After six seasons playing for the National Football League, former defensive tackle Art Moore was poisoned by rivals. Doctors told Moore he would probably die.
This near-fatal event was the catalyst that eventually turned the 6-foot-6-inch athlete into the senior pastor of the Yes I Can! church in Baton Rouge.
Moore and his wife Gail, a professional singer, started Yes I Can! as a non-profit in 1979. The ministry grew into a church located off Corporate Boulevard about a year ago.
Moore grew up in Daingerfield, Texas, and at age 13 he longed to become a football player.
After graduating from the University of Tulsa, Moore was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 1973 before moving to the New England Patriots for most of his athletic career.
In the late ’70s, while recovering from the attack, Moore realized he and Gail had a unique platform to reach out to youth and positively impact their community.
“After I got through the life and death situation, I believe the Lord spoke to me and told me to leave the NFL,” Moore said. “My wife and I began to let young men and women know that life is not all about the things you can acquire, or having a big name or having a big house — because I had all of that. But when I got sick I realized none of that could do anything.”
Moore said he and Gail began building a network across the nation. They used their backgrounds to draw crowds, telling people about the importance of making the right choices and following God.
Their network expanded, and the Moores began conducting missionary outreach, bringing medicines to other countries in addition to developing local programs.
The Moores toured around the country — and were invited to speak at The Dunham School in Baton Rouge.
“For some reason we had three weeks in our calendar that wouldn’t book, so we came down here,” Art Moore said. “We thought maybe we had missed God. We prayed about it and have been here about 12 years.”
Moore has held the Yes I Can! In Yo Face three-on-three basketball tournament in Baton Rouge for 10 years. The most recent event took place Saturday in University parking lot 174 off Nicholson Extension.
Moore said more than 100 teams sign up every year, totaling three or four hundred kids on the court.
“We advertise this as an edgy basketball tournament, but it’s really how we get all these people together to … speak to them about admiration of God,” Moore said.
Ferzell Shepard, slam dunk contest winner, said he has been playing basketball since 1993. Shepard said this was his first year participating in In Yo Face and he plans to come back every year.
“I think it’s a great event,” Shepard said. “These kinds of things keep a lot of people out of trouble, and it gives them a chance to be themselves.”
Gail Moore said the tournament has been a valuable tool to spread God’s word.
“Our tournament is different because it’s free. And as a Christian event, everything is faith based,” Moore said. “Art and I both do our part to help local youth, whether through sports or music or talks given at schools.”
Art Moore said if Yes I Can! can help even one person, all the effort is worthwhile.
“It’s kind of like in the Bible,” Moore said. “In the Bible, God gave Moses a stick. Our stick happened to be sports and music. Whatever it is you do, that is your opportunity to try to do some good in the world.”
 
 
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Contact Morgan Searles at [email protected]