A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss

He was a four sport athlete at DuPoint High School in Belle West Virginia. His dream of playing for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was dashed after a fight at his high school lead to a brief stint behind bars. He set records at the University of Marshal for receiving touchdowns, receiving yards by a freshman, and most consecutive games with a touchdown catch. His draft prospects slipped due to legal problems and the questions that surrounded his character like a thick blanket of fog around a lighthouse. He awed fans with acrobatic catches and jaw dropping numbers. And his frequent laziness infuriated front offices who paid big bucks to have him on their team. He is a future first ballot hall of famer. And perhaps, the biggest diva wide receiver ever to play the game of football. So who is the man who's career in the NFL was as flawed as it was spectacular? His name is Randy Moss, and he retired yesterday after 13 seasons of shock and awe.

The career stats for Randy Moss were absurdly good. Moss ranked fifth all time with 14,858 receiving yards, eighth all time in receptions with 954, and he was tied for second all time in receiving touchdowns with 153. Randy Moss had the most touchdown catches in a single season with 23 with the 2007 New England Patriots. Moss' 17 touchdown catches were the most ever by a rookie. He was selected to the all pro team four times and appeared in six pro bowls. And it was not just the regular season where Moss had these great numbers. During his career, Moss had 47 catches for 865 yards and 10 touchdowns in 12 postseason games. Randy Moss made the spectacular look routine, and was dominant when he wanted to be. Yet there there was another side to Randy Moss that infuriated fans, general managers, and teammates. 

 

The list of issues on and off the field during Randy Moss' career was about as long as his list of career accomplishments. On the field, Moss had a reputation for taking plays off, pouting when quarterbacks did not throw the ball to him, and mooning packers fans during a playoff game. And things got worse off the field for the future hall of famer. Moss was arrested  in 2002 for bumping into a traffic control officer with his car. Randy Moss plead guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and paid a $1,200 dollar fine. Speaking of fines,  the news that Moss would be fined 10 thousand dollars for the mooning incident in Green Bay lead to perhaps the funniest and most arrogant quote of Randy Moss' career. 

Moss brought all of his controversy upon himself, yet because of his talent, teams would be willing to look past his problems and sign him for big money. Despite his hall of fame numbers, Randy Moss' career ended with some big unanswered questions. What if Moss had pushed himself as hard as he could every down on every play? What if Moss understood how to run all types of routes? How many more touchdowns would Moss have if he did not get himself banished to Oakland? When did he loose his hunger to get better than everybody else? Unfortunately we will never know the answers to any of these questions. 

One might compare Randy Moss to the fictional character Two-Face from Batman. A man who seems to have duel personalities, and one never ruled for very long. On the field, Moss was a hall of fame talent who understood 'go deep' better than anyone else in NFL history. Off the field, he was a mental enigma that had run ins with the law, made questionable press conference statements, drew fines from the commissioner's office, and smoked weed, allegedly. So how does one go about remembering the great yet infuriating career of Randy Moss? That decision depends on the individual.