Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977 in Rand, West Virginia) is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998, and played the first stage of his career in Minnesota before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. On Sunday, April 29, 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick.
His parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt, although Moss does not have much contact with his father. He has a sister named Lutisia and a brother Eric, who had a short stint in the NFL as an offensive lineman with the Minnesota Vikings. Moss has four children with his girlfriend, Libby Offutt (two daughters- Sydney and Senali, and two sons- Thaddeus and Montigo).
At Dupont High School (consolidated in 1999 into Riverside High School) in Belle, West Virginia, he led his school to the state AAA football title (West Virginia's highest class), starred in basketball alongside friend and current Miami Heat point guard Jason Williams, and also won the state title in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.
He played center field in baseball, which some argued was his best sport. Rick Fields, a scout for the Chicago Cubs, said, "He has the most range in the field that I have ever seen." He played wide receiver, safety, punter, place kicker, kick returner, and punt returner in football. He finished his high school football career with 109 catches, 2,435 receiving yards, and 44 receiving touchdowns, along with 75 rushes for 843 yards and nine touchdowns. He ended his basketball career at DuPont with 1,713 points scored. He was named the state's Athlete of the Year once in football and twice in basketball.
Along with his State Athlete of the Year awards, Moss was named to USA Today's All-USA high school football team in 1994, and to USA Today's 20th anniversary All-USA high school football team.
Moss's dream was to play for Notre Dame, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. According to former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz, Moss was "the greatest high school athlete I had ever seen — a bigger Deion Sanders."
After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially-charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. He entered a plea of guilty to battery, and received probation along with a 30-day suspended jail sentence. Notre Dame subsequently revoked his scholarship, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players. However, because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student, which made him ineligible to play for the Seminoles in the 1995 football season. He was red-shirted in his freshman season. While at Florida State, Moss ran a 4.25 40-yard dash while only Deion Sanders, with a 4.23 40-yard dash, had achieved better.
In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for smoking marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was let go by Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.
Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught by a freshman in a season (29), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 484 total yards and a 34.6 yard average. Marshall went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title in its last season before moving to Division I-A.
In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and current New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 25 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American. For the season, he had 96 receptions for 1820 yards, and 26 touchdowns. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's leading wide receiver, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award).
Moss left Marshall with 168 receptions for 3,467 yards and a school record 53 touchdowns.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs-- even those in need of a WR-- were concerned with Moss' well-documented legal problems.
In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number one ranked offense that season while they set a record for total points by a team. They finished with a 15-1 winning record and were poised to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30-27 in overtime. At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie record 17 touchdown receptions and the third highest receiving yardage (1,313) total of 1998.
In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns. He went on to record 5 receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27-10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49-37, despite Moss catching 9 passes for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.
Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the first wide receiver in history to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three of the numbers either tied or became a new personal best. However, more controversial events that occurred during his final years in Minnesota later led to his departure from the team. (See Controversy Section)
Randy Moss made the Pro Bowl 5 times in his 7-year career with the Minnesota Vikings (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2003).
On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' 1st round (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into WR Troy Williamson) and 7th round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss's caliber generated a lot of optimism, but the Raiders poor play has continued since acquiring him. Nagging injuries have limited his production, and Moss's own controversial remarks to the media have drawn more negative attention to himself. (See Controversy Section)
On April 29, 2007, the Raiders agreed to a trade with the New England Patriots, sending Moss to Foxborough, Massachusetts in exchange for a fourth-round selection, the 110th overall, in the 2007 NFL Draft (the same selection the Patriots acquired from San Francisco during day one of the draft). Moss agreed to restructure his contract with the Patriots. There were rumors during the 2007 NFL Draft that the Patriots and the Green Bay Packers were the only two teams that Moss was willing to play for and still restructure his contract. Once the trade was completed, it was reported that Moss restructured his contract from the 2 year/$20 million he had on the remainder of his current deal, to a 1 year/$3 million agreement. The difference between the Packers offer and the Patriots offer was whether or not the money would be guaranteed. The Patriots were willing to guarantee the deal while the Packers balked at this clause.
This lead to Packer QB, Brett Favre criticising his organization their decision regarding Moss's contract. Favre believed that by acquring a player of Randy Moss's skill, it would offset the loss of running back, Ahman Green and give Green Bay a better chance at winning a championship. It was rumored that he had requested a trade from the team. Favre later denied asking any question of that nature.
In 1997, Randy Moss was quoted, in a Sports Illustrated article as saying the 1970 Marshall plane crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big."[10][11] Moss claimed that the quote was taken out of context.
On September 24, 2002 in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to do an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his car, ordering him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss didn't comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a small amount of marijuana.[12] Initially charged with Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon which is a felony and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation, and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40-hours of community service.[13]
During the last game of the regular season against the Washington Redskins, Moss was caught walking off the field and into the locker room with 2 seconds left on the clock. Critics criticized Moss for quitting on his team.[14]Moss stated afterward that he didn’t think Minnesota would recover the onside kick.[15]
On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings traveled to Green Bay to take on the heavily favored division rival Green Bay Packers, in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss was effective, finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 31-17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost. Facing away from the crowd, he feigned pulling down his pants, and pretended to moon the Green Bay fans. Days later, the NFL fined him $10,000, finding it unsportsmanlike and offensive during the playoffs. However, Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, the former Vikings defensive coordinator, explained (if not completely defended) Moss' action by pointing out that Green Bay Packers fans are infamous for mooning the buses of departing opponents.[16]
In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon."[17]
During the course of the Raiders' nine game losing streak to end the 2006 season, Tyler Brayton and several other Raiders, including Warren Sapp, criticized the lackadaisical effort of Moss.[citation needed]
Days later, he reiterated his unhappiness with losing games and being a member of the Raiders on his weekly segment with Fox Sports Radio, saying, "I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football."[18]
On November 14, 2006, Moss was honored for his success in college as a kick returner by having an award named after him, becoming only one of two black athletes (along with John Mackey) so honored. During the press conference, Moss responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games, saying "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."[19] Moss made similar comments during his tenure with the Vikings, when he infamously proclaimed, "I play when I want to play."[20]
On May 15, 2007, more than two weeks after the trade to New England, Moss was called out by his former Raiders coaches. His former offensive coordinator, Tom Walsh, who was fired from the Raiders after Oakland's 2-14 losing season, said of Moss, "Randy Moss is a player whose skills are diminishing, and he's in denial of those eroding skills...Randy was a great receiver, but he lacked the work ethic and the desire to cultivate any skills that would compensate for what he was losing physically later in his career." Walsh also reported that Moss told him, "'I'm too old to practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but I'm not too old to play on Sunday.'"[21] However, Moss stated the losing seasons on the Oakland Raiders negatively effected his playing and discouraged him during the team's practice: "...Losing sometimes can get contagious, but as a player I can't let that settle in, and I think that's one of the things that bothered me [in Oakland]. I didn't want it to set in and it didn't set in. It was just really nerve-racking that it was hard for me to win."[21]
Year
Team
Games played
Games started
Receptions
Receiving yards
Average yards par catch
Touchdowns
Longest reception
Min
16
11
69
19.0
17
61
Min
16
16
80
17.7
11
67
Min
16
16
77
18.7
15
78
Min
16
16
82
15.0
10
73
Min
16
16
106
12.7
7
60
Min
16
16
111
14.7
17
72
Min
13
13
49
767
15.7
13
82
Oak
16
15
60
16.8
8
79
Oak
13
13
42
553
13.2
3
51
Total
138
132
676
10700
15.8
101
82
