Cameron Moss and Derek White will share more than the same football field when their high school teams oppose each other this week.
PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune
Valhalla High wide receiver Derek White is the son of Leon White, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams.
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Both are standout athletes whose fathers played in the NFL.
Cameron is a defensive lineman and tight end for Steele Canyon. His father is Martin Moss, a Lincoln graduate who attended UCLA and played for the Detroit Lions.
Derek, a wide receiver for Valhalla, is the son of Leon White, a Helix alum who went to BYU and played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams.
The families will cross paths when the Norsemen host the Cougars in a Grossmont South League game at 7 p.m. Friday.
“I see some changes in high school from when I played,” Leon White said. “There are a lot stronger, bigger kids out there now. The lifting the kids do is a lot more complex than when we were playing. It seems like everybody benches 300 pounds now.”
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Football generations
Sons of NFL fathers will be on opposite sidelines when Valhalla (6-1, 1-1) hosts Steele Canyon (4-3, 2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday:
THE DADS:
MARTIN MOSS
Age: 49.
Position: Defensive line.
High school: Lincoln.
College: UCLA (1978-81).
NFL: Detroit (1982-85); drafted in eighth round; versatile defensive linemen and special teams standout.
Size: 6-4, 252 pounds.
LEON WHITE
Age: 45.
Position: Linebacker.
High school: Helix.
College: BYU (1982-85); defensive MVP in Cougars' Holiday Bowl win that clinched 1984 national championship.
NFL: Cincinnati (1986-91); drafted in fifth round; started in Super Bowl XXIII. Los Angeles Rams (1992-93).
Size: 6-3, 245 pounds.
THE SONS:
CAMERON MOSS
Year: Senior.
Positions: Defensive line, tight end.
High school: Steele Canyon.
Size: 6-5, 236 pounds.
DEREK WHITE
Year: Senior.
Position: Wide receiver.
High school: Valhalla.
Size: 6-2, 172 pounds.
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Martin Moss agreed.
“Cameron is bigger, stronger and much more athletic than I was at his age,” said Martin, who didn't allow his son to begin lifting weights until he was 16. “In my case I didn't start lifting until I got into college. So I wasn't anxious for my son to start too early.”
The 6-foot-5, 236-pound Cameron has shown talent beyond football. He has spent the past three years singing in his school's Cougars Show Choir.
“I like it because we do different arrangements of many songs,” said Cameron, who took a break from the choir this fall to focus on football. “We've traveled to Disneyland, Hawaii and New York. I hope to get back into the choir in the spring after basketball.”
Much like his father, who was a defensive end, Cameron has been a bull in the trenches. The senior has been offered scholarships by Colorado State and San Diego State. Stanford, UCLA, Washington State, Villanova and Ivy League schools have expressed interest.
“It's too early to commit. I just want to keep my options open,” said Cameron, who carries a 4.09 grade-point average and plans to major in engineering.
Derek's pass-catching has been a new twist for the White family. Leon made his name as a linebacker.
“I played a little running back and slotback my senior year at Helix,” said Leon, 45, who works in the San Diego Unified School District's after-school programs. “But yeah, defense was my game.”
Derek has caught 32 passes for 392 yards for Valhalla. The 6-foot-2, 172-pound senior had a career-best 10 receptions for 107 yards against his father's alma mater on Helix's homecoming night.
“Even though we didn't win, that was sweet,” said Derek, a member of the Union-Tribune All-Academic Team. “I used to go to the Helix games all the way up until I was a freshman at Valhalla. I guess you could say I was a Helix fan back then.”
Both fathers said they haven't pressured their sons to follow in their footsteps.
“I don't make him do anything he doesn't want to do,” said Moss, 49, a counselor at San Diego Mesa College. “He's playing (football) because he wants to. All I do is provide the guidance and leadership he wants. And that is developing his passion.”
Leon said he and Derek's mother, Betsy White, have tried to let their son do his own things and “have fun with it.”
Derek, who was 2 when his dad joined the Rams, said he doesn't feel added expectations because his father played pro football.
“As his son, my dad's playing in the NFL is a sense of pride for me,” Derek said. “It's cool that he was a part of all that stuff.”
Cameron, who was born after his father concluded his playing career, has viewed some impressive game films stored in the family library. Included is a 1980 UCLA-Stanford tape that shows Martin sacking John Elway three times in the Bruins' 35-21 victory in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“My dad kind of got after him a bit and I was pretty impressed seeing it,” Cameron said. “I haven't played that much defense until this year. But there are certain aspects I can see between his game and mine.”
Lianne Moss, Martin's wife and Cameron's mother, agreed.
“Just like Martin, he knows why and what his role is,” Lianne said. “If you tell Cam how to do something, he does it. I know saying he is a student of the game sounds like a cliché, but he truly is.”
Martin – who spent 17 seasons as a community college football coach at San Diego City, Grossmont and San Diego Mesa – said he tries to provide subtle direction.
“I try to stay in view without becoming a distraction,” Martin said. “I've vowed not to be one of those parents who questions every thing the head coach does. I've been on both sides, so I know how it feels.”
The common thread with both fathers is a desire to see their sons experience the same thrills they enjoyed on the football field.
