Jean-Andre Moore, a wide receiver on the Miners’ football team, constantly takes jabs about how he dresses. The stereotype that athletes dress like slobs is not true, according to Moore; rather, they want to focus their energy and time on other things.
Q: Aside from school, take me through the average wardrobe you wear on a daily basis.
A: It consists of shorts or sweatpants, a football shirt or a long sleeve–something loose fitting. I definitely don’t think too much about it. It’s always that small option because it’s easy. After football, I’m tired. The last thing I want to worry about is being uncomfortable in a pair of jeans or trying to impress someone when I’ve just spent everything I have in the morning during football. The last thing I’m worrying about is what I’m going to wear.
Q: After a workout or practice, explain your getting-ready process:
A: This past spring, two days a week, I have no time–30 minutes. I turn on the shower to warm it up; I go to my locker and grab a towel to shower. After I shower it’s shorts, shirt and slides –that’s how relaxed it is, I’m okay with wearing slides because it’s that much faster. I do feel rushed because there is not enough time in one day.
Q: Even if there was more time to get ready, do you honestly think you would dress up better, given you have just gone through practice?
A: I wouldn’t because I have a lot more things to worry about instead of impressing people in class. I’m not in class to impress people; I’m there because I have to go to class.
Q: Can you pinpoint a time you dressed the laziest for class?
A: I’ve gone to class in my workout clothes before. We ran late that day and I knew I had to get to class early because we had a test that day. I needed to still learn some stuff before the test, so I literally came in my football clothes. I just dried my face off and went to class, but it’s not always like that.
Q: Can you give an estimate of the how many athletes you see who actually try with their outfits on a daily basis?
A: There’s a decent amount of wide receivers and running backs that you can tell choose what they’re going to dress like. If there are 100 guys on the team, only 10 guys meticulously choose their outfits. Even then, it’s just a t-shirt and some jeans.
Q: Does this lackluster style translate into the weekend?
A: I still remain pretty relaxed as far as outfits during the weekend. If I’m going to go out or be around people, I love to go out in my dress-up clothes. I know I look good in a pair of jeans. Whether I’m going out or simply going to see a movie, I like to dress up.
Q: Do you think the fact you rarely dress up adds to your outfit?
A: Yes, because people always see me in shorts and sweats. If I wore jeans every day, people would think that was normal; but since I don’t, it’s almost like a treat that people get to see me in jeans on the weekend. People say “oh you dressed up,” when in reality, I just put on a decent shirt, jeans and nice shoes. It looks way better because they compare me to what they usually see. That’s what I like about dressing relaxed: when I do dress up, it’s a big deal.
Q: Do you ever feel judged by others?
A: No, but I have a good sense of self. I’ve dressed this relaxed since high school. In high school I wore pjs because I didn’t care. From freshman to senior year I wore pajamas.
Q: What’s the worst thing someone has said to you?
A: One day I wore overalls because I thought, meh, I’ll wear clothes. A guy came up to me and said, “hey, you look like a faggot.” That was the only time someone tried to put me down for my clothes. I wore whatever I wanted and it wasn’t a big deal.
Q: When someone says, “athletes don’t try at all with their dress up,” what do you say to that?
A: The fact that we don’t try in our outfits has no reflection on who we are as people. Being a student athlete is hard; there is a lot of time we put in the day. We are trying in a lot more fields than the ones where we choose to dress in. If I have three things I can choose to put my time towards. As an athlete, I have to do sports and school. Believe me, dressing up is far below that list –I have family, church, my dog, my friends, work–those things will be on my list before dressing up.
Q: When it’s all over and you’re embarking on your career, do you think you will care more about how you dress?
A: Everybody knows I dress down. It’s because I understand in my profession, I’m probably going to have to dress up every day, all the time. I’m going to relish the chances when I get to wear sweats again. I’m taking advantage of not having to dress up all the time. It’s a pleasure and I see it as a gift that I only have four or five shirts I can wear and five pairs of shorts–I can fit my whole wardrobe for the week in a small space and I love it. I know there’s going to come a day when I’m going to have stacks of dress shirts, dress pants and shoes that I’ll have to wear. I’ll enjoy it, but I’ll miss the days when I could wear shorts.
Adrian Broaddus may be reached at [email protected].
