The Dallas Cowboys signed former SMU cornerback Sterling Moore off the New England practice squad (photo by Dallas Cowboys PR).

It’s not his hometown of Antioch, Calif., but for former SMU cornerback Sterling Moore, a tumultuous season went from disappointment to renewed level of comfort that only can be found by returning home.

Two years ago, Moore was finishing his senior season at SMU in which he was limited to eight games because of injuries. He and his roommate, SMU receiver Cole Beasley, shared a dream of catching a scout’s eye in the hopes of playing in the National Football League.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and Moore is back in north Texas, and once again Beasley’s teammate and roommate. Beasley has become something of a local favorite, the undersized local boy (from nearby Little Elm, Texas) who exceeded expectations at SMU and making the Dallas Cowboys’ roster out of training camp as an improbable free agent.

At the end of November, he and Moore were reunited.

The unlikely hero of the New England Patriots’ 2011 postseason when he made back-to-back game-saving plays against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game, Moore was caught off guard when he was waived Oct. 31 by the Patriots and signed to the team’s practice squad.

“It definitely shocked me,” Moore said. “I’d played a pretty good game the week before (against the St. Louis Rams in London). I know teams move players around and have to manage the numbers of players on the roster for injuries and things like that, but it definitely was a shock to me, and it was a shock to a lot of the guys on the team, too.”

Moore toiled for a month on the New England practice squad, waiting for his chance to return to the active roster … not knowing that his return to the field would come in the same city in which he played his college football.

“I kind of had the idea that (the Cowboys) were interested in me,” Moore said. “I talked to my agent (Jordan Woy), and he said there were a few teams interested.

“Deep down, I was hoping the Cowboys would pull the trigger and sign me, because I definitely wanted to get back to Dallas. This is my second home.”

The Patriots, Moore said, were reluctant to see their second-year defensive back (Moore played both cornerback and safety in New England) leave.

“They said they definitely wanted to keep me,” he said. “They said they liked working with me, and they thought I had ability, but they couldn’t guarantee that I’d get a chance to play again this year, or that I’d make the team next year.”

Moore played in eight games for the Patriots this season before moving to the practice squad, collecting 13 tackles. He was signed Saturday, Nov. 30, but the Cowboys, and made his first appearance in a Dallas uniform the next night, assisting on a tackle in the Cowboys’ 38-33 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I was a little surprised (to play so soon), but I guess they signed me because they thought I could help,” Moore said. “There’s some similarity between the defense we run here and the defense we ran in New England, but only some, and the terminology is completely different. Right now, I’m just learning everything as fast as I can.”

Moore acknowledges that he still has a lot to learn, but the Cowboys are his sixth team since 2006, when he finished high school before going the junior college route at Laney College and then SMU, the Oakland Raiders during training camp in 2011, New England and now the Cowboys. In addition, the Cowboys are mirroring the Patriots by asking Moore to play safety as well as his natural cornerback position.

“It’s still new,” Moore said of playing safety. “It’s not something I have done very long, and it’s a pretty big adjustment — at safety, you look at an offense and you don’t recognize the same things you see at cornerback. The plays look different, because you’re closer to the middle of the field, and you line up deeper. Everything looks different, and you have different responsibilities.”

Sterling Moore made a national name for himself when he turned in back-to-back game-saving plays to help New England beat Baltimore last season in the AFC Championship Game (photo by New England Patriots PR).

Moore and Beasley were among three SMU alums now playing in the NFL (along with Washington Redskins cornerback Richard Crawford) who proudly roamed the sidelines at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. During the visit to the Hilltop, Moore got a chance to visit with SMU head coach June Jones and secondary coach Derrick Odum, who told his former pupil, “you can play in this league — don’t worry about (being on the New England practice squad.” A week later, Moore signed with Dallas.

Not only was Moore grateful to get the opportunity to return to an active 53-man NFL roster, he said his family was happy that he got the chance to do so in the city where he played for the Mustangs.

“They were glad I got another opportunity, and they were really glad that I got the opportunity in Dallas,” he said. “They know how much I love football, and they know how much I love the area.”

New England head coach Bill Belichick and Dallas head coach Jason Garrett are polar opposite personalities. Belichick is the crusty curmudgeon, trudging up and down the sideline in his dingy, grey hooded sweatshirt, a stern glare never leaving his face; Garrett is the clean-cut Princeton grad, with interview clichés as clean and pressed as his starched shirts. Belichick’s Super Bowl rings justify his gruff demeanor, while Garrett’s Ivy-League-Opie-Taylor eagerness endears him to players and media. As starkly as the two contrast, Moore said there’s a similarity between the way in which each coach runs his team.

“The way we played in New England, every game was the biggest game of the season,” Moore said. “Coach Belichick instilled that in all of us, and the players treated every game that way. Coming (to the Cowboys) in the middle of the season, we’re still hoping to make the playoffs. To us, every game is a playoff game. Every game really is the biggest game of the season.

“The schemes are pretty similar. The terminology is different, so that’s what I’m studying the most. The biggest thing is the communication, but at the end of the day, we’re playing football. I’m studying a lot, and the other guys are helping me get caught up, so I’m more comfortable every day.”