Former USD football player and broadcast student Taylor Moore has found himself on television again, this time on Fox's MasterChef.

Moore attended USD at the same time that I did, and we even worked together for the school's television newscast. Moore was the sports opinion commentator. He also was a member of the Coyote football team.

How does a kid go from a D-1 football player to showing up on a cooking show? Moore's journey took him to Atlanta where he found his passion.

"Somehow I fell into broadcasting after football, and I was going to go to law school after graduation. I decided to move to Atlanta and that's where I really got more in tune with my passion for cooking. Then I auditioned for the show. It all happened."

Now Moore has followed his passion for cooking all the way to Los Angeles where he was selected as a participant for Gordon Ramsay's hit show. Billed from Milwaukee, Moore outlasted 40,000 some auditions to get a chance.

"The audition process was very long and calculated. It started with 40,000 some people, and then it got down to about 100. Then from there we got about 40 people. We thought there was only 20 of us, but they surprised us with an extra 20."

Moore's reaction to the extra 20 participants was the same as everyone else on the front 20, pure shock. The playing field doubled, and he was going to dive right into head-to-head competition.

"It was an emotional roller coaster. You're away from family and at the same time you're in a timed environment that isn't your home kitchen. Lot of emotions going on and it was a lot to deal with."

Adding to the pressure, Moore was face-to-face with famous chef Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay is known for showing his passion over the Masterchef and Hell's Kitchen series. Moore, however, says that Ramsay is much different than how he appears on television.

"You know, he's actually a lot bigger than what people think. I thought he was like 5'11, but he's 6'2 or so. He's a very nice guy, very nice. You have to have a bit of passion in the kitchen and he's a great gentleman."

Unfortunately for Taylor, he was eliminated on the first episode after getting a second chance opportunity. That setback, however, is not stopping the former Coyote from continuing his dream.

"I'm still dabbling in cooking. I have a website at cheftaylormoore.com which you can see what I'm doing."

Here is Moore's appearance on the show.

Taylor can be found online at Cheftaylormoore.com, and also on Twitter @OfficialChefTay

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