Randy Moss

For the horse racing analyst and NFL Network reporter, see Randy Moss (sports reporter).

Randy Moss

Randy Moss with the New England Patriots during an August 28, 2009 preseason game against the Washington Redskins.
Personal information
Born:	(1977-02-13) February 13, 1977 Rand, West Virginia
Career information
College:	Marshall
Position:	Wide receiver
NFL draft:	1998 / round: 1 / pick: 21
Career history
Minnesota Vikings (1998–2004) Oakland Raiders (2005–2006) New England Patriots (2007–2010) Minnesota Vikings (2010) Tennessee Titans (2010)
Career highlights and awards
AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (1998) PFWA Offensive Rookie of the Year (1998) NFL Alumni Wide Receiver of the Year (1998) 7× Pro Bowl (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009) 5× All-Pro (1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007) Pro Bowl MVP (2000) NFC Player of the Year (2003) PFWA Comeback Player of the Year (2007) AFC Champion (2007) New England Patriots All-2000s Team NFL 2000s All-Decade Team First-team All-American (1996, 1997) Fred Biletnikoff Award (1997) Paul Warfield Trophy (1997) List of NFL records
Career NFL statistics as of 2010
Receptions: 954 Receiving yards: 14,858 Receiving touchdowns: 153 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American college and professional football player who is a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Marshall University, and twice earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft.

Moss played the first seven years of his career in Minnesota before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. On April 29, 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick. On October 6, 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots. However, his stint in Minnesota was short-lived, as he was waived by the team less than a month later, and claimed by the Tennessee Titans.

Moss holds the NFL single season touchdown reception record (23, set in 2007), and the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17, in 1998).

Early years

Moss was born and grew up in Rand, West Virginia. He attended the now-defunct DuPont High School in Belle, West Virginia, where he lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played defensive back, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time.

In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993 & 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams.

As a sophomore in 1992, he ran for the track team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 and 21.95, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the track team. He also played center field for the baseball team.

On March 23, 1995, Moss backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pled guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.

College career

Moss' dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen." Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."

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. Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, 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.

Freshman (redshirt) (1995)

He was red-shirted in his freshman season. While at Florida State, Moss ran a 4.25 40-yard dash, with only Deion Sanders being faster (4.23).

Freshman (1996)

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 dismissed from 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 in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), 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 612 total yards and a 34.0 yard average. Marshall went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title in its last season before moving to Division I-A.

Sophomore (1997)

In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and future 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 26 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.

The first game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns. One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40 yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8 yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15 yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25 yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50 yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.

A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.

In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80 yard touchdown pass from Pennington to tie the score at 7–7. NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with :31 seconds to play giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40 yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.

Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's leading wide receiver, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award).

College statistics

College Stats			Receiving					Rushing				Kick Returns					Punt Returns
Season	Team	GP	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	ATT	YDS	TD	LNG	RET	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	RET	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG
1995	FSU	0	DNP – Redshirt
1996	MAR	15	78	1,709	21.9	28		1	2	0	2	18	612	34.0	0	88	–	–	–	–	–
1997	MAR	13	96	1,820	19.0	26	90T	2	29	1	32T	14	263	18.8	0	49	25	271	10.8	0	58
Total	2 years	28	174	3,529	20.3	54	90T	3	31	1	32T	32	875	27.3	0	88	25	271	10.8	0	58

• Includes stats from the 1997 Motor City Bowl against Mississippi

Professional career

1998 NFL Draft

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. Before the draft Moss was quoted as saying teams that pass on him "will regret it once they see what kind of a player I am and what kind of guy I really am." The team most often cited for passing on Moss is the Dallas Cowboys. Moss grew up a Cowboys fan and wanted to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys wanted Moss, but because of many off-field incidents of their own, team owner and GM Jerry Jones did not feel the team could draft Moss. Moss felt that the Cowboys lied to him, because they told him they would draft him. On draft day, Dallas went so far as to have a scout in Charleston, West Virginia, the same town where Moss and his mother were watching the draft. Dallas star receiver Michael Irvin even called to apologize to Moss, because Irvin's own off-field problems were a main reason Moss was not drafted by Dallas. After the draft, Moss made a point of beating the Cowboys any time he faced them.

After the draft, Moss signed a 4 year, $4.5 million dollar contract that included an additional $4 million dollars in bonuses and incentives. As part of the deal, he received a $2 million dollar signing bonus. Moss originally wore #18 in training camp (a number he would eventually wear for Oakland) but switched to the more conventional #84 before the preseason began.

Minnesota Vikings

1998 season

In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number one-ranked offense, scoring a then-NFL record 556 points.

The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss' first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11 yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48 yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31 yard touchdown reception on the Vikings first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.

His first Monday Night Football game came in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. He had 5 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including touchdown grabs of 52 yards and 44 yards, and two other receptions of 46 yards and 41 yards. He also had a 75 yard touchdown catch on the Vikings first possession of the game that was nullified due to an offensive holding penalty.

They finished with a 15–1 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.

1999 season

In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns. He went on to record five 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 nine passes for 188 yards and two 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 earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance, and turned in a record breaking performance. He had 9 receptions for a Pro Bowl record 212 yards and was given the games Most Valuable Player award.

2000 season

The 2000 season featured second year quarterback Daunte Culpepper leading the team. Culpepper had been the teams first round draft pick in 1999; a pick which required a trade up. He had been selected largely due to his extremely strong arm, which the team believed was perfectly suited for Moss's deep routes. The decision proved correct. Culpepper was a rookie sensation, the Vikings started 7-0, and Moss was a leading MVP candidate. For the second time in three seasons, Moss punished the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, including a spectacular 2nd half touchdown in which Moss caught the ball with his entire body out of bounds, aside from his toes. The play would be the feature shot in NFL commercials for years to come. Moss finished the season with a career high 1,437 yards and league leading 15 touchdown catches. In doing so, he became the youngest and fastest player to ever catch over 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning him his 3rd consecutive trip to the pro bowl, and 2nd selection to the All Pro team. The Vikings would make it to the NFC Championship game, only to be blown out 41–0 by the New York Giants.

2001 season

In the offseason, Moss and his agent Danté DiTrapano began negotiating a new contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was scheduled to earn 3.5 million dollars in 2001. But Moss, who was entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 1998, was seeking a long term deal that would make him the highest paid player in the NFL. His agent said, "We want to break the tradition of quarterbacks being the highest-paid players." One option the Vikings had would be to apply the franchise tag after the season ended, but sources stated that Moss would request a trade if that happened because it would still be less than what he could command on the open market.

Just prior to the start of training camp in July, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8-year, $75 million contract extension. The extension included a $10 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees. It remains as the largest contract, in terms of total dollar value, ever handed to an NFL wide receiver.

Despite finishing the season with 10 touchdowns, Moss failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.

2002 season

After replacing Dennis Green on an interim basis to end the 2001 season, Mike Tice was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. One of the strategies the Vikings first-year head coach came up with was a formula to get Randy Moss the ball more often. Coach Tice called it the Randy Ratio. It was an effort on the coaches part to throw 40% of the passes to Moss as a way to keep him involved in the offense more than he had been in the 2001 season when he had stretches in games where he was being shut out, and partly to use more game clock by sustaining long drives to give the Vikings defense a chance to rest. An assistant coach would stand on the sidelines during games and track how many times Moss had been thrown to, and then inform Tice of the percentages so that he is always aware of it. In the 2001 season, the Vikings record was 4–1 when Moss had 40% of the passes thrown his direction, and 1–10 in other games.

The strategy was a response to the 'Randy Rules,' as Vikings receiver Chris Walsh called them. The Randy Rules, similar to the Jordan Rules, were a defensive strategy that teams employed when facing the Vikings to try and eliminate or reduce Randy's impact on the game, and to prevent Moss from being matched up one-on-one with defenders because of his ability to burn them deep or outjump them in single coverage. Opposing teams would routinely double cover Moss with techniques such as having a cornerback attempt to jam him at the line of scrimmage, having a corner defend underneath with a safety defending against the deep ball, having a zone defense roll to Moss' side of the field, and assigning "spys" to follow Moss everywhere he went.

Coach Tice discussed the strategy, explaining that Moss would be running more short and intermediate routes and less deep patterns. In training camp, Moss worked specifically on 12 new routes that he had rarely run in his first 4 NFL seasons, such as crossing patterns over the middle of the field and hook routes. Coach Tice said, "When we say Randy Ratio, everybody in the league thinks, 'OK, now they're going to throw the ball down the field to Randy more and more and more.' That's so far from the truth. In fact, we'll probably throw the ball down the field to Randy this year even less."

The Randy Ratio did not last very long, as Tice scrapped the idea midway through the 2002 season. Randy Moss said "I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win." While Moss caught a career high 106 passes, he also had a career low 7 touchdown receptions, and the Vikings struggled to a 6–10 record. Tice suggested after the season that it was a mistake to inform opponents about his offensive gameplan, but that it was a tool "to motivate [Moss] and say he was the guy."

2003 season

Moss' fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) 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 numbers either tied or became a new personal best.

In the offseason, he attended the Vikings strength & conditioning program and added 5 pounds of muscle to his frame.

2004 season

Moss started the season strong catching 8 touchdowns in his first 5 games of the season. However, he sustained a hamstring injury to his right leg against New Orleans in Week 6 that hampered him for the next five weeks. He played in Week 7 against Tennessee, but had no receptions in a game for the first time in his career. He also played the following week against the Giants, but again recorded no receptions and was used mainly as a decoy. The injury eventually sidelined him for 3 straight weeks. He returned to the lineup in Week 12 with a touchdown catch against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Even though he finished the season with 13 touchdowns in 13 games, he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767), becoming the first season in his career that he failed to reach the 1,000 yard mark.

Moss made the Pro Bowl five times in his seven-year career with the Minnesota Vikings (1998–2000, 2002, and 2003).

Oakland Raiders

On March 2, 2005, Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first (7th overall, which Minnesota parlayed into WR Troy Williamson) and seventh-round picks in the NFL draft. Adding a player of Moss' caliber generated optimism in Oakland, but the Raiders' poor play continued after acquiring him. Nagging injuries limited his production, as well as what some saw as his unwillingness to play.

Moss was excited to get a fresh start in Oakland. "I am very flattered to be here and anxious to be in this situation," Moss said. "I want to get back to being a dangerous player."

New England Patriots

2007 season

Moss on the sidelines chatting with Tom Brady.

There were rumors leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft that the Raiders were eager to part ways with Randy Moss through a trade. First-year Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin went so far as to contact the division rival Denver Broncos to "gauge interest", but the Patriots and Green Bay Packers were the two teams most interested in acquiring Moss. Packers QB Brett Favre, who once said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss," tried to persuade team management to trade for him, but a deal that both sides could agree to did not get done.

During the first day of the NFL Draft, the Patriots and Raiders discussed the trade several times before reaching an agreement. Bill Belichick spoke with Moss for the first time about the possibility of joining the Patriots at 2:30AM early Sunday Morning. Moss then boarded a plane and arrived in Boston later that morning on April 29 and was required to pass a team administered physical. Once he was cleared by Patriots officials, a trade was completed that sent Randy Moss to New England in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. The draft pick had been acquired by the Patriots the previous day from the San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders selected John Bowie.

One of the conditions of the trade was that Randy Moss would have to restructure his contract for salary cap reasons. Just hours before the Moss trade was completed, New England quarterback Tom Brady converted $5.28 million of his 2007 base salary into a signing bonus that is spread out over the remaining portion of his contract so that it could free up cap room. This enabled the Patriots to absorb Moss' incoming contract under the salary cap. Moss had two years remaining on his current deal and was scheduled to earn $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. Once the Patriots had Moss on their roster, he quickly agreed to a new one year contract to replace his old one. The new deal gave him a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $2.5 million, and the ability to earn an additional $1.75 million in incentives.

"I’m still in awe that I’m a part of this organization," Moss said, clearly thrilled to join a team that could contend for the Super Bowl and to work with Coach Belichick. "I think that he’s the kind of coach that can motivate me. He has a proven track record."

In the first week of training camp, during an 11-on-11 passing drill, Moss suffered a hamstring injury to his left leg. As a precaution, the injury prevented Moss from participating in any preseason games and he missed much of the rest of camp.

His first action in a Patriots uniform came against the New York Jets in Week 1. He quickly quieted critics who claimed that his skills had deteriorated by hauling in 9 receptions for 181 yards, including a 51 yard touchdown pass in which he ran past 3 Jets defenders.

On November 4, 2007, James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Every week, in addition to out-leaping at least one defender for a touchdown, [Moss] keeps making incredible one-handed grabs that make you mutter, 'How the heck did he come up with that?'" Two weeks later, he added a career high 4 touchdown receptions in a single game against Buffalo.

On December 29, the Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35, finishing their season with a perfect 16–0 record. Moss caught two touchdown passes for a total of 23, breaking the single season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice (in 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season). On the same play, Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's single season record set in 2004 with his 50th touchdown pass. Moss recorded 98 catches for 1,493 yards in 2007, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history and the third-highest total number of catches, after teammate Wes Welker's 112 catches that same season and Troy Brown's 101 in 2001. He also earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection. His 2007 season featured touchdowns in 13 of 16 games (including 8 multi-touchdown games), nine 100-yard games, and six touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards.

Super Bowl XLII

Despite his record breaking 2007 season, Moss was relatively quiet in the playoffs going 2 consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time all season. However, in Super Bowl XLII he scored the go ahead touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter on a 6 yard pass from Tom Brady. However, this was still not enough to enable the heavily favored Patriots to achieve the first 19–0 undefeated season, as Eli Manning drove the Giants down the field and connected with Plaxico Burress for what proved to be the game winner.

2008 season

On February 28, 2008, Moss became a free agent after the Patriots decided not to place the franchise tag on Moss. Although the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers were rumored to have interest in Moss, he decided to return to the Patriots, signing a three-year, $27 million deal on March 3, 2008. The contract included a $12 million dollar signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed.

The first game of the 2008 season saw Brady suffer a torn ACL in his left knee while attempting a pass to Randy Moss. The play occurred in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs when safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's leg while in his throwing motion. Moss described what he saw on the play by saying "any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty." Matt Cassel replaced Brady for the rest of the season.

In 2008, Moss hauled in 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing quarterback Tom Brady in the first quarter of the season.

2009 season

In the opener of 2009, Moss caught a career-high 12 passes for 141 yards in a comeback 25–24 victory over the Bills. In a snowy Week 6 game against the winless Tennessee Titans, Moss caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady, two of them in the 2nd quarter as Brady set a record for most touchdown passes in a single quarter with five. This was Moss's 34th multi-touchdown game, and his 8th game with 3 or more touchdowns.

During the Patriots bye week, Belichick stated that Moss "is the smartest receiver he's ever been around." He compared Moss' ability to see the field and anticipate plays to that of Tom Brady, and to Lawrence Taylor who Belichick coached with the New York Giants. He said Moss not only knows what he's doing on a play, but what everybody else on the field is doing as well. "That's what makes them special. They just have a sixth, seventh sense," Belichick said.

In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins Moss added 6 catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The touchdown reception was the 140th of his career, which moved him into a tie for 2nd place with Terrell Owens and he now only trails Jerry Rice who has 197.

The following week, in a primetime Sunday night matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Moss had 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63 yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter that moved him ahead of Terrell Owens for sole possession of 2nd place in career touchdown receptions. In the same game, he became just the 11th player in NFL history with 900+ receptions and the 7th player to reach 14,000+ career receiving yards.

He finished the season with 83 receptions for 1,264 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was named to the 2010 Pro Bowl as a replacement for injured teammate Wes Welker.

2010 season

In the week leading up to the Patriots' 2010 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moss, who was entering the final year of his contract told CBS Sports that he "did not feel wanted" in New England absent a contract extension offer. Moss would go on to catch 5 passes for 59 yards in Week 1. After the game, Moss told reporters that it would be his final season with the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported weeks later that Moss requested a trade following the game.

Moss had two receptions in Week 2 against the New York Jets, including a 34-yard touchdown. The following week against the Buffalo Bills, Moss had two more catches, both for touchdowns. His final game in New England came in Week 4 on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins; he did not record a catch in the game for the first time in his Patriots career as a touchdown pass attempt off a fake spike bounced off his hands in the end zone.

Return to Minnesota

Two days after the Patriots' game against Miami, Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, in exchange for the Vikings' third-round selection (later used to select Ryan Mallett) in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Patriots also sent a 2012 seventh-round selection to the Vikings as part of the trade.

On November 1, less than four weeks after being traded to Minnesota, Vikings head coach Brad Childress told Vikings players in a team meeting that Moss was going to be waived by the team, one day after he criticized Childress and teammates in a press conference following the Vikings' loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Just before the press conference, Moss reportedly told team owner Zygi Wilf that Childress was unfit to coach in the NFL and should be fired. Wilf reportedly considered firing Childress and keeping Moss, but Moss was officially waived the next day, November 2. Childress was eventually fired on November 22.

Days after the trade, reports surfaced that Moss had told the owner of a local restaurant catering a team meal that Moss would not "feed the food to his dog."

Tennessee Titans

Moss was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans, the only team to submit a claim, on November 3, 2010. Moss played eight games with the Titans, starting four. He made six catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns.

Moss finished the 2010 season setting career lows in receptions (28) and receiving yards (393). The Tennessee Titans stated that they did not plan to re-sign Moss for the 2011 season.

Initial Retirement and Comeback

On August 1, 2011, Moss' agent, Joel Segal, announced that Randy Moss had decided to retire.

On February 13, 2012, his 35th birthday, Moss announced that he was coming out of retirement and was ready to play again. In a live video chat with his fans via Ustream, Moss stated, "I wanna play football. Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life." If he so chooses to return to the NFL, Moss would be a free agent heading into the 2012 NFL season.

Career statistics

Regular Season				Receiving								Rushing					Passing						Kick Returns
Year	Team	GP	GS	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	20+	40+	1ST	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	ATT	CMP	YDS	TD	INT	RAT	RET	YDS	TD	LNG
1998	MIN	16	11	69	1,313	19.0	17	61T	20	14	51	1	4	4.0	0	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	0	0	0
1999	MIN	16	16	80	1,413	17.7	11	67T	26	8	52	4	43	10.8	0	15	1	1	27	1	0	158.3	17	162	1	64T
2000	MIN	16	16	77	1,437	18.7	15	78T	25	8	58	3	5	1.7	0	9	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2001	MIN	16	16	82	1,233	15.0	10	73T	14	4	59	3	38	12.7	0	18	1	1	29	0	0	118.8	–	–	–	–
2002	MIN	16	16	106	1,347	12.7	7	60	19	6	66	6	51	8.5	0	25	3	1	13	1	0	87.5	1	11	0	11
2003	MIN	16	16	111	1,632	14.7	17	72	27	6	76	6	18	3.0	0	11	1	0	0	0	0	39.6	1	22	0	22
2004	MIN	13	13	49	767	15.7	13	82T	11	6	43	–	–	–	–	–	2	1	37	0	1	56.2	–	–	–	–
2005	OAK	16	15	60	1,005	16.8	8	79	15	4	46	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2006	OAK	13	13	42	553	13.2	3	51	6	1	29	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2007	NE	16	16	98	1,493	15.2	23	65T	18	9	74	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2008	NE	16	16	69	1,008	14.6	11	76T	14	3	46	2	0	0.0	0	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2009	NE	16	16	83	1,264	15.2	13	71T	18	7	62	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2010	NE	4	3	9	139	15.4	3	35T	3	0	6	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2010	MIN	4	4	13	174	13.4	2	37T	2	0	10	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2010	TEN	8	4	6	80	13.3	0	26	1	0	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2010 (Total)		16	11	28	393	14.0	5	37T	6	0	20	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
13 seasons		202	191	954	14,858	15.6	153	82T	219	76	682	25	159	6.4	0	25	8	4	106	2	1	95.8	20	195	1	64T

Charity

Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles." He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, and hosted autograph signings. He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played.

On June 29, 2005, he launched the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."

In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations. In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia.

In March 2009, Moss' foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children’s Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a Starlight Children's Foundation 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.

On the morning of November 24, 2009, Moss flew home to West Virginia to personally hand out Thanksgiving dinners to families in the Charleston area. He stayed only a few hours before having to head back to Massachusetts for a Patriots practice later in the day.

Controversy

Marshall plane crash

In a 1997 Sports Illustrated article, when discussing the 1970 Marshall plane crash, Randy Moss was quoted as saying, "The plane crash was before my time. I don't try to go back in the past and say this football game is for the people in the plane crash. I've seen the burial ground. I went up there and looked at the names. It was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big." Moss claimed that the quote was taken out of context.

Traffic incident

On September 24, 2002 in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer (Amy Zaccardi), noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his 2002 Lexus car, ordering him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not 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 joint amounting to less than a gram of marijuana in his ashtray. Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss spent the night in jail and was released the following morning. Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service. While the criminal charges were thus disposed of, the civil lawsuit filed by the traffic control officer brought a substantial penalty fine "in the low to mid six figures". Moss claimed that the joint was not his, and that he had let friends use his car prior to the accident.

Leaving the field during a game

During the last game of the 2004 regular season against the Washington Redskins and with two seconds remaining on the game clock, Moss walked off the field and into the locker room; critics criticized Moss for quitting on his team. Moss stated afterward that he did not think Minnesota, who ended up losing 21–18 to Washington, would recover the onside kick.

Playoff fully clothed mooning incident

On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings traveled to division rival Green Bay to take on the heavily favored Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and, facing away from the crowd, feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. TV announcer Joe Buck, calling the game, was incensed, calling it "a disgusting act" on-air. Days later, the NFL fined him $10,000, finding it "unsportsmanlike" and "offensive" during the playoffs. However, then-Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, the former Vikings defensive coordinator, explained Moss' action by pointing out that Packers fans are infamous for actually mooning the buses of departing opponents after a loss, unlike Moss' fully clothed imitation.

Marijuana use

In April 1996, Randy Moss smoked a joint just prior to turning himself in to jail. He was scheduled to finish the remainder of his 30 day sentence for misdemeanor battery while in high school. During his first week in jail, Moss was given a drug test that came back positive. He was placed in solitary confinement for a week and had 60 days attached to his 27 day sentence. Bobby Bowden revoked his scholarship and Moss was dismissed from Florida State University for the failed drug test.

Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported that Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana under the NFL's substance abuse program and was subject to additional random drug screening for two years. A first time violation of the NFL's drug policy can result in up to 10 tests per month. Moss has not failed an NFL drug test since, and was rotated out of the program after two years.

In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moon." When asked whether he still used marijuana currently, Moss replied "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason." The interview drew criticism from the league office, and his agent tried to spin it that his words were taken out of context. In response, Moss said "That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood – especially in high school and college."

Lack of effort

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." 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."

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.'" However, Moss stated the losing seasons on the Oakland Raiders negatively affected 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."

In 2009, after a 20–10 win over the Carolina Panthers, Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble and safety Chris Harris accused Moss of giving up during the game. Gamble claimed Moss "gives up a lot" and that he "laid it down during the game", while Harris said "[Moss] kind of doesn't run the routes the way they're supposed to be run. If you get a jam on him, he'll ease up. ... If he can't get it going, he gets out of sync." Moss caught 1 pass for 16 yards, fumbled the ball once, and dropped a pass, as well as had a ball thrown at him picked off during the game. In response, Bill Belichick stated, "My response would be that's a lot of conversation coming from a team that just lost another game." Tom Brady noted that Gamble had many plays made on him as well.

Dating violence allegations

On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "ha[d] been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington, causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms. The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident," because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about eleven years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment." Moreover, Moss' lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss. On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed. No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.

Personal life

Moss' parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt, although Moss has little 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).

NCAA records

Division 1-AA – Regular season

• Most games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
• Most consecutive games with a touchdown reception in a season – 11 (1996)
• Most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season – 1073 (1996)
• Most touchdown receptions caught by a freshman in a season – 19 (1996 – record for all NCAA divisions)

Division 1-AA – Playoffs

• Most touchdown receptions in a single game – 4 (vs. Montana, Dec. 21, 1996)
• Most yards receiving in a single game – 288 (vs. Delaware, Nov. 30, 1996)
• Most touchdown receptions in a tournament – 9 (4 games in 1996)
• Most yards receiving in a tournament – 636 (4 games in 1996)

NFL records

• Most touchdown receptions in a season – 23 (2007)
• Most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a season – 17 (1998)
• Most seasons with 17 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
• Most seasons with 16 or more touchdown receptions – 3 (1998, 2003, 2007)
• Most seasons with 11 or more touchdown receptions – 8 – tied with Jerry Rice
• Most seasons with 10 or more touchdown receptions – 9 – tied with Jerry Rice
• Most games in a season with at least 2 touchdown receptions – 8 (2007)
• One of two players to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 16+ receiving touchdowns in a season (2003), the other being Calvin Johnson (2011)
• Most yards receiving in a Pro Bowl game – 212 (2000)
• Most touchdowns scored in first 10 games with a new team – 16 (2007)
• Most 1,200+ yard receiving seasons to start a career – 6 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
• Moss has averaged at least one receiving touchdown per game played in four different seasons: 1998 (17 TDs in 16 games), 2003 (17 in 16), 2004 (13 in 13), and 2007 (23 in 16)
• At the end of the 2008 season, Moss averaged 12.3 receiving TDs per season
• Four 100+ yard games in his first four games with a new team in 2007
• Youngest player in NFL history to record his 100th receiving touchdown – (29 years and 235 days)
• Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown – (30 years, 313 days)
• Fastest player to reach 5,000 career receiving yards – 59 games (broke record of 61 games by Jerry Rice)
• Highest career yards per catch average for any player with 900+ receptions – 15.6 yards per reception
• Youngest player to have 3 touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 286 days; later broken by Rob Gronkowski)

Career highlights

• 5-time All-Pro selection.
• Is second on the Minnesota Vikings all-time receiving touchdown list with 92. Cris Carter holds the record with 110 receiving scores.
• Caught his 100th touchdown pass in 2006 against San Francisco (on a pass he caught with his legs), the seventh player to do so.
• Holds the record for most touchdowns in Minnesota Vikings playoff history with 8.
• 10 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
• 64 career 100 yard games – 2nd all-time; most recent November 15, 2009
• 153 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
• 73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
• 154 total touchdowns scored – 4th all-time
• 14,858 receiving yards – 6th all-time
• 954 career receptions – 10th all-time
• Has completed 4 of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, giving him a 95.8 passer rating.
• Only player to catch 90+ touchdown passes, return a punt for a touchdown, and throw 2 touchdown passes.
• Has played on the two highest scoring teams (for a single season) in NFL history: 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (556 points)
• Had a career-high 12 receptions for 204 yards against the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field, on November 14, 1999 in a 27–24 overtime win.
• Holds the Vikings record for most 100 yard receiving games with 41.
• Has two touchdowns or more in 39 different games (including 3 in the postseason); most recent September 26, 2010
• Has two touchdown receptions or more in 37 different games – (2nd all-time)
• Has three touchdowns touchdown receptions or more in 9 different games – (2nd all-time): at Dallas (Nov. 26, 1998), a 46–36 victory; vs. Chicago (Dec. 6, 1998), a 48–22 victory; at Detroit (Oct. 1, 2000), a 31–24 victory; vs. New York Giants (November 19, 2001) a 28–16 victory; vs. San Francisco (Sep. 28, 2003), a 35–7 victory; at Buffalo (November 18, 2007), a 56–10 victory; at Miami (November 23, 2008), a 48–28 victory; vs. Tennessee (October 18, 2009), a 59–0 victory; vs. Jacksonville (December 27, 2009), a 35–7 victory.
• Caught a career high four touchdowns at Buffalo (all in the first half). (Nov. 18, 2007)
• Had an interception while playing defense in the last few seconds of the first half of the Patriots' game against the Denver Broncos on October 11, 2009.
• Has 4 career two-point conversions
• Youngest player in NFL history to record his 120th receiving touchdown. (30 years, 313 days)

Randy Moss Motorsports

Main article: Randy Moss Motorsports

On April 29, 2008, Moss announced the formation of Randy Moss Motorsports, an auto racing team intended to begin participation in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In July 2008, Moss announced that he had bought a 50 percent share in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, with the team's #46 entry switching to #81.

External links

• Official website
• Randy Moss Motorsports
• Randy Moss at ESPN.com