An Ode to Mr. Moss

Question marks have always surrounded Moss, its why he ended up a D-I AA Marshall, why he fell to 21^st in the draft, why Minnesota sent him packing to Oakland, why the Pats traded him for nothing (and then Vikings let him go), and why Moss’ retirement is not met with the praise reserved for legends but rather the twitter potshots for punks. Yet say what you will about Moss, he’s in the small discussion for greatest receiver ever, and if you think that honor belongs to Jerry Rice then its safe to say Randy Moss was the greatest deep ball threat to ever lace ‘em up and he made it look sooo easy.

The best thing about having Moss was that anytime no matter where we had the ball, we had a chance to score with the words, “Yo Randy, Go Long.” Moss was THAT good. He might not have been the most polished receiver ever (once again that belongs to Jerry Rice) but Moss’ combination of size and speed is legendary. Send him long and he will outrun any corner, throw it high and he’ll out jump any Safety. Moss once claimed he had a six-foot vertical, and only with Moss could anyone even stop to contemplate the chance that’s even possible (FYI: its not).

Personally, Moss is my first favorite player. His rookie season was my first as a Vikings fan. When they traded him to the Raiders, my initial reaction was that by trading Moss they had also traded my fandom (I was a pretty stupid twelve year old). If the Raiders future didn’t look so bleak I might have simply rooted for Randy Moss. For me that trade really marked the end of my love affair with Moss. It was nice that he reminded everyone he was still the best receiver in the game during the 2007 Patriots run but he just looks better in purple.

As a little white Jewish boy (yes some Jews aren’t white, whatup Yosef) growing up in New York, Randy Moss was just about the coolest person I’d ever seen. He was the antithesis of everything in my life, I’m sure he even stayed up past his bedtime. No athlete ever may have had the combination of I-don’t-give-a-fuck and pure talent. At times he seemed to be a man among boys, which is a rare sight in the NFL. Randy Moss is a badass motherfucker and that’s simply what makes him so appealing. Sure the media doesn’t like him because he goes against everything we value and preach: hard work, teamwork, and selflessness. Randy Moss smokes weed, has crazy hair, and is not afraid to speak his mind or pretend to pull his pants down. He’s a West Virginia hick and his life couldn’t be more different than mine.

To best explain my infatuation with Randy Moss, I’ll contrast him with the best player on my other favorite team, Derek Jeter. Both are transcendent once in a generation players, but while Jeter was polished to perfection, Randy Moss was raw. Everything Jeter did was premeditated always making sure he didn’t anger his parents. While Jeter cares, Moss doesn’t give a fuck. And that’s why I love him; he stayed true to himself even if it was his biggest flaw. Jeter has rings, Moss does not; but Jeter at times is painfully boring and no one has ever said that about Moss.

I leave you with this.