FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A show of hands among those who were wrong about Randy Moss.
Everybody? Everybody but the guy sitting in front, wearing the gray hoodie.
About this time last year, 32 teams could have included Moss with their receiving corps, at minimal cost. Teams scattered as if Moss were radioactive.
The Oakland Raiders had him and didn’t want him. Brett Favre wanted him, but the people running the personnel department of his Green Bay Packers didn’t. The Broncos were among the 31 teams that passed.
And why not? While playing the Raiders twice in the 2006 season, the Broncos easily could have reached the conclusion Moss had stopped caring.
He wasn’t running out his patterns. He would develop alligator arms when asked to catch balls over the middle. In short, Moss wasn’t into it.
“That’s fair,” Moss admitted this week during a private moment at his New England Patriots locker. “But you have to take into account where I was playing.”
Only New England coach Bill Belichick, the casually dressed leader of the ultimate team-before-self organization, took a chance on the mercurial Moss, whose reputation was self-before-team. Yes, trouble found Moss again this week with the restraining order he received for allegedly striking a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., woman, then preventing her from seeking medical treatment. Moss vehemently denied the claims, which have not been formally filed as charges.
But do you think 31 other teams would have taken his NFL-record 23 touchdown catches this season in return for a distraction a couple days before the AFC championship game?
“I was basically traded for a bag of peanuts,” Moss said. “It looks like a pretty good trade now, huh?”
Specifically, the Patriots acquired Moss from the Raiders for a fourth-round draft pick. The Pats had surrendered more — a second-round and a seventh-round draft pick — to acquire Wes Welker, a slot receiver with three previous career starts.
To be even more precise, Moss was dealt in exchange for defensive back John Bowie, whom the Raiders selected with their fourth-round pick. Bowie dressed in two games this season and made his only tackle in the regular-season finale.
Compare that to Moss’ production: 1,493 receiving yards and the league- record TD catches; he was the biggest reason after QB Tom Brady that the Patriots set a single-season scoring record with 589 points — breaking the old mark set by Moss’ Minnesota Vikings during his rookie year of 1998.
Patriots knew something
“I think we were all wrong,” said Tom Donahue, former general manager of the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers. “I think the prevailing opinion after they got him, people said, ‘Why did they do this?’ New England being who they are, why would they need that type of a headache and take on somebody like Randy?
“And it had nothing to do with talent. He’s always been talented. He’s always been a difference-maker. But when you watched him in Oakland, and we played against him a couple of times, he looked disinterested. He looked like he didn’t want to play. He looked like he didn’t care. Obviously, New England knew something the rest of us didn’t, and that’s probably why they’re 17-0.”
So why did old Randy again become the Randy of young? The natural assumption is he’s the quintessential front-runner. The type who will happily steer when the ship is sailing on smooth waters, but the first one to bail if the ship is sinking amid stormy seas.
The Raiders were a combined 6-26 in Moss’ two seasons. Not even 17-0 has pulled him back to .500 since he left Minnesota after the 2004 season.
“It wasn’t really the winning,” Moss said about his attitude shift. “It’s about professionalism. I’ve never been one to point fingers at any one individual. I might point out problems as a whole. But I don’t blame any one person for the way things were with the Raiders. All I say is, here, everything’s done in a professional manner.”
In the highly competitive business that is the NFL, it’s difficult to win without making a deal or two with the devil. Two years ago, Dallas owner Jerry Jones signed Terrell Owens at a time when T.O. made Moss look like a model citizen. Broncos coach Mike Shanahan took on the baggage that came with the skills of Javon Walker and Travis Henry.
Competitive and smart
Belichick ignored the perceived character risks to acquire Moss.
“Based on what I knew about Randy was that he was a very competitive guy, a very smart receiver and the type of dependable player you would want on your team,” Belichick said. “And that’s definitely the way I feel.”
Nearly every week, Moss is endorsed by Brady, whose squeaky- clean image suffered its first chink during the offseason with revelations of his love-life and fatherhood. When his Pats acquired Moss, Brady was as pleased as Favre was irked.
“I try not to prejudge anybody or stereotype anybody . . .” Brady said when asked if he felt apprehension the day Moss became his teammate. “I kind of let the relationship develop as it has. We have a great relationship. We have a lot of things in common even though we have very different backgrounds. I think we both enjoy football. I think that’s the overriding characteristic of a lot of players in this locker room. You listen to your coaching and do your job, play hard and put the team first. Anybody can fit in here if that’s what you choose to be about.”
To think, at this time last year, 31 teams thought Moss was about something else.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
Mercurial Moss
The rise, fall and rise of New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss:
1995: An incredible high school athlete who twice was named West Virginia’s basketball player of the year, Moss signed a letter of intent with Notre Dame. However, Moss became engaged in a racially charged high school brawl that resulted in a battery conviction and 30-day sentence. Notre Dame revoked Moss’ scholarship, and he attended Florida State.
1996: While serving his jail sentence in a work-release program, Moss tested positive for marijuana and was released by Florida State. Moss received additional 60-day sentence for violating probation. Moss is also arrested on misdemeanor domestic battery charges involving “Libby” Offutt, the mother of his four children. Charges are dropped in return for counseling.
1996-97: Moss attended Marshall, where in two seasons he scored 53 touchdowns as a receiver and kick returner. When Marshall moved from Division I-AA to I-A in 1997, Moss finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Charles Woodson, Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf.
1998: Though he was considered by many the third-best pro prospect after Manning and Leaf, past legal problems caused Moss to slip in the NFL draft to the Minnesota Vikings with the No. 21 pick.
Sept. 6, 1998: Moss caught two touchdown passes in his first NFL game.
Dec. 6, 1998: Against the Chicago Bears, Moss caught three TD passes for the second consecutive game. In the previous game, on Thanksgiving at Dallas, he scored on catches of 51, 56 and 56 yards.
Dec. 26, 1998: Moss made his rookie-record 17th TD catch. Helped the Vikings (15-1) score 556 points to shatter the NFL’s season scoring record set 15 years earlier by the 1983 Washington Redskins (541). The Vikings advanced to the NFC championship game but were upset by the Atlanta Falcons and missed playing the Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII.
Sept. 24, 2002: While driving in downtown Minneapolis, Moss bumped a traffic control officer who was trying to prevent him from making an illegal turn. Moss was arrested and a search of his vehicle revealed a small amount of marijuana.
2003: Capped sixth consecutive stellar season with Minnesota, setting career highs in receptions (111) and yards (1,632) and matching his career high for TDs (17).
2004: An injury-plagued season led to career lows of 49 catches and 767 yards in 13 games. In the regular-season finale, Moss walked off the field with two seconds remaining even though the Vikings trailed by three points and were attempting an onside kick. Moss was lambasted for quitting on the team, but he played well in a postseason victory at Green Bay — where he feigned mooning the crowd after a touchdown.
March 2, 2005: Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for linebacker Napoleon Harris, a first-round pick (No. 7, which the Vikings used to draft wide receiver Troy Williamson) and a seventh-round pick.
2006: Moss finished the second of two disappointing seasons in Oakland with 42 catches for 553 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games.
April 29, 2007: Moss’ stock was so low, the Patriots acquired him from the Raiders for a fourth-round pick (defensive back John Bowie).
Dec. 29, 2007: Moss catches 22nd and 23rd TD passes from Tom Brady to break Jerry Rice’s single-season record. Patriots finish regular season 16-0 and set single-season record with 589 points, breaking mark set by Moss’ Vikings in 1998. Moss is named to sixth Pro Bowl. Bowie finishes season with one tackle.
Jan. 15: A Fort Lauderdale woman files restraining order against Moss, claiming he struck and injured her, then prevented her from receiving medical treatment. Moss denied the claims and countered by saying the woman is trying to extort money in “six figures.” A lawyer for the woman, Rachelle Washington, said it was Moss who offered a six-figure settlement to keep the incident quiet.
Mike Klis, The Denver Post
