Hall of Fame
At the time, It didn't seem that big of a deal to Kevin "Moose" Sadler.
As a senior at Joplin Memorial High School, he helped the Eagles win the Class 3A football state championship in 1976 and the Class 3A basketball state title in 1977.
"I didn't know it was that big of a deal until Wendell Redden (Joplin Globe sports editor) told me it was the first time in the history of the state of Missouri that the same school won the football and basketball state championships in the same school year," Kevin said. "I didn't think about it. We were playing because we always played together."
The Eagles finished 12-1 in football and 31-1 in basketball during those championship seasons. Kevin played defensive tackle and averaged 15 tackles per game while earning all-state honors. He played center on the basketball team and averaged 10.8 points.
Kevin played offensive guard at Missouri for head coaches Al Onofrio (one year) and Warren Powers (three years). He was recruited by Clay Cooper -- a former Joplin coach -- as a defensive tackle but moved to guard after a series of injuries at that position during fall camp.
He lettered all four years for the Tigers, starting his last two years after being a part-time starter as a sophomore. After a 4-7 record in his freshman year, Mizzou went 8-4 his sophomore year (1978) capped by a 20-15 victory over LSU in the Liberty Bowl, 7-5 his junior year and a 24-14 win over South Carolina and Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers in the Hall of Fame Classic and 8-4 his senior year when they lost to Purdue 28-25 in the Liberty Bowl.
"I didn't know how much stuff you got when you went to a bowl game," Kevin said. "I didn't have to buy Christmas gifts for three years."
After college, Kevin spent time with the Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets of the NFL, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL and the New Jersey Generals of the USFL but was released each time.
Kevin's teaching and coaching career began at Cabool High School in 1985. In 1993 he was hired as a physical education teacher and assistant football coach at Joplin High School. He also coached middle school wrestling and the throwers for the high school track and field team.
He retired in 2013 but continued to coach middle school football through 2018 and the discus and shot put at the high school until 2021. He and coach Dick Kruse had 29 throwers qualify for the state track meet. Four of them won state titles, and 16 more earned medals (top-8 finish).
"It was a lot of fun," Kevin said. "I was in the right place at the right time sometimes, and I was in the wrong place other times. Athletics paid for my education and supported my family all the way through."
Kevin was born in Pittsburg, Kansas, and his family moved to Joplin when he was in the sixth grade.
"The Boys Club got me started with football and basketball, because in Pittsburg I mainly just played baseball," he said. "All our neighborhood kids, everybody played everything. I went down there every night and every weekend, and whatever sport was in season, that's what we played."
Kevin received his nickname when he was a sixth grader at McKinley Elementary School. He was playing H-O-R-S-E with his teacher, Mrs. Sandra Rowe, and she was approached by another student wanting to see if they could call him "Moose." Her advice was to go ask him, and Kevin agreed.
Kevin and his wife Diane were high school sweethearts, and they have two children, Shelly and Jeff.
