something of himself.

"When I got to Kansas, I saw the poverty out there and I said to myself, I wasn't going to let that happen to me," Moore told Scott Ecklund of Dawgman.com once he transferred to the UW.

In Montlake, Moore played sparingly at first, appearing in just two games in 2021. He didn't know how to block effectively. Playing alongside tight end Cade Otton, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, changed that.

Otton was a technician. Moore watched film and studied his teammate. It changed his outlook as a tight end.

"It's more fun for me to put somebody in the dirt and dominate the man across from me blocking than scoring a touchdown," he said.

While honing his craft, Moore became the Huskies' starting tight end for 2024 only to have it taken from him in the opener against Weber State in a most unfair manner.

Quentin Moore goes airborne for more yardage. | Skylar Lin Visuals

He played only a quarter and a half and was blindsided while catching a 14-yard pass when an opposing player, realizing he should be in there, raced off the sideline mid-play and took out Moore's right knee.

"I saw it on film and I was like in shock," he. said.

Moore's attempts to make a mid-season return were blunted and he dealt with the disappointment of it all. He suffered medial collateral ligament and cartilage damage.

"Right before that first game, I found out I had a baby girl on the way," he said. "That season was really big for me, really important, and I felt like it got taken from me. I found myself feeling sorry for myself. I wanted last year to be my last and to go take care of my family next."

Tight end Quentin Moore is helped off the field by his UW teammates after getting injured against Weber State. | Skylar Lin Visuals

It's happening now. Moore has appeared in 39 UW games and started nine times. He currently has 4 catches for 51 yards and career totals of 12 receptions for 136 yards and that lone touchdown against Oregon in the postseason, modest numbers for sure.

Yet he's made himself known as an elite blocker.

"Quentin's a fantastic run blocker," UW coach Jedd Fisch said. "He's got the abllity to make the run game go. One of the things we missed last year was Quentin Moore."

The season has had its challenges for him, as well. At Michigan, he caught a helmet to the chin and dropped to the field with a concussion. He was taken off the field on a stretcher strapped to a cart and transported to a hospital for observation.

"I don't really remember a lot after the hit," he said. "i've never been hit like that before."

Yet Moore bounced back once more, missing just one game and returning to drive a Purdue player 10 yards and all the way off the field to clear the way for Jordan Washington's 68-yard touchdown run. He looked speedy enough catching a 16-yard pass at Wisconsin, too.

He's a complete player now, ready to finish his time with the Huskies and turn to the NFL, and be a proud father of Tatum all at once.

"I'm a happier person than I've ever been," Moore said. "I feel like having her in that whole recovery process really helped me."

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