ATLANTA–Jeremy Moussa has never played in a football game in Atlanta nor has he stepped inside Mercedes Benz-Stadium.
In fact, Moussa’s only experience in the Black mecca was for “flights to the airport.” However, in August, it didn’t stop the Florida A&M quarterback from circling Dec. 16 on his calendar with the expectation that he would arrive in A-Town in pursuit of HBCU’s peak of perfection. It’s the “standard” that Moussa and his teammates lodged into their psyches from the moment they started fall camp in the sweltering heat blanketing Tallahassee, Fla., during the dog days of the summer. “This was our ultimate goal,” Moussa says.
When Rattlers head coach Willie Simmons began his tenure in 2018, he promised a resurgence to the program and a Black national championship to the “Highest of Seven Hills.” Even when skeptics doubted FAMU for jetting to the SWAC after more than four decades in the MEAC, Simmons’ blueprint remained intact as the Rattlers have posted a 22-2 regular season mark since joining the league in ‘21. The Rattlers’ entrance to the annual clash of MEAC-SWAC titans is half a decade in the making. Simmons, who is in his fifth season at the helm, has cooked up the right personnel to lead the program.
On Saturday, Moussa will throw on the Rattlers’ jersey, pull on his trousers and strap up his “Rattler” helmet a final time, seeking to end a prolific two-year stint with the program’s first HBCU national title when FAMU (11-1) clashes against its old MEAC foe Howard (6-5) in the Celebration Bowl. But before the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year sliced and diced defenses this season that included dismantling Prairie View in a soaking wet, lightning delayed encore at Bragg Memorial Stadium to capture the SWAC crown, Moussa persevered on a four-year, cross country trek with multiple gateways into the overly-saturated grounds of the transfer portal.
Although Moussa carried a winner’s mentality, programs slammed the door on his skills. Instead of giving up, the curly haired, baby faced signal-caller bet on himself. Simmons gambled on the 6’3”, 225-pound Moussa after three prior stops at Hawai’i, San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) and SEC bottom feeder Vanderbilt. The 23-year-old needed the right program to tap into his inner self physically and mentally to find his voice. “It hasn’t been the easiest road for sure,” he says, “and I really had to ask myself ‘did I love it [football].’”
FAMU was his golden ticket.
Just looking for an opportunity
Erica Moussa, Jeremy’s mother, remembers the countless days of her son “just looking for an opportunity” to silence the doubters.
In January ‘19, two months removed from a Hawai’i program that registered its best season in eight years under former head coach Nick Rolovich, the Chino Hills, Calif., native departed the Rainbow Warriors’ program after playing in only two games. That spring, Moussa was looking up the Warriors’ depth chart at then fourth-year junior Cole McDonald, a Californian, and second-year freshman Chevan Cordeiro, who was the state’s ‘17 Gatorade Player of the Year and the high school backup to now the NFL’s Dolphins’ Pro Bowl signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa.
“He saw the writing on the wall of what they [Hawai’i] wanted,” Erica says.
But like the bundle of talent in front of him, 17-year-old Moussa believed he was equipped with the skills to play immediately. The youngster built a powerful case of evidence to bolt from the “middle of the Pacific Ocean” to compete for a starting job elsewhere. As a two-year starter at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Moussa registered more than 7,000 passing yards and 90 touchdowns. However, high school success and college football prosperity don’t always align.
Despite Moussa breaking nearly every passing record in ERHS history, it wasn’t enough to win the starting nod in the “Big Pineapple.” With four years of college eligibility left—due to redshirting his lone season at Hawai’i—Moussa began his trilateral west-to-east coast excursion. It accrued more than 5,000 miles starting from the Pacific Ocean, to the suburb of Los Angeles, through the rugged walls of the Grand Canyon, the parched terrain of the Texas Panhandle, the flat lands of the Sooner State to the hills of Nashville, Tenn., in search of a thriving opportunity to lead an offense of an elite college football program.
Moussa’s second stop? A year long tour at SBVC that resulted in a nine win season, a 2019 Inland Empire Athletic Conference title along with 3,179 passing yards and 37 touchdowns before a dislocated ankle injury robbed him of his final contests. “The same injury FSU’s Jordan Travis suffered recently,” Erica adds. Despite the hitch, Moussa bounced to the Music City for a two-year tenure that resulted in a bachelor’s degree in health behavior and health science and a meager total of 24 passing yards in two games that included zero playing time in the ‘20 campaign. Vanderbilt registered a combined 2-19 mark in the ‘20 and ‘21 campaigns that included three different head coaches in Derek Mason, Todd Fitch and current Commodores’ leader Clark Lea.
“Even when they [Commodores] were getting their a– beat by 40 or 50 points, they wouldn’t give him a shot,” says Henry, Moussa’s dad. “It was discouraging.”
Moussa, once again, faced a burning dilemma about his future. But this time, it contained a ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of NIL and the growing demands of the transfer portal. Weeks after the ‘21 campaign ended, Moussa’s silence grew about his next steps as all the usual questions raced through his mind. Should he leave? Stay? Although Vanderbilt carried several quarterbacks on its roster, Moussa didn’t want to escape Nashville’s comfort.
“I loved everything about my stay there [in Nashville],” Moussa says. “I was ready to be content with the situation despite not getting the football opportunities I hoped for.”
But at his core, Moussa knew Vanderbilt “wasn’t the right situation for him” because he is a relentless competitor, a trait Erica and Henry knew about their son from his childhood. When the Moussas’ drove their son to school, Moussa would stare out the window at the junior All-American players practicing on a field not far from his house. Erica says Moussa was always excited. “But at the time, we had to remind [Jeremy] that he was just a little guy,” she laughs. However, when Moussa reached age 7, Moussa’s genuine interest in football turned into him connecting with a wide receiver on a seam route down the field for a game-winning touchdown to elevate his little league team to a Super Bowl victory. “I’ve always loved to compete,” Moussa says.
That is why Moussa’s parents wouldn’t let him “give up on his dreams” even if they weren’t privy to all of his thoughts. “There’s a lot of people who have to fight for what they want [in this world],” Henry recalls what he told his son constantly. “You’ve got to remain persistent.” The Moussas’ also leaned on their son’s girlfriend, Kyla Doig, a former elite USC beach volleyball star, to encourage him to keep his football dream alive.
“I’d text and talk to her [Kyla] behind the scenes when he [Moussa] was at practice or wasn’t around,” Henry says. “She’d tell me things that he wouldn’t necessarily tell me. My son’s very prideful. …He’s just going to put his head down and grind.”
Kyla’s touch made a significant impression in Moussa’s decision to re-enter the transfer portal. After realizing he still loved football, going more than 490 miles south on Interstate 65 to “Tally” became worth the risk.
Why Not Us?
Henry didn’t know much about FAMU when Moussa told him that he was fleeing south to take his talents to an HBCU in ‘22. However, he quickly seized the opportunity to learn as much as possible by watching the ESPN+ docuseries Why Not Us detailing the culture and standards that made FAMU a powerhouse program.
Simmons offered Moussa an opportunity to “turn over a new leaf” and wasted no time in building a bond with his quarterback after his former quarterbacks’ coach KJ Black—who is now a minority coaching fellow with the NFL’s Rams—steered Moussa to the program. After all, Moussa and Simmons shared the commonality that they were once both FBS and Power 5 quarterbacks (Simmons at Clemson) before hopscotching to finish the final seasons of their college careers at FCS programs. Uniquely with Simmons, FAMU was his first transfer choice of preference. However, with FAMU then sitting in a temporary Division I-A status—today’s FBS rank—Simmons landed at The Citadel. That wrinkle proved to pay major dividends in reciprocated trust for each other. “I understood where he was,” Simmons says. “After Clemson, I’d gotten to a point where I didn’t know if I loved the game anymore.”
However, Moussa’s new opportunity didn’t automatically grant him the status of quarterback No. 1 on the Rattlers’ depth chart. FAMU entered the ‘22 campaign with incumbent quarterback Rasean McKay set to lead the Rattlers’ offense. If Moussa wanted the top spot, he had to earn it. “We didn’t sell him [Moussa] a dream,” Simmons says, “we told him straight up what the situation was.”
Moussa succeeded, beating out McKay. Simmons named him the starter ahead of the Rattlers first game against North Carolina. But a day before FAMU’s season-opening clash against the ACC powerhouse in Chapel Hill, adversity struck home. The NCAA ruled that 26 FAMU football players were deemed ineligible for the contest and potentially multiple games due to compliance issues. Luckily, Moussa wasn’t on the list. However, FAMU’s list of active players included only seven available offensive lineman to battle against one of the more A-list defensive fronts in the ACC. Moussa didn’t envision starting his FAMU tenure this way.
The Rattlers went toe-to-toe with UNC and trailed the Tar Heels, 35-24, after three quarters.
That’s until UNC reeled off 21 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes to secure the 56-24 victory. However, for a “Moussa kid” who many didn’t know about, he put together a strong performance, completing 28-of-38 passes for 279 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the loss. It was the contest that kickstarted Moussa’s FAMU career. “FAMU found its #QB 1,” Henry adds.
High off a strong season-opening stanza, the Rattlers’ Orange Blossom Classic rematch against the reigning SWAC champion and Deion Sanders-led Jackson State in Week 2 of that season was a wake-up call for the first-year starter. JSU destroyed FAMU, 59-3, under the scorching sun on primetime television the day before Labor Day. Or, as Simmons says, it was the loss that defined the soaring expectations of being a Rattlers’ signal-caller.
“You have to have thick skin and be willing to face criticism [at FAMU],” Simmons says. “You have to be able to ride the emotional highs and lows of the position.”
It’s also a game Moussa never forgot. He was “shocked” and disappointed.
“I’d never gotten beaten that bad my entire football career,” he says.
Since the Tigers delivered a good ‘ol fashioned whipping on the Rattlers in ‘22, FAMU has registered a 20-1 mark that includes the program’s revenge win against JSU in this year’s OBC and only one blemish in a 14-point losing affair to Group of 5 South Florida in September.
From a distance, FAMU appeared perfect and was always on a crash course for Saturday’s big game. However, on paper, the Rattlers’ wins didn’t come without bumps in the road. In July, ahead of the ‘23 campaign, adversity barged its way into the program again when a two-minute rap video containing explicit lyrics of Boston Richey’s song “Send A Blitz” was filmed in the Rattlers’ locker room. As a result, Simmons halted all of the program’s football activities. On the field, FAMU didn’t lack talent—34 transfers and 13 All-SWAC selections—but it failed to play with a winner’s mentality for 60 minutes each week, something that remained an ongoing concern during the season. Injuries emerged on both sides of the ball. Doubters questioned Moussa at times for his inconsistency at the position and the Rattlers’ mantra “Our Time” wasn’t fully being embraced.
However, Simmons never doubted his players. All of the right “ingredients” for a championship team resided at FAMU. “Veteran leadership and depth at key places on both sides of the ball, we knew we had the makings of a good team,” Simmons says. “We had to put it together.” With Moussa at quarterback, despite the outside chatter, found his voice within the noise. For FAMU to thrive, it was a necessity for the 23-year-old.
“I didn’t really pay attention to the opinions because football is a hard sport,” Moussa says. “I knew what my ceiling was and my goal was to chase that everyday. When I mastered that and learned to push myself as a leader, it made a difference.”
The Final 60 Minutes
It’s Friday morning before the Celebration Bowl and the lights and jumbotrons are lit up in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Moussa launches a deep ball to speedy wide receiver Marcus Riley in the right corner of the end zone during the Rattlers’ practice session. He’s loose, care free but locked in. Riley appreciates the perfectly placed ball from his quarterback, much like the speedster has done on some of the team’s most explosive plays this season. “When he talks, I listen,” Riley says. “He gives me NFL quarterback vibes.”
Tucked away in Moussa’s childhood room in California is an art project of one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks who was once doubted of his NFL future in seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, one of his favorite all-time players. Although the NFL is Moussa’s goal, he doesn’t know what the future holds. However, he has persevered through a challenging college football frontier with a chance to deliver a HBCU title in his swan song. Moussa is at the end of his road at FAMU. But as he prepares to take the field against a talented Bison program—one that nearly upset Eastern Michigan and FBS Northwestern—he’s more than ready for the moment.
“We’ve known it and now it’s time for the world to find out,” Erica says.
The last 60 minutes of Moussa’s FAMU career begins now.
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