Randy Moss Proves Critics Right
Part of the trend where the New England Patriots are slowly becoming the biggest enemies in all of sports is the Randy Moss story. If it were a different guy and a different team, everyone would be giving Randy Moss huge praise for the gaudy numbers and attitude makeover that he has experienced this season. As a member of the New England Patriots that story is all but impossible, but it never should have been an option anyway. Randy Moss has been criticized in the past for dogging it, not trying, and generally being a bad guy when things weren’t going perfectly. With his huge numbers this season in New England he couldn’t be proving the critics more right.
I can understand why some might defend Randy Moss for his time in Oakland where he caught a grand total of 102 passes in two seasons or 29 games. They had problems at quarterback. They weren’t a very good team. They had one of the largest offensive line busts in the history of the NFL draft with Robert Gallery. With all these things probably being true, it might be understandable to feel sorry for Randy Moss and the situation he was in with Oakland. But that isn’t the whole story according to most accounts in Oakland. Moss reportedly embraced his nagging injuries to the point that whispers were thrown about that Moss just didn’t want to play for such a bad team. That lack of competitiveness is disgusting in a league where almost every player is a millionaire and they expect working class stiffs to buy tickets and paint their faces for every game.
So the temperamental millionaire with unbelievable ability refuses to play for the people signing his paychecks in Oakland and he ends up basically forcing the Raiders into trading him. He gets rewarded for dogging it for two seasons in Oakland. And who welcomes him with open arms and a clean slate? The New England Patriots.
And Randy Moss responds as a member of the Patriots. Through nine games, Randy Moss had 56 receptions for 924 yards with 12 touchdowns. With that kind of production and that pace, Moss appears to be trying. And a lot of people seem to want to try and paint this as a “feel-good” story where Moss is the comeback player of the year. I am not buying that kind of a line. Randy Moss has successfully indicted himself with his play this season. It exposes him for what he is; a tempestuous baby that refuses to give it his all, except on his own terms when it suits him. The real victims in this are NFL fans everywhere except in New England.
And the story of Randy Moss as evil villain is yet another piece of the puzzle that is slowly turning into the Patriots and their fans vs. the world.
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Obviously, as a Pats fan, my objectivity is compromised, but I’ll stick my neck out just far enough to ask the following question: Regardless of whether it makes him a bad guy, was dogging his way off the Raiders a smart career move for Moss?
Monetarily speaking, I don’t know. From the standpoint that he isn’t stuck in some awful rebuilding team, then yes it is an outstanding career move. I would say that yes, it is.
Even still, it is a disgusting way to go about things. I feel like I can identify with the Raiders a bit after seeing the acts of certain guys in Cleveland sports history.
I guess karma isn’t real, because it isn’t supposed to work like this.
As a Fan of the NFL and even as a devout New England fan and a reluctant “Working Class Stiff” I can see your point when you refer to the WCS’s plight of paying hard earned moula for a ticket to see these over paid kids play a game they love. But in no way do I see how you can sit there and criticize Randy Moss who is maybe the best player to ever line up outside the hash marks for wanting to leave such a poorly run operation in Oakland. That so called professional FB team was in shambles when Moss arrived and still is to this day. Art Shell and his band of dart playing, bowling hall hanging, and bingo stamping buddies were a joke and everyone including Moss knew it. Personnel executive Michael Lombardi and Artie got along like Bush and Saddam. Shell at one point put his banged up kicker Janikowski in a game against Houston who promptly went out and missed three field goals against the Texans. Those nine points were the difference in the game. So don’t lecture us on what a bad guy Randy Moss is and or was. Take a deeper look at what he wanted, what all athlete’s and even us Working Class Stiff’s want, clear and direct leadership. Moss has been craving direction and leadership his entire professional carrier and now he has it. He is in an organization of professionals and pro-bowlers that celebrates no one and expects humility and dedication. The Patriots are a fourtune 500 company run like a fourtune 500 company. Right from the owner to the water boy everyone knows their position and duty and works their pants off to build a winning program which in turn builds champions. So next time you point a finger at Moss for leaving Oakland for the East, take a look and see how many fingers are pointing back at the traveling circus in the West called the Oakland Raiders.
Scott, I never disagreed with your thoughts about the Raiders. In fact, there is a whole paragraph about your argument in my post. (Did you read it?)
My point is that there is no defense for dogging it on an NFL contract that puts you in the upper 5% of rich people in the world. Moss could have demanded a trade. He could have played out his contract in Oakland and put up some decent numbers there too. Who knows, if he had been trying, maybe they would have been a better team.
You don’t know, and you are just trying to find a place to gloat about the Patriots.
Craig, you may be right that I am looking for a place to play “Mr. Patriot” but that does not dispute the fact that it was not Randy Moss’s problem that he was not in the right system and was under utilized in Oakland. Take time out of your busy day and take a moment to do some research before bringing the noise. Moss’s 2 seasons in Oakland were unproductive because he was double and triple covered all year. His yrd’s per catch were still out of this world but he did not get thrown to nearly as much b/c the offence was one deminsional, Him. Shoot, even the 05 titans pass defence figured that one out. He also had mediocre QB’s yes Aaron brooks is/was/will always be mediocre. And maybe if the Raiders didn’t stir offence coordinator Tom Walsh from his Idaho Slumber at his bed and breakfast where he vacated to 11 years earlier (aka: not even involved in Football for over a decade) Just to bring him back and ask him to run a professional football offence, Randy Moss might have had a little more confidence in the program. Look, I agree with you that no player should ever dog it, but I also think no kid should ever go hungry. So smell the java Craig, No WR in my limited memory has ever been a true leader of a football team (sure there was Steve largent). The position and men that play it are not designed that way. That responsibility falls on the coaches and the QB’s and when the leadership is so messed up as it was in Oakland, bad things are going to happen. So yes I am a Patriots fan, and yes I am a Moss fan, and yes Moss does share some of the responsibility but not as much as you as a Moss hater would like to dish out. Think about your alternative, you might have to cheer for T.O. and no one should have to cheer for T.O. Thanks for the discussion it was fun.
I don’t know if Randy Moss is a bad guy. I do know that he’s fun to watch as a Patriot and has been fun to watch on the Raiders and the Vikings. Hell, he was the only thing that was fun to watch about the Raiders. So for my entertainment dollar/hour, the guy has delivered.
I don’t disagree with Craig that it would have been a sign of character if Moss had played harder in Oakland, but I also think this whole “there’s no excuse for dogging it in the NFL” is wishful thinking. On the Venn diagram of jocks and millionaires, I don’t see the intersection as being particularly prone to crises of conscience.
I just find it depressing in a game with a salary cap that a guy could account for so much money on a team’s cap and then not try.