NFL draft waiting game: Raiders linebacker Sio Moore reflects on ‘bittersweet’ draft day

Sio Moore wasn’t closely attuned to the chatter as the NFL draft approached two years ago. He had more important matters to attend to.

“My grandmother passed away Easter Sunday the year I got drafted, so I was really busy with my family, and actually mourning,” Moore said. “It was a bittersweet time.”

Moore had been very close to his grandmother, Muhah Hayford, who died March 31, 2013, and was buried a couple weeks before the draft, which began April 25. Despite his preoccupation, though, he did catch some of the scouting reports on the University of Connecticut linebacker. It was nothing he hadn’t heard before.

“I think some of the things were that I wasn’t fast enough,” Moore said by phone Wednesday. “I didn’t play in a strong conference, so my play or talent wasn’t to be matched up with guys who went to SEC schools or Pac-10 or whatnot.”

And yet the preternaturally confident Moore fully believed he would be selected in the first round. On the night of April 25, he and about 20 of his close family members and friends gathered at the home of his mother, Assunta Nimley-Phillips, in West Haven, Conn. That’s where Moore had lived until his sophomore year of high school, when he moved to North Carolina to live with an older sister and set his life on a better path.

Now Moore returned to West Haven to watch the first round at Nimley-Phillips’ house. But the first round was a disappointment.

“That first day was a little bit nerve-wracking just because I met with the Bears for seven or eight hours the day before the draft,” Moore said. “When the first day came around, I thought I was gonna be for sure gone.

"And when it didn’t work out that way, I was a little upset, I was a little disappointed. And then you’re obviously looking at guys that were drafted ahead of you, and the competitive nature of it, you’re obviously gonna say there’s no way that this guy’s better than me.”

The next night, the gathering moved to a local lounge. But as the draft moved through the second round, Moore still didn’t hear his name. Several teams called him or his agent, Eddie Johnson of Baltimore-based EAS Sports, through Rounds 1 and 2 to touch bases, but none delivered the news Moore was hoping for.

All along, signs pointed to the Raiders. The Oakland staff had coached Moore’s North squad in the Senior Bowl, and defensive coordinator Jason Tarver had informed the linebacker of the team’s interest. The day before he was drafted, Moore went shopping with a good friend and bought him a shirt that read “California.”

On draft day, most of the family was wearing black.

Finally, when the draft order reached pick No. 66 in the third round, the Raiders called West Haven.

“I was sitting there, and I saw a 510 number pop up, and was like, what the heck is a 510 number?” Moore said. “And then it was Reggie on the phone, Mr. McKenzie, our GM, and he was like, ‘Hey, man, you ready to become a Raider?’ I was like, ‘You’re damn right.’ ”

Moore’s name soon crawled across the TV screen, prompting the usual whoops and congratulations, followed shortly by a deluge of texts.

For the athlete, it was a reward bestowed upon many people, not just him.

“I’m a village kid,” Moore said. “I grew up with I-don’t-know-how-many mothers, and I-don’t-know-how-many father figures that came from coaching and teachers, and people just from around the area that really helped me and pushed me, even when I was misguided. … You know, I’m not one person who I could say I’m self-made or anything like that. I’m blessed to have a lot of people in my life.”

The biggest moment of Moore’s athletic life was also tinged with sadness.

“Man, I just remember curling up on my mom like I was a baby again, and I just started crying,” he said. “I started crying, man, because it was such a bittersweet moment. My grandmother never got to see me play a game. She was bedridden while I was in college and she passed away, like I said, Easter Sunday. You know, just making it to that point in my life without her, knowing that I did it for her, it was one of those times that just caught me, and my mom was just like, ‘You’re gonna be all right.’

“That hug from my mom, I think was one of the most special hugs I’ve ever had.”

Moore’s dream had come true. He was an NFL player, and he was able to celebrate the milestone with the people he loved best. He still offers daily thanks to God, he says, for the blessing. But Moore’s reward was also a slap in the face, at least in the eyes of a guy who felt he was the best linebacker in the draft.

“When the Raiders picked me up at 66, I was pissed off,” Moore said. “I mean, I was happy that my family was happy, but for me personally, I was pissed off. From then on, I was like, I got a personal vendetta against 65 and up. And that’s just how it goes.”

Nine linebackers were selected ahead of Moore that year, and he knows who they are. Of the nine, only the Rams’ Alec Ogletree (32) and the Patriots’ Jamie Collins (23) have started more games than Moore (22).

And Moore has more sacks (7½) than all of them. His third-round status remains a constant motivator.

For example, Moore is very close to Collins, New England’s superb young linebacker.

“He’s one of the guys I root on,” Moore said, “but at the same time as I root on - hey, listen, 65 and up.”