Mehlville Football's Brendan Moore Represents St. Louis Rams in National Tournament

's Brendan Moore just had the weekend of his life representing the St. Louis Rams in a .

The junior-to-be joined an all-star cast of high school athletes in the competition, organized by the NFL’s High School Player Development Program.

The team traveled to Indianapolis Thursday through Sunday and played nine games of football against athletes from all over the nation. They went 8-1 and lost in the second round of playoffs.

“It was probably the most memorable experience of my life,” Moore said. “Not everyone gets picked for this and I’m extremely blessed to have the opportunity. I’m pretty sure we represented our state well.”

For the first time, all 32 NFL teams were represented at the tournament, which has been around for a little more than a decade. Coach Kyle Eversgerd said the Rams' approach has been different than the other franchises in that the team has been more involved. Former players helped coach at three area camps earlier this summer.  

More than 200 athletes attended the camps and the top 36 from each camp were invited to try out at the Rams training facility in Earth City.

Eversgerd chose the final 12 players for the team along with linemen for the NFL’s Linemen Leadership Program.

Unlike other programs, the Rams' 7-on-7 squad had the benefit of practicing at an NFL facility leading up to the tournament, and also got a pep talk from the Rams new head coach Jeff Fisher before the competition.

“At the tournament we played all day and had 30-minute breaks in between each game,” he said. “I got to play with the best of the best in each state.”

Most of the games were nail-biters with the Rams pulling off a good play at the last minute. After going undefeated in pool play, the team moved on to the second round of the playoffs and lost to the Arizona Cardinals by 3 points.

“I was stunned,” Moore said. “I thought we were going to pull it off. We were all shocked, we thought we would have had them.” 

For the uninitiated, 7-on-7 is a chance for skill-position players, such as quarterbacks, running backs and receivers, to have a chance to shine.

"It's pretty simple," Eversgerd told his team, "Throw it. Catch it. Defend it."

The junior played outside linebacker and then receiver for the last few games in the tournament.

“I loved catching those crazy balls in the back of the end zone where you just barely get your feet in—that’s just an energy rush when you make a really big play on offense,” Moore said.

He hopes to bring the knowledge he received back to Mehlville for the 2012 football season. 

Meet The Team:

• Devin Alexander (Ritenour)
• Bert Birdsall (CBC)
• Keith Brent (Hazelwood Central)
• Tyler Brewer (Fox)
• Greg Gibson (O’Fallon)
• Brendan Moore (Mehlville)
• Darius Mosely (O’Fallon)
• Zach Muniz (CBC)
• Aarion Penton (CBC)
• Devin Roberts (Warrenton)
• Brett Siebenshuh (Francis Howell)
• Cole Sigmund (MICDS)

The following players were selected for the NFL Lineman Leadership Program:

• Brandon Barton (Festus)
• Jonathan Bonner (Parkway Central)
• Chris Simmons (Mehlville)
• Chris Watkins (Wesclin)
• Cody Watz (Fox)
• Donnie White (De Smet)