FEATURED NFL FELON? RANDY MOSS

FEATURED NFL FELON ? RANDY MOSS

Randall Gene Moss was born on February 13, 1977 and grew up in Rand, West Virginia. He attended high school at now defunct DuPont High in Belle, West
Virginia, where he lettered in football, basketball, baseball (centerfielder) and track.

Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state football championships in 1992 and 1993 and in 1994 he was named West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Moss was named to Parade Magazine’s Annual All-American High School Football Team in 1995 and was recently named 16th on Parade’s Top 50 Greatest High School Football Players of All Time. Former Notre Dame Head Coach Lou Holtz has said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen."

While attending Dupont High, Moss played basketball with future NBA player Jason Williams and was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993 & 1994). During his sophomore year (1992) Moss competed
in track and was the West Virginia State Champion in the 100 and 200 meters.

Moss’ criminal record began on March 23, 1995 when he “backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards his 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 pleaded 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 signed a letter of intent to play college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 1995, but after his guilty plea to two counts of misdemeanor battery, Notre Dame denied his enrollment application. He ended up at Florida State under Coach Bobby Bowden who had a reputation for handling troubled players. As a result of his signed letter of intent with Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student, which made him ineligible to play college football in the 1995.

"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."

Moss transferred to Marshall University and 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.”

In 1997, Marshall’s first in Division I-A, with Chad Pennington at quarterback, Moss caught 25 touchdown passes, at the time a Division I-A record, and was named aFirst-Team All-American.

Moss finished up his college career at Marshall (2 years) with 54 touchdowns and at least one in each game 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).”

Moss was a big Dallas Cowboys fan and wanted to play there, but Dallas team owner and GM Jerry Jones passed on Moss due to his well documented off-field legal problems. Moss was chosen by the Minnesota Vikings as the twenty-first pick overall and later “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 also received a $2 million dollar signing bonus.”

In his first season in Minnesota, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, setting a rookie-record with 17 touchdown receptions and finishing with 1,313 receiving yards, third highest.

After three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and prior to the start of the 2001 season, Vikings owner Red McCombs signed Moss to an 8 year, 75 million dollar contract extension that included a $10 million dollar signing bonus and another $8 million in guarantees. The total dollar amount remains the most ever paid to an NFL wide receiver. Oddly enough, Moss caught only 10 touchdown passes and was not named to the Pro Bowl that year.

On September 24, 2002, Moss was arrested in downtown Minneapolis
and charged with careless driving and failure to obey a traffic officer after
allegedly pushing traffic control officer Amy Ziccardi, a half-block with his
car, and also with marijuana possession. Initially charged with felonysuspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and paid $1,200 in fines and performed 40 hours community service. After the initial fines were paid, the traffic control officer filed a civil lawsuit which yielded a steeper penalty fine said to be "in the low to mid six figures".

It was reported in 2002 by ESPN’s Chris Mortenson at the time of the traffic violation, that Moss tested positive in 2001 for marijuana and was already in the league's substance abuse program.

Moss’ success at wide receiver, especially on deep routes, had opposing teams using the “Randy Rules” defensive strategy which utilized double coverage. Teams would use a cornerback to jam him at the line of scrimmage and a safety to cover him deep. In 2002, in an effort to beat the coverage, new Viking head Coach Mike Tice made it known throughout the league that Moss would be running more crossing routes. Moss caught a career high 106 passes, but only had 7 touchdowns and later Tice admitted to his poor strategy.

In 2003 Moss set personal highs with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. In 2004 a hamstring injury plagued Moss and he posted career lows in receptions (49) and receiving yards (767).

In 2005 Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders where injuries and attitude were problematic and his numbers were less than stellar. It was in Oakland that Moss’ effort and dedication first came into question…

In 2007 Moss was traded to the New England Patriots, but only after Patriot’s Quarterback Tom Brady restructured his contract to free up cap space. In his first season in New England Moss caught 98 passes for 1,493, the highest yardage total in Patriots franchise history, and scored 23 touchdowns breaking the single season record of 22 touchdown receptions previously set by Jerry Rice. The Patriots finished the regular season 16-0, but eventually lost in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants. Moss did not catch a touchdown pass in the AFC playoff versus Jacksonville or in the AFC Championship versus San Diego, catching only one pass in each game.

It was just before the AFC Championship in January 2008 that Moss was hit with a restraining order in Broward County court in Florida for allegedly punching Rachelle Washington. The restraining order prevented Moss from coming within 500 feet of her. According to ESPN at the time, Moss vehemently denied these accusations stating, "I've never put my hand on
one woman, physically or in an angry manner." No criminal charges were
filed.

On March 3, 2008 Moss signed a three-year, $27 million deal with the Patriots. The contract included a $12 million dollar signing bonus, and a total of $14.1 million guaranteed. In the first half of the first game of the 2008 season, Quarterback Tom Brady, attempting to throw to Moss, suffered a season-ending injury. With back-up Matt Cassel under center, Moss had 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Patriots finished 11-5, but did not make the playoffs.

In 2009, with Tom Brady back the Patriots went 10-6, and Moss caught 83 passes for 1,264 yards and 13 touchdowns during the regular season, but the Patriots were ousted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the playoffs.

After announcing that 2010 would be his last season as a New England Patriot, Moss played in 4 games before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings for the Vikings' third-round selection in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Back in 2007, Brett Favre, then Green Bay Packers’ Quarterback, in his effort to persuade his team to acquire Moss said, "There is no one in this league who puts fear in people more than Randy Moss…" Favre finally got his wish as Quarterback of the Vikings in 2010, but after just 4 games, 13 catches, 174 yards and 2 TDs with Minnesota, Moss was said to be released on waivers.