Ex-baseball prospect Nick Moore seeks 2nd career with Georgia's football program

After years of lingering in Single-A, Nick Moore's dream of suiting up for the Boston Red Sox was delivered a fatal blow last April when he was released by the major-league club.

Fast-forward four months, and the former baseball prospect has his eyes set on an entirely different dream: winning a spot on the Georgia football team.

Moore, 23, is a walk-on linebacker at the Bulldogs' training camp, competing for a spot as certainly the team's oldest freshman.

"I’m going backwards," Moore said, according to Seth Emerson of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I did the real world when I was 18, and now I get a chance to kind of take a step back and be a kid again. I don’t really have to worry about real life."

Moore was drafted out of high school by the Red Sox in the 30th round of the 2011 MLB Draft.

A long shot to make the pros, he said he signed with the popular MLB team because they made him an enticing offer: decent money and a promise to pay for his college attendance.

In great shape after years playing minor-league ball, Moore started fielding offers from several football programs almost immediately after getting cut. His father contacted his high school football coach, who then called programs on Moore's behalf.

None of the big schools offered scholarships, but, as someone in good athletic shape whose tuition was set to be paid by the Red Sox, Moore managed to attract attention.

After visiting Alabama, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, and Georgia, he opted for the Bulldogs largely because of his first meeting with inside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler. The chance to play under head coach Mark Richt and defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt also played a factor, as did the fact that Georgia was his boyhood team.

"Coach Pruitt's one of the best coaches in baseball - football, sorry," Moore said. "Being a Georgia fan growing up, listening to Larry Munson, I felt like there’s no other place on the planet I'd rather be than right down the house."