Henry Moore

By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

Like many longtime followers of University of North Carolina football, Whiteville native Henry Moore feels that Charlie “Choo-Choo” Justice will always rank among the greatest college players of all time.

“He was a very talented player. Everything he did, he did so well,” Moore said.

“And he could do it all.

“He was also a real gentleman,” he added.

Moore, 81, experienced much of Charlie Justice era of Tar Heel football from 1946 to 1949 first-hand. He served as a student manager on those teams, which posted a combined record of 32 wins, 9 losses and two ties under Coach Carl Snavely. That record included two Southern Conference championships, two Sugar Bowl appearances, one Cotton Bowl appearance, and (perhaps the most prominent) four straight wins over arch-rival Duke.

Moore, who now resides with his wife Nancy in Ormond Beach, Fla., was in Whiteville last Thursday and Friday to visit friends and family while en route to Chapel Hill for Saturday’s UNC-Virginia game. The game was designated as Lettermen’s Day in which all attending former Tar Heel football lettermen were recognized on the field prior to the game.

Moore, a 1943 graduate of Whiteville High School, enrolled at UNC after serving the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He was a tail-gunner on a B-24 bomber.

“I enrolled at Carolina after getting out of the service on the G.I. Bill,” said Moore, who went on to own his own wholesale clothing business in Atlanta for many years. “I got my degree in business administration.

“I don’t remember just how it came about that I became a manager except that I heard they needed somebody,” he said. “I was one of two managers. I’m sure they have a lot more than that now.”

Charlie Justice, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, was the epitome of a triple-threat college football player during the post-war years as he was regarded as one of nation’s best runners, passers and punters. His career 4,883 yards of total offense remained a school record until 1994.

Justice, who died in 2003 at the age of 79, is still regarded as the greatest football player in UNC history, and his status remains legendary in the annals of college football. A statue of Justice now adorns the area outside the new fieldhouse and football center at the west end of Kenan Stadium.

Moore recalled Tar Heel road trips to the 1950 Cotton Bowl in Dallas and a late-season trip to New York’s Yankee Stadium, where the Tar Heels squared off with Notre Dame,

“Those were always interesting trips,” Moore said. “Coach Snavely always did a good job of making sure things ran smoothly.”

Moore spent most of his boyhood growing up on Nance Street in Whiteville. His parents were Henry Moore Sr. and Betty Maultsby Moore (also known as “Kitty”). He said he didn’t have a whole lot of interest in sports in high school (“I was too small to play football then.”) but his interest peaked when he joined the UNC football program.

Moore has enjoyed his retirement years in Florida, playing golf on a regular basis. He has four daughters.

“I don’t make it back to Chapel Hill as much as I used to, but it is still a very special place to me,” he said.