It has been 46 years since Chet Moeller roamed the football field as a strong safety for Navy, wrecking opposing offenses with his quickness and smarts and a fearless, physical style that at times bordered on reckless.

Moeller's former teammates and classmates still speak with reverence when they recall how Moeller would unleash his trademark violent hits on blockers and ball carriers. Moeller was the heart, soul and brains of Navy's 5-2 defense over a three-year span that culminated with the unit's incredible run in 1975.

That year the Midshipmen, anchored by a defense that ranked third in the nation in total defense and surrendered only 11.4 points per game, put a stamp in the Navy record books by finishing with a 7-4 record. It marked the program's best finish since 1963, when legendary quarterback Roger Staubach had led the Mids to a 9-2 year and a berth in the Cotton Bowl.  

As Navy's defensive captain and its backfield signal caller, Moeller was a dynamic run stopper and solid cover guy who was an early version of the rover back. Moeller could line up comfortably at outside linebacker and create matchup nightmares for the opposition as a disruptive force on the edge. He destroyed many tosses and sweeps. Moeller was named a First-Team All-American on four different teams in 1975 and is one of just six Midshipmen to be selected as a unanimous All-American.  He produced 275 career tackles, including a school-record 25 tackles for a loss as a junior.

Moeller went on to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

On Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, the legend of Chester Charles Moeller, Jr. will grow even larger.  The Naval Academy Athletic Association officially will retire Moeller's jersey number 48, making him the first defensive player in Navy football history to be awarded such distinction.

Moeller follows Staubach (No. 12), running backs Joe Bellino (No. 27) and Napoleon McCallum (No. 30) and quarterback Keenan Reynolds (No. 19).

Of course, his ex-teammates laud Moeller's football prowess. The audacious and effective ways he would throw his 6-feet,190-pound frame around, on defense and special teams. The way he could run by or through a blocker and drop the ball carrier, or disrupt the blocking scheme and allow Navy's fast pursuers to fly to the ball and finish the play.

But Moeller is a beloved Navy football figure for various other reasons, starting with his unfailingly self-deprecating wit, his unwavering support of his teammates and his genuine humility.

"There is some anxiety [over having my number retired], because the focus is being put on me, and that's very uncomfortable," Moeller says. "I was a skinny, 155-pounder when I got [to Navy in the summer of 1972]. At some point, the light turned on, because we had great coaches like [head coach] George Welsh and [defensive coordinator] Rick Lantz and [assistants] Steve Belichick and Lenny Fontes.

"They taught us to read our keys, in my case the two guards, the tight end and the quarterback. They concentrated on little things, like how we lined up and what to do with our first step," Moeller adds. "They made the game simple, and it became easy to play faster and just react.

"We didn't have any superstars on our defense. Our coaches taught us to make running backs work for it. Our guys bounced so many plays outside to me. I had God-given ability, but it was a team thing. I was OK as a high school player. I never had any accolades. It was almost embarrassing to be honored after I played at Navy. I didn't want my teammates to think that I thought I was better than them."

A long list of former teammates respectfully disagrees with Moeller's self-assessment.

They insist No. 48 was the best they ever played with, hands down, and that the Moeller they've stayed in touch with through the years has lived well as the multi-faceted guy they knew when he was young — a natural leader, a gifted and driven student, a future officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, a man who became a Christian prior to his senior year and embraced his faith with full commitment.

"The legendary aspect of Chet Moeller is real," says Mike Yeager '76, a wide receiver who played with Moeller. "He was the most tenacious and hardest-hitting defensive player most of us had ever seen. He'd hit you low or drive his helmet right through your numbers. But there was so much more to him.

"He was selected by his academy peers to very high leadership positions, had a high grade point average in a difficult major," Yeager adds. "He could have been a team captain when he was a junior. You're talking about a person who was bigger than life, just a huge presence as a man."

Moeller was active for years in leadership positions with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which he discovered while still at Navy. He met his future wife, Jennifer, at an FCA summer camp and married her 44 years ago. They raised two children, Rachel and Trey, have six grandchildren and reside in Montgomery, Alabama, where Moeller has served as a deacon and is currently an elder at his Presbyterian church.

"My whole attitude toward my life's purpose changed [with the FCA]," he says. "It's been a journey since then."

Moeller was a curious student with a passion for engineering and computer operations. He graduated with a degree in systems analysis and design and earned Second Team Academic All-America recognition. He also was awarded the NAAA Sword, presented to to midshipman of the graduating class declared by the Association's Athletic Committee to have personally excelled in athletics during his years of varsity competition.

Following his discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1980 for medical reasons, Moeller fashioned a consulting career that has taken him through the fields of information technology, cyber security and artificial intelligence.

For much of the past 20 years, he has worked for fellow '76 Navy grad and former offensive tackle Mark O'Hare with multiple companies. He currently helps businesses set up networks, manage applications and create firewalls to protect valuable data. O'Hare says Moeller is a natural at customer service.

"You couldn't find anyone at work or any customer that doesn't like Chet, because he's just totally honest. He tells it like it is and is great at what he does," O'Hare says. "And Chet refuses to talk about himself."

"You knew [Moeller[ was a super guy at 18 years old — modest, extremely talented, gifted mentally, really good with other people," says Tommy Gardner '76, an inside linebacker who played with Moeller. "He was this Gomer Pyle, aw shucks guy. But it wasn't an act. He really expected to be treated like anybody else.

"The reason I had so many tackles is I was the weak side linebacker and nobody wanted to run to Chet's side," Gardner adds. "Chet wasn't really that fast, but he could diagnose the play and get to the ball so quickly. He had a real physical sense of control. When we'd watch the film and really see what he could do, he would inspire us."

"[Moeller] is just a humble guy. He'd never say he was the best damn [safety] in America. But he was the best player on our defense and our team," says Derwood Curtis, who played in the defensive backfield with Moeller. "And he took time to support everybody, whether you were on the scout team or J.V. or whatever."  

"Chet is the real deal, the genuine thing. We had a whole lot of good people at the academy, but [Moeller] stood atop the list in my book," says Jeff Scott '76, who played linebacker. "He was absolutely great on the field, a better man off the field. There isn't a proud bone in the man's body. He's as well-rounded as they come."

Scott says when he thinks of Moeller the player, the image that sticks with him is that of Moeller charging full speed, diving close to the ground, ferociously taking out multiple blockers and "creating a catastrophe of bodies" before the ball carrier goes down, too.

A product of Fairmont West High School in Kettering, Ohio, Moeller listened to a handful of Division i offers, before Navy entered the picture and invited him to Annapolis to visit the Yard. He was sold quickly on Navy's educational opportunities and its high-profile football schedule.  

By the spring of his plebe year, Moeller says he was sixth on the depth chart at strong safety. As spring practice progressed, he worked his way to fourth. Due to injuries to other players and position changes, he ended spring ball second. When he showed up for preseason camp in the summer as a sophomore, he was no. 1 on the chart.

"I was thinking, 'You've got to be kidding me,'" Moeller recalls. "I decided I was not giving this up. Someone was going to have to rip it away from me. I wanted to prove [the coaches] right. And that's the way I played."

Moeller's first season was also the first for Welsh and his staff. Navy's 4-7 finish in 1973 was a rebuilding year, but it featured blowout wins over service academy rivals Army and Air Force that secured the program's first Commander-In-Chief's Trophy. And it also featured a sophomore class that showed potential, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

The Mids managed just a 4-7 record again in 1974, but an early-season win at Penn State by a score of 7-6 was a sign of things to come. The defense hung tough in close, low-scoring losses to Syracuse, Air Force, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame.

Moeller and the rest of the senior class were primed for the 7-4 turnaround that happened in 1975. It started with a 42-14 rout of visiting Virginia, and it included a highlight that Welsh later described as the best football play he'd ever seen. When Navy kicked off to start the second half, Moeller led the coverage team down the field. He dove at full speed between two blockers, hit the dirt and cut down the wedge like bowling pins, then immediately tackled the kick return man.

Three weeks later, Moeller broke his thumb against Air Force, but wore a soft cast for the rest of the game — and the season — without missing a play. Navy won, 17-0. A week later against Syracuse, the Mids won, 10-6, in large part because Moeller knocked two quarterbacks out of the contest.  

Two weeks later at Pitt, the Navy defense bottled up superstar and future NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion running back Tony Dorsett and spoiled the Panthers' homecoming with a stunning, 17-0 upset victory. The following season, behind Dorsett, Pitt went undefeated and won the national title.

Although the Mids secured another CIC Trophy by trouncing Army, 30-6 — Navy outscored the Black Knights by a combined 100-6 in three consecutive victories over them — a pair of one-point losses to Washington and Georgia Tech cost Navy a trip to a bowl game.  "Realistically, we could have had nine wins," says Moeller.

"It all seems like a blur to me now, but playing college football was a lifelong dream for me," Moeller says. "I just feel more and more fortunate to have had that chance, especially with the guys I played with."
 
 

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