Randy Moss is widely regarded as one of the best wide receivers in NFL history. There is no debate about his greatness between the lines whatsoever. Throughout his career however, Moss was always portrayed as a jerk. Most of the time, this was brought up by no one else except Randy. But, was it entirely Moss’s blame to shoulder or did the media find themselves a villain and ran with it? As we take a trip into the life and career of Randy Moss, all the events and evidence will be presented. It will be up to the reader’s discretion to draw their own conclusions. Whether you hate him or love him, Randy Moss put up some legendary numbers and performances that led to him being immortalized forever in Canton, Ohio as a member of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. How did he get there? Where did he come from? Just how good was Moss? Was he really as big of a prick as he was portrayed in the media? Well, read on and get all the answers in the latest edition of Mac Daddy’s Legend Of The Week series.
Randy Moss grew up in the small town of Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School in Rand, where he absolutely excelled in 3 different sports. A lot of people may not know that Randy Moss was a sensational high school basketball player. He was paired on the same team as future NBA star point guard, “White Chocolate” Jason Williams. Moss was twice named West Viginia State Player Of The Year. His Senior season he averaged 30.2 PPG, 13.7 RPG, 5.1 SPG and 3.8 BPG. Numbers that were sure to draw attention from basketball scouts everywhere, but Moss’s true love was football. He led Dupont to back to back State Titles in 1992 and 1993. His dream after high school was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He received very high praise from Irish coach Lou Holtz who said “Randy Moss is the greatest high school football player I have ever seen.” In 1995, Moss’s dream was realized when he signed a letter of intent to play WR at Notre Dame. That dream would be very short lived due to an incident in school that would alter the direction of his NCAA journey. In His senior year of high school, Moss was involved in a fight that sent a student to the hospital. The student had thrown some pretty harsh racial slurs at one of Randy’s friends and if you come from where he does, business gets handled. Moss was charged with misdemeanor battery and sentenced to 30 days in jail. He served 3 days and was ordered to serve out the remaining 27 withing the next year and a half. As a result of all of this, Notre Dame rescinded their scholarship and notified Randy that he would not be a member of the Fighting Irish. Not then and not ever. Florida State Head Coach has already been quoted as saying that Moss was just a bigger version of Deion Sanders when he swooped in and gave Randy the opportunity to play at FSU. Due to eligibility rules forcing him to redshirt his Freshman season and yet another off the field incident, Randy would never step foot on a field in a competitive game as a Seminole either. Serving out the rest of his initial sentence on a work release program, Randy tested positive for marijuana and he was again dismissed from a major D1 school. The marijuana rules are really bogus, but remember this was the mid-90’s and there was still little known and a huge stigma around it. After serving 60 days in jail for the violation, Randy was accepted to play football for Division 1-AA Marshall University. Moss would excel as a member of the Thundering Herd and catch 54 touchdowns in just 2 seasons while paired with future NFL QB Chad Pennington. His final year with Marshall, Moss won the Fred Blitnekoff Award and was a finalist for the Hesiman Trophy, finishing 4th in the voting. Moss had shown the world he was ready for the next level and the NFL, but were they ready for him?
With concerns about his off the field run ins with the law, Randy Moss was overlooked by 20 teams before ultimately being selected #21 by the Minnesota Vikings. A decision they would all come to regret, depending on how you feel about his off the field shenanigans being a major issue. Now, I am not going to sit here and break down every single season of his career but holy s**t, the man could play football. One of the more memorable performances of his career came in week 13 of his rookie campaign. Moss torched the Cowboys for 163 yards on just 3 catches, all of which were for touchdowns. Moss broke the rookie touchdown record with 17 and was named Offensive Rookie Of The Year. From here on out, NFL fans got to witness truly one of the greatest players in NFL history. Moss would again put up monster numbers the next year but it was the way it ended that would stick with him for some time. Minnesota would face off with the St. Louis Rams in the Divisional Round of the playoffs where the Rams would go on to end the Vikings season. The story of the game however was a fine levied of $40,000 (reduced to 25K) to Moss for squirting a referee with water from a water bottle. Moss was crucified in the media for the act, with a lot of outlets citing his past for his poor behavior and attitude. Honestly, I understand why people would take it the way they did, officials are protected heavily throughout major sports, but come on, it was just water. It is not like he threw the water bottle itself or anything else at the ref. That is just my opinion on the matter. No matter his antics, Moss would thrive in Minnesota with Daunte Culpepper, consistently putting up video game like numbers and memories that are embedded in NFL history for all time. In 2002, while on the top of his game, Moss was involved in a traffic incident involving an officer where he allegedly bumped her with his car. Charges were dropped but he was forced to pay a hefty fine. Moss was found to be in possession of Marijuana again. He had also tested positive the year prior by the NFL. Fast forward to 2004, his final year in Minnesota, The Vikings are playing in a wild card round game against their hated rivals, the Green Bay Packers. Moss would score a pair of TD’s in the win but it was the second of the two that would cause an uproar. Moss streaked to the end zone and subsequently ran over to the goal post, turned toward the fans and pretended to moon them. Announcer Joe Buck could be heard on the telecast saying ” That is just a disgusting act”. Again I believe this to be something that was terribly overblown. It would be one thing if Moss scored and actually mooned the fans but pretending?! To me now, and even then as a 15 year old watching it happen and the fallout thereafter, I can and could not believe it got so much negative attention and press. I guess I have always had the mentality that if you do not want to see the other guy celebrating in any way, then stop him from scoring.
Moss was widely outspoken throughout his career. Whether it was having to defend his sometimes bizarre behavior on the field or demanding more money from the team he was playing for, Randy had something to say about it. At the end of the 2004 season, Randy expected a hefty extension from the Vikings but was ultimately traded to the Oakland Raiders. Moss would eclipse the 1,000 yard mark his first year in Oakland but as a team, the poor performance on a team level reared its ugly head. In 2006, Randy did not play much due to injuries and when he did, he looked unmotivated and disinterested. He would go on to publicly state that he was unhappy and that maybe a move somewhere else would be better for him. Just something about top class receivers and hating it in Oakland, huh? On draft day 2007, a deal was reached to send Moss to the New England Patriots to combine forces with Tom Brady and Bill Bellichick. During his time with Oakland and leading up to the 2007 season, Moss was widely criticized and belittled by the media with them all claiming he could no longer perform at an elite level. Boy, did Moss and company make them eat their words. What followed was the single greatest season by a wide receiver ever. Moss caught 98 balls for 1, 493 yards and an NFL record 23 touchdowns. The Pats wen undefeated the entire regular season and nearly went unbeaten all the way but ran into The New York Football Giants and lost in the Super Bowl in what is undoubtedly the greatest upset in sports history. Moss seemed to turn his attitude around while under the tutelage of Bellichick. He went for over 1,000 yards the next 2 seasons despite losing Brady for the entirety of one of them. Prior to the 2010 season, Moss again decided to speak publicly about how he was feeling toward his situation with the team and spoke out to reportes claiming to feel unwanted and misused. Moss would play 4 games for New England that season, along the way threatening management with his quotes to reporters stating it was his final year at Foxborough. Well as we have seen beforehand and since, Bellichick doesn’t play those games and Moss was traded back to the team that drafted him 12 years prior, the Minnesota Vikings. The reunion was supposed to be a celebration of sorts but that was extremely short lived. Moss was again the center of negative media attention when he was quoted as telling a caterer that the food in the locker room ” tasted like dogshit”. He also was extremely outspoken against Head Coach Brad Childress stating that Childress “didn’t know what he was doing and had no place in the NFL as a coach”. He also had publicly criticized his teammates. Moss had told owner Zygi Wilf that he was unhappy and Childress needed to go. Well, Moss was waived from the team and Childress was fired 3 weeks later anyways.
Moss would get picked up by the Tennesee Titans and would have an abysmal year. Moss would then retire and come back to play for the San Francisco 49ers. Turned out to be a good decision because he ended up being able to possibly claim his first Super Bowl ring. The 49ers would lose to the Ravens though and Moss would walk away from the playing field forever. Randy Moss had one of the best playing careers of all time. Some even consider him to be better than the consensus #1, Jerry Rice. He finished his career with 982 catches for 15, 292 yards and 156 touchdowns which are 2nd all time. Randy Moss would join the ranks of broadcasting first with Fox Sports, until he ultimately found a home he still has today on ESPN’s Sunday and Monday Night Countdown shows. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 2018, his first year on the ballot.
As for Randy Moss the person? Again that is for you to decide on your own. Honestly he was someone who was a legendary football player who liked to smoke weed sometimes, demanded the ball and his money, and told it like it was. He is also a pretty damn good analyst on his aforementioned ESPN shows. Also, before you go judging someones character based solely on who he was in the spotlight, you should probably know that the man has worked tirelessly to provide opportunity and growth for those in need in his home state of West Virginia. He has founded multiple charities aiming to build learning centers and create more opportunities for the youth there as well. Look regardless if you think the guy is a jerk or a diva, you cannot deny his greatness and legacy he leaves behind on the field. He is an icon, a sensational athlete who left his mark on this league and blazed a trail of glory to leave in his wake. We have not seen anyone quite like Randy Moss since he left the league 8 years ago. I know one thing, the Redskins sure hope that his son, Thaddeus can be like his dad although unlikely considering he is a tight end. Who Knows? Maybe Thaddeus can win that ring dad never won. All kidding aside, this one was a really fun won to write. As you can tell, I air on the side of who cares how big of a jerk he could be?, I was lucky enough to grow up watching yet another one of the greatest to play the game! A few joints and a bad attitude ain’t gonna change that!
To The Rack With Mac 