Sept. 26, 2006

SEATTLE, Wash. -

By Jim Cnockaert, Journal Sports Editor

Chris Moore isn't certain what amazes him more: that he somehow made what is known simply as "The Catch" in the annals of Western Washington football; or, that the play continues to rate national attention 14 years after it happened.

"I was surprised by the notoriety then, because we're just a little school tucked in a corner of Washington," Moore said. "Once or twice a year, it comes up, and someone asks me about it. It's amazing it still comes up."

Moore's improbable reception rates yet another look today on Fox Sports Northwest's "Best Damn Sports Show Period," which will show "The Catch" as one of the most spectacular 50 plays in football history. The program will air at 11 p.m.

The play occurred Oct. 17, 1992 during the Vikings' 28-0 win against the University of Puget Sound at Baker Stadium in Tacoma.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jason Stiles, a product of Federal Way's Decatur High, rolled to his left and fired a pass to Moore, an Issaquah High grad and a redshirt sophomore, who was running a 15-yard out pattern toward the sideline. Recognizing that the throw was coming in about knee high, Moore crouched low, anticipating that he would dive to make the catch and roll out of bounds.

It would not be that simple.

Though his former teammates still tease him that he turned an easy catch into a difficult one, Moore insists that the pass was deflected up at the last moment by a diving UPS defender. The ball glanced off Moore's shoulder pads and bounced off several parts of his body as he was tumbling. As he came upright, Moore saw the ball between his legs and instinctively snatched it before rolling out of bounds.

"I started playing football in the second grade, so I don't know how many thousands of catches I'd made before that one. But I had never done anything like that before," Moore said. "It was total luck on the bounces, and then it was a matter of instinct grabbing the ball and securing it."

Though teammates along the sideline went wild, the play might have been relegated to oblivion had it not been caught on videotape by WWU student Rick Medved, who was filming the game for the "Viking Football Weekly" television program. Though his video is grainy, Medved was positioned perfectly to photograph the play.

"At first, I thought it was going to be an easy catch, and my first reaction when I saw the ball hit his shoulder pad was one of frustration," said Stiles, now a color commentator on WWU football radio broadcasts. "I had no idea what had happened. It's freaky that the student producer was right there on the sideline. The planets all kind of aligned at that moment."

Moore still wasn't exactly certain what he'd done or how he'd done it until the following Monday, when he finally watched Medved's video. By that time, the school's sports information director had sent a copy of the video to KOMO-TV.

From there, the play began appearing on sports shows all over the country. It eventually was honored as the College Football Play of the Year by ESPN in its first presentation of the ESPY awards.

"As big as that (ESPY) program has become, it's disappointing that neither Chris nor the school has anything to recognize that honor," Stiles said. "There was probably some regulation about giving (an award) to an amateur athlete, but heck, they should have given something to the school."

Moore, who lives in North Bend and is a product manager for Seattle-based WhitePages.com, said he is just glad the play is still remembered, even though that is sometimes a mixed blessing.

"Every time that play is shown someplace, I get a lot of good-natured ribbing from my (former) teammates," Moore said. "It always ends up with them telling me I should have caught it the first time."

Stiles is one of those teammates who loves to kid Moore, but he admits that even after 14 years, he is still amazed every time he sees "The Catch."

"It truly is one of the best plays of all time," Stiles said. "I'll be watching that show, because I'm curious to see which (plays) rank better."