GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 4 57
BY KYLE CHARTERS
KCharters@GoldandBlack.com
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For 72 hours, Rondale Moore had to
fight to stay alive.
Born five weeks premature, doctors at his community
hospital didn't want to risk medical complications to trans-
fer him to a larger hospital's neo-natal intensive care unit
until they were confident he could handle the move. But
Moore, then only six pounds, was up for the challenge, as
he's frequently been in the 18 years since. After making it
through the first three days, he spent three more weeks in
NICU before finally going home.
But during that first month, Quincy Ricketts learned a
lot about her son who would grow up to be one of the best
football players in Kentucky — and the Midwest — in the
2018 class.
"When he came into this world, making it through those
72 hours, I knew then that he was a very special young
man," Ricketts said, beaming with pride at a Feb. 6 cer-
emony at which Moore signed to play football at Purdue.
"… I knew he was a fighter."
Now, Moore brings that attitude to West Lafayette,
where he's a centerpiece of the 2018 class. Previously a
longtime commitment to Texas, the Trinity High School
product decommitted from the Longhorns in December,
Chad Waggoner
Rondale Moore can run, clocking a 4.33 in
the 40-yard dash last summer. That trait,
plus his desire to succeed, might get him to
the field this season at Purdue.
Full Speed Ahead
From early on, Moore has shown desire