Bigfoot
Record-setting Eagle placekicker returns for his final season
Since publication of this story, Adrian Mora set a new NCAA FCS record for consecutive Points After Touchdown. In the Eagles’ win over Furman, he kicked a record-setting 129th straight PAT.
Georgia Southern placekicker Adrian Mora never kicked a football until his first day of practice his freshman year in high school.
Strange, since the 23-year-old Georgia Southern placekicker finished the 2010 football season as an Associated Press Third-Team All-American, as the College Football Performance Awards Placekicker of the Year, and as one of 10 Finalists for the Fred Mitchell Placekicker of the Year Award. He was named to the Mitchell Watch List for the 2011 season.
Born in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, in 1988, Mora’s father decided to move the family to Dalton, Ga., in 1994.
Mora played soccer for his middle school team and it was his soccer coach who suggested he might want to consider playing football.
“I was the one that did all the goal kicks and was the hard hitter on the soccer team all through middle school,” Mora said.
The same year, his older brother started to play for his high school football team.
“I used to go watch his games – and us soccer people really didn’t have anyone showing up to the stadium – but, when I went, just seeing that environment was fun and I wanted to be a part of it,” Mora said.
Mora said that his high school football coach, Ronnie McClurg, played a big part in his success as a player.
“He is someone who cared more about me as a person than a football player. I would say that he was the one that guided me throughout my high school years and into my college years,” Mora said.
Mora said that McClurg also played an integral part in helping him pick what college he would choose to play for.
Knowing that Mora’s family didn’t have the means to send their son to college on their own, McClurg assumed the role of Mora’s advisor, making it known to prospective schools that Mora was not going to play anywhere where he wouldn’t be provided for.
“We [our family] are by no means wealthy,” said Mora. “We’re wealthy in that we care for each other, we’re always there for each other and we’re together no matter what,” Mora said.
Mora said that, although he made good grades through high school and had earned the HOPE Scholarship, he already knew that if he didn’t have a scholarship to play football that he probably would have ended up going to community college.
“It was great that I was given this opportunity to showcase my talents and at the same time get a degree,” Mora said.
When it came to choosing Georgia Southern as the school where he would showcase those talents, Mora wanted to go to a school that had traditions that reflected those of the winning years of Dalton High School. He found those traditions at Georgia Southern.
“I think another factor that played into it was that it’s far enough away from home where I’m able to start anew, but still close enough to where my family can come to the games every single week, which they do,” Mora said.
As proud as Mora is of his success as an athlete, he is even more proud of his academic achievements. He said that he realizes not many college players will ever make it into the NFL, and he sees getting a degree and doing well academically as the real payoff for getting to play college ball.
“I think the fact that school is setting me up for life is more rewarding than getting hardware for my accomplishments on the field,” Mora said.
Mora earned an undergraduate degree in business administration last spring, finishing with an overall 3.9 GPA, and is now enrolled in graduate school for his final season as an Eagle.