The 61-Year-Old Football Player

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A father of three daughters and grandfather of five, Moore was in the construction business for 37 years after the Army, and was a development superintendent at a North Carolina construction site in 2009 when he got laid off.

That same year Moore attended a college football game in Mississippi and noted out loud that he could outperform one team's struggling placekicker. Chuckles from his brother, Lynn Moore, prompted Moore to buy some cleats and start knocking the rust off his placekicking game.

He attempted to bring things full circle last year by unsuccessfully trying out for Jones County Junior College's football team. Instead, Moore kicked for Holmes Community College in Goodman, Miss., which posted a 0-9 football record in 2010.

Moore's next goal was to play for Faulkner and its skeptical head football coach, Gregg Baker, 45. "He actually came to us back in the spring," Baker recalls. "One of my assistant coaches brought him to my attention.

"I asked [Moore] point-blank, 'Why are you doing this?' " Baker says. "He said, 'Coach, my biggest thing is to show [Faulkner students] that they should never give up on anything that they start.' "

That includes getting a diploma. Moore is looking forward to graduation day, joining hordes of other college grads in vigilantly monitoring the employment market.

"When I get out of here with a degree, I'll be about 64, 65," Moore says, laughing. "I'll try to get me a job with AARP, I guess."

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Blair S. Walker is a writer in Miami.