Evan Moore was at home, rehabbing a broken hand, when he got the call.

The Cleveland Browns were interested in his services.

It may have just been for their practice squad, but after sustaining two training camp injuries with the Green Bay Packers in consecutive years, the last one ending in a settlement that severed his tie to the team, the Browns presented a fresh start.

And so, on Nov. 10, in a move relegated to the footnotes of NFL transactions, Moore was signed to Cleveland’s scout team to be one of eight players who practiced with the Browns without being on the 53-man roster.

Moore was activated on Dec. 5; on Dec. 6, he led Cleveland in receiving –  catches for 80 yards – n a close loss to powerful San Diego. By the beginning of January, he was the Browns’ leading receiving tight end and a revelation for a franchise that badly needed one. In just five games – which coincided with a 4-1 record for Cleveland – he tallied 12 receptions for 158 yards.

“It’s been a crazy road, but everything happens for a reason,” Moore said.

Indeed.

Moore was a member of the Stanford Cardinal from 2003-2007. A 6-foot-7 wide receiver from Brea, Calif., Moore finished his career with 103 receptions and 12 touchdowns despite missing over a year with various injuries. Briefly a two-sport athlete, he was a member of the Cardinal basketball team when it was ranked No. 1 in the nation. In football, he was a notable contributor during his senior season, when he was second on the team in catches and third in yards; his final game was a four reception, 36-yard performance in an upset win over Cal in the Big Game.

But, like the rest of his eligible Cardinal teammates, Moore sat through the 2008 NFL Draft without hearing his name called.

That’s when his journey began.

He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Packers and immediately switched positions from wide receiver to tight end.

“I knew it was something that would happen,” he said about the change. “It was something I was looking forward to.”

“My advantage at wide receiver was my size and ability to catch the ball,” he continued. The issue for Moore was that, when going against faster and nifty defense backs on the outside, those traits become harder to utilize. But at tight end, that skill set is optimal.

“Those abilities can be taken advantage of with the hand on the ground going against linebackers,” he said. “It’s an immediate mismatch.”

Moore entered training camp with the Packers and was off to a good start when he sustained a left MCL injury in the third week. He was immediately placed on injured reserve, which meant that he was ineligible to play for the rest of 2008, but that he would stay with Green Bay.

“It was a blessing in disguise, since it was essentially a redshirt year,” he said. “I was able to put on the weight necessary to play tight end.”

Moore went from 235 to 250 pounds and was optimistic about his chances in 2009. But once again, the injury bug struck<\p>–<\p>he broke his hand and, instead of going back on IR, he reached a settlement and was released from his contract. After rehab, he went to the Browns, where he immediately gelled with quarterback Brady Quinn.

“I knew Brady in college and I got to know A.J. Hawk [Quinn’s brother-in-law and a linebacker for the Packers] in Green Bay,” Moore said. “Brady had success with tight ends at Notre Dame and he kept going to me in practice. The coaches noticed.”

Still, Moore was only on the scout team and had been with Cleveland for a relatively short amount of time. But he took a different perspective.

“I figured that I had nothing to lose after being picked up mid-season,” he said. “I used those few weeks to quickly learn the offense.”

In the days before the San Diego contest, Moore started to get a feeling that he might be elevated to the active roster. The first official notice came from head coach Eric Mangini two days before the matchup.

“Coach was showing some clips and mine came up. He said to me, ‘You’re going to be doing this in the game.’ It wasn’t overwhelming or anything, but it was a long time coming.”

When game time came around, Moore’s nerves reached their peak, but, with specific plays drawn up for him, he was also confident.

“I just wanted to get a catch and get hit and all of that would go away.”

He didn’t have to wait long. Quinn hit Moore three times on the Browns’ opening drive. Quinn would find Moore another three times and Moore even showed off his blocking prowess on a fourth quarter touchdown, adding a key block to spring the runner.

That’s an area of his game that he hopes to improve this offseason, when he has the opportunity to enter 2010 as the Browns’ starting tight end.

“You have your receiving tight ends and tight ends that can block in the run game. I ended the season as the receiving tight end, but my goal is to become the complete tight end. You don’t want to be a situation guy,” he said.

“In the NFL, you’re always competing,” Moore continued. “The guys that were here before me had no idea I was going to be there.”

Despite his burgeoning career, Moore still chats with old Cardinal teammates like Trent Edwards, Greg Camarillo and Mark Bradford and, of course, finds time to root for his alma mater, be it in a bowl game (“I wish it was something I could have been a part of”) or against traditional rivals.

“I was by myself in an Ohio sports bar watching the USC game,” he said,” and I don’t think I’ve ever left somewhere with that big of a smile on my face.”