Moses Ready To Lead Bronchos

8/24/2012 11:04:00 AM | By: By Anna Kochigina

Sam Moses

As captain of the Central Oklahoma football team, Sam Moses is determined to lead the Bronchos to a successful season in 2012.

“I hate failing,” said Moses, a senior defensive lineman from Broken Arrow who has started 28 of 32 games in his career. “I like to make my parents and everyone proud. When you know what you're working for and you have set your goals, it's harder to let yourself down.”

UCO opens the season Thursday, Aug. 30 at home against Missouri Southern and head coach Nick Bobeck said Moses represents what Bobeck and his stuff want to see in the Broncho football team.

“Sam represents a work ethic,” Bobeck said. “He does the little things right. He's a guy that pays attention to details and is reliable. He shows up and does what he is supposed to do on a day-to-day basis. Sam knows what other people on the field are supposed to do and he puts himself and others in positive situations.”

As a player who has been with the Bronchos since 2009, Moses said this year's team differs from the previous ones. The new team philosophy can be put into three words: intensity, dedication and accountability.

“If you're not intense during practices, if you're not dedicated to what we as a team are trying to do and if you don't hold each other accountable, you're not going to succeed.” Moses said.

Being a team captain for the second year in a row, Moses said his main goal is to teach younger guys how to practice.

“We have a pretty young team,” said Moses. “As a captain, I need to the tone of how to practice. I'm not the most talented and athletic player, but I have work ethic and the motor. My whole role is to show the guys who just came from the high schools how we're working at UCO, what coach wants us to do and why we're going to do it this way.”

Marc Robinson, a freshman linebacker for the Bronchos, said that he looks up to Moses.

“Sam expects a lot out of himself as well as of his teammates,” Robinson said. “He's very modest and just wants to do the things right. He's uplifting. He always knows what to say at the right time. When it gets very hard, you can always count on Sam to be up there and let you know that there is light in the end of a tunnel.”

Along with leading the football team, Moses is president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). The council's main purpose is to participate in community service events and be a voice of the UCO Athletic Department.

A public relations major with declared minors in advertising, personal selling, and marketing, Sam carries a 3.63 grade point average and aspires to go to law school. He's interested in working as an athletic director or as general manager of a professional sports team.

Finding a way to balance football with all his off-field interests is difficult, but Moses says he follows the lesson Coach Bobeck teaches the team: to put your name on it.

“It means that whether you are on the field or off you need to be proud to put your name on what you do,” Moses explained.

Moses also advises all freshmen to communicate with their professors and show them the interest in what they teach.

“Go to class every day, meet your professor and put all that you can into that one hour of class,” Moses said.

Moses said that his parents taught him the values of a sport and how to work hard. His father (Dwayne Moses) played college football and that encouraged Sam to take up the sport in fourth grade, though he never got to play quarterback like he dreamed of.

Now Sam is about to embark on his final season of football and he's ready to end it in style.

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