New England Patriots Player Profile: Randy Moss

July 8, 3:58 AMNew England Patriots ExaminerSean Crowe

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The New England Patriots Player Profile series continues today as we take a look at one of the best wide receivers to ever play the game.

Randy Moss

The Patriots acquired Randy Moss from the Oakland Raiders for a fourth round draft pick (110th overall). That pick turned out to be John Bowie. That should tell you all you need to know about how Oakland feels about the Randy Moss trade.

As a part of the deal, Randy Moss agreed to dramatically restructure his contract. He was due to receive $21 million over the final two years of his contract. He agreed to restructure down to a one-year deal worth $3 million, plus an additional $2 million in incentives. In essence, Moss gave up approximately $4.75 million in exchange for the ability to become a free agent one year sooner.

The Patriots re-signed Randy Moss after the 2007 season to a three-year deal worth $27 million. The deal included a $12 million signing bonus and an additional $3 million in guarantees. Moss chose the Patriots despite having at least one better offer on the table. ESPN reported that the Philadelphia Eagles offered him a four-year deal worth $36 million that featured bonuses of at least $15 million.

Randy Moss was originally going to play his college ball at Notre Dame. However, after signing his letter of intent, he was involved in a high school fight that resulted in him pleading guilty to battery. Notre Dame revoked his scholarship, forcing him to transfer to Florida State.

The NCAA made him sit out his freshman season because technically he transferred from Notre Dame to Florida State (even though he never actually attended Notre Dame).

Moss, while on probation for the battery conviction, tested positive for marijuana. The failed test landed him in prison for 60 days and got him kicked out of Florida State. This led to his eventual transfer to Marshall University.

In 1996 he finally made his college debut. He teamed up with Chad Pennington to make up one of the best offenses in Division 1-AA. In 1997, Marshall's first year in Division 1-A, he won the Fred Biletnikoff award as the nation’s best wide receiver.

Moss was drafted 21st overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFL draft. He was the second wide receiver taken in the draft. The first was Kevin Dyson, who was selected five picks before Moss by the Tennessee Oilers.

Moss played for the Vikings from 1998 to 2004.

He won the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1998, finishing with 17 touchdown receptions and 1,313 yards.

In 2003, Moss became the second wide receiver in NFL history to play more than 12 games and average over 100 yards and one touchdown per game.

During his time in Minnesota, he did all of the following:

• Turned Dante Culpepper into one of the statistically best quarterbacks in the NFL.
• Bumped a police officer with his car while she was trying to stop him from taking an illegal turn.
• Left the field before the end of a game against the Redskins in 2004.
• Pretended to moon the Green Bay fans after scoring a touchdown.

After the 2004 season, the Vikings decided that Moss needed a change of scenery. The Raiders helped them make that decision by offering a first round pick (7th overall) and linebacker Napoleon Harris. The trade would have been a decent one for the Vikings, but they ruined it by using the draft pick on Troy Williamson.

Moss’ tenure with the Raiders was something he’d likely want to forget.

He was accused of taking plays off. He was accused of milking injuries. He admitted to smoking pot. Worst of all, most in the NFL thought he’d lost a step.

Before the second day of the 2007 NFL draft, Moss was traded to New England. Moss teamed with newly acquired Wes Welker to make up the best wide receiver duo in the NFL. He caught 23 touchdown passes, breaking Jerry Rice’s record for most touchdown catches in a season.

In 2008, Moss was clearly affected by Tom Brady’s injury more than anyone else on offense. His production was still pretty good, but he wasn’t the same receiver. He ended up with 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Moss was selected to the All-Pro team four times (1998, 2000, 2003, and 2007). He was selected to the Pro Bowl six times (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2007).

Moss is a part owner of Randy Moss Motorsports. He has a truck in the NASCAR truck series, number 81, driven by Mike Skinner. As of July 8th, 2009, the #81 is in third-place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship point standings.

Player Analysis:

Moss had a down year by his standards in 2008. Part of that can be blamed on Matt Cassel, who took half the season to figure out that his offense was explosive. But Moss takes part of the blame as well, dropping a few big passes and not playing with the same enthusiasm and explosiveness he played with in 2007.

Tom Brady’s return should help put the spark back into his game. Moss isn’t going to duplicate his 2007 numbers, but he’ll be back to his explosive, Pro Bowl self. Especially with Joey Galloway drawing some of the deep coverage on the other side.

Think about the nightmares defensive coordinators are going to have about Moss and Galloway on the outside, with Welker coming out of the slot.

Unstoppable.

Previous Player Profiles:

• Fred Taylor
• Leigh Bodden
• Shawn Springs
• Wes Welker

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