The University of Montana’s Dan Moore has been invited to participate in the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Game on Feb. 2.
The game is in Allen, Texas, and begins at 6 p.m. It will be televised by FOX Sports.
Moore, a 5-foot-11, 235-pound fullback from Tucson, Ariz., was a four-year letterman for the Grizzlies. He played in 38 career games at UM and rushed for almost 1,000 career yards. He was the Grizzlies’ co-special teams captain as a senior in 2012. After a strong start to the season he suffered an injury against Eastern Washington on Sept. 29 and missed most of the remainder of the season. In the Grizzlies’ first four-plus games he rushed for 406 yards and four touchdowns.
Moore told the UM athletic department that he received a call from his agent saying organizers were looking for a player from the Texas area to participate.
“He called me about 30 minutes later and said ‘pack up your stuff, you’re headed to Texas to play in that all-star game,” Moore said in a news release from UM.
Moore will play for the Nation team.
“The Texas versus the Nation is a big game,” said Griz head football coach Mick Delaney.
“Every team in the NFL will have a scout there. Dan’s been working extremely hard. This is his opportunity to get a little bit of a jump on Pro Day (March 8), because hopefully he can show the teams that are there that he can do the things that they need him to do. Those things are to block and catch the ball out of the backfield, and he can do those two things.”
Last season the Texas vs. Nation game was re-branded as the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in San Antonio, but the post-season exhibition, which was established in 2006, will shift back to the original format for 2013. The exhibition serves as a stage for professional scouts to evaluate prospects for the NFL, CFL and other pro football leagues, similar to long-standing college all-star games like the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game.
Since 2006, over 500 college players who participated in the Texas vs. the Nation game have been signed to NFL contracts and over the last five years, 100 players have been selected in the NFL Draft.
Grizzly players who have played in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star game are Shann Schillinger (2010), safety Colt Anderson (2009) and quarterback Josh Swogger (2007).