When a Cornerback goes to sleep at night and has a nightmare, the first question I ask is if Randy Moss was present. Randy Moss is to NFL cornerbacks what Michael Myers is to Haddonfield, Illinois. He came, he saw, he slaughtered. When it was all said and done, the only receiver people put over Randy Moss is Jerry Rice but was Jerry Rice really better?
The greatest asset of Jerry Rice’s game was his ability to make the catch and score the touchdown. He holds records of all kinds and was the only reason Super Bowl XXXVII wasn’t even worse for the Oakland Raiders. I’m not saying Randy Moss is greater than Jerry Rice because he isn’t but I am saying this.
It’s the Super Bowl. Your team is down by four points. It’s the last play of the game on the 50-yard line and you have both Jerry Rice and Randy Moss on your team. Who’s catching that ball?
It’s not a debate for me. Jerry Rice would be a stamina-match to keep up with on the field but going up against a 6’4-6’5 guy who can run a 4.2 is scarier to me. At the same time, one could point out that Calvin Johnson is truly the best receiver of all time if that’s the case but did he come into the league and rip down 17 touchdowns?
No.
Randy Moss was the Freak, Super Freak. He revolutionized that position, combining the height with the hands, speed, and athleticism. He could catch a screen pass and go the distance. He could do reverse plays. He could make even the hardest catches look so easy and of course, he could catch the long ball.
If all Cris Carter did was catch touchdowns, all Randy Moss did was create brilliance and catch touchdowns. Whether it’s the one-handed catch over prime Darrelle Revis or his Thanksgiving performances against the Cowboys, Randy Moss was the boss. How many times did the word “amazing” follow something Randy Moss did? I swear I heard it every time.
He’s the classic tale of why risks need to be taken in the NFL. If the Giants hadn’t drafted Lawrence Taylor in ’81, where would they be? Many a team had its chance to draft Randy Moss, 20 in fact. Most talk about how Dallas passed on him after heavily implying he’d be a Cowboy but how about other teams?
What if the Rams drafted him? How much better would the Greatest Show on Turf had been? How would the Ravens have been had they drafted Randy Moss? Imagine Moss on the 2000 Ravens. What if the Falcons had Moss instead of the Vikings in the ensuing NFC championship game? What if, What if, What if.
I’m not here to talk about the “what if” because what was ended up being more than good enough. The connection he had with Randall Cunningham, Daunte Culpepper and Tom Brady all were spectacular and very often, it was he making them look good. All you hear about is how a QB makes the receiver but in this case? You do the math.
Another thing I loved about Randy Moss was his swagger. His southern drawl was always going on that field, especially after burning the secondary. I loved the different hairstyles and how he mooned the fans of Green Bay when it was apparent that his Vikings were going to win. Above everything else, I loved how he did it without a posse. He was trying to impress no one, just trying to be himself.
Sure, he got into some trouble as a kid but we’ve seen it time and time again. If you take the kid out of a certain environment and put him into a better one, he adapts to his surroundings more often than not. Randy couldn’t have had a better circumstance to land in as Minnesota and Randy Moss fell for each other as Harry fell for Sally.
Dallas, why did you pass on him?
Sure there was some controversy but that’s nothing new with Wide Receivers. I don’t know why it is they’re prone to this sort of thing more than any position but Moss was nowhere near as bad as other players. Sure he mooned Lambeau or got busted smoking weed a couple of times but these are small potato issues.
Much was said about his exit from Minnesota, to which he was traded for Napoleon Harris and the Raiders first round pick. It was the downturn of his career, as the team’s poor play and nagging injuries limited his production. He seemed to drop more passes and displayed lackluster efforts, to which he quipped,
“Maybe because I’m unhappy and I’m not too much excited about what’s going on so my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I’m in a bad mood”
To be fair, he was far from the only Raider to express his disenchantment with their dysfunction around this time and fanned the flames when he said shortly after this quote was taken that he’d want to look somewhere else to play next season and how he hoped his new destination would rejuvenate his passion for his work.
Oh, Randy…
Who could’ve known that the 2007 offseason would produce one of the most famous trades in NFL history? Initially, there was some discussion that Randy Moss would be heading to Green Bay. Can you imagine if Brett Favre had Randy Moss as an option during that 2007 season? There I go again with the “What if’s?”
Whereas the Raiders traded a first round pick to get Moss back in 2005, the Patriots would part ways with a 4th round pick to acquire the rights to Moss. One of the biggest robberies in NFL History, Moss will go to his grave knowing that he was part of the two highest scoring offenses in NFL history.
Whereas 1998 saw a raw-talented rookie looking to “tear the whole league up”, 2007 saw Randy Moss come back from the dead to snag 23 touchdowns enroot to New England’s undefeated season. Moss cooled down during the postseason and while he did catch the touchdown to put New England ahead 14-10 against the Giants, he could only watch as Eli Manning broke free to complete the Helmet catch to David Tyree.
It was after this that another tall receiver, Plaxico Burress, caught the winning TD.
It’s sad to say that this sort of thing was the ending to a lot of narratives for Randy Moss. For all he did in the NFL, he seemed to be on the receiving end of the NFL’s most heartbreaking losses. His rookie season seemed to be destined for the Super Bowl until Gary Anderson derailed that plan. He played well against the Rams the following year but his defense surrendered 49 points.
The following season, Moss and the Vikings were once again in the NFC Championship but lost to the Giants 41-0. His first season in New England saw their perfect season go up in flames and his second season saw the magical connection he had with Brady go for naught at Brady tore his ACL opening day.
Although his career in New England seemed promising, 2010 saw Moss bounce back to Minnesota, who were just one game away from the Super Bowl a season ago. It seemed his career would end happily ever after there, only it didn’t. The Vikings released Moss after he publicly criticized head coach Brad Childress. His season ended on a career low and Moss announced his retirement on August 1st, 2011.
To the surprise of virtually no one, Moss’s announcement proved to be premature. In March of 2012, Moss signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers and while he wasn’t what he once was, it was nice to see him in the role of a mentor for the younger 49er team. It seemed this kind of attitude would be rewarded with a ring as Moss and the 49ers met the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII.
Despite trailing 28-6 early in the third quarter, the 49ers mounted a furious rally. Sadly, the comeback wasn’t enough as the 49ers fell to the Ravens 34-31, handing Moss yet another devastating loss. After this loss, Moss left Football for good. His final stat totals looked like this:
218 games played-982 receptions-15,292 yards-156 touchdowns
If we did the math, this would equate to 72 catches, 1,122 yards, and 11 touchdowns a season. Some might look at this and argue these aren’t first ballot Hall of Fame numbers but when I ask if Randy Moss is a Hall of Famer, the question usually asked back is “Are you on drugs?”. Let’s talk away Moss’s time in Oakland and the final two seasons of his career and see how it matches up.
157 games played-825 receptions-12,907 yards-137 touchdowns.
Now if we do the math, Moss’s prime years equate to 84 catches, 1,315 yards, and 14 touchdowns a season. This is also accounting for the nagging injuries that slowed him down even when he was in New England and Minnesota. Now when we look at the numbers, it’s obvious Moss is a first ballot Hall of Famer. In fact, prime Randy Moss might’ve put up the best numbers of any receiver in their prime.
Randy Moss was a player defenses had to game plan around, much like offenses had to game plan around Lawrence Taylor. Defenses installed “Randy Rules” against Moss much like the Detroit Pistons instituted the Jordan Rules against MJ during the late 80s Bulls-Pistons playoff matchups. Since when do defenses stick two to three people on one receiver? Can you name someone they did that to before Randy Moss came along? I can’t either.
Perhaps the highest praise that has ever been given to Randy Moss comes from his former coach Bill Belichick,
“I learned a lot from Randy. Randy had a big impact on me as a coach. He taught me the game from a perspective that I’d never really seen or understood before and I’ll always be grateful to him for doing that”
Before Randy Moss entered the league, there were either speed receivers or big receivers. Moss was the first to combine the two and he terrorized the league from the moment he entered in 1998. To this day, the league is trying to catch up with Randy Moss. Whenever a tall receiver enters the draft, who’s the bar they’re held up against. What kind of receivers are coaches and GMs always on the look for?
So when Cornerbacks do have their nightmares of the man at night, it’s for good reason. Never before had the NFL seen anything like Randy Moss and they haven’t seen anything like him since. The closest was Calvin Johnson, who owes a great deal to the groundwork laid out by Randy Moss. So when these same Cornerbacks say their prayers at night, maybe they shouldn’t pray to god.
Maybe, just maybe, they should pray to Randy Moss instead.
-By: Thomas P. Braun Jr.
