Randy Moss

Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and the San Francisco 49ers.

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 free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter.

As a sophomore in 1992, at the age of 15, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.79 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively.

This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall track team and lower his 200 m time to 21.15 seconds.

He also played center field for the baseball team.

Moss's 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."

In 1994, he was honored with the Harrison H. Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year.

In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (in 1994 when he was co-player of the year and in 1995), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams.

In his senior season of basketball, Moss averaged 30.2 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists while shooting 60% from field; he scored a school-record 1,713 career points.

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.

At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.

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.

On March 23, 1995, Moss had 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 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 was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.

Moss played college football for the Marshall Thundering Herd and earned Unanimous All-American honors in 1997.

A six-time Pro Bowl and four-time first-team All-Pro selection, Moss was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL draft, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions in a rookie season and was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

In his first stint with the Vikings, Moss caught 90 touchdown receptions in his first seven seasons, as well as having more than 1,200 yards in each of his first six seasons.

During both the 1998 and 2007 seasons, Moss was the catalyst of the two highest scoring offenses of all time at the time they occurred (556 points in 1998, 589 points in 2007), now ranking sixth and second all-time.

He was traded in 2005 to the Oakland Raiders, where he experienced a slump in play, notably due to the lack of talent surrounding him and perceived decline.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), as well as the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998).

All-time, Moss ranks second in career touchdown receptions (leading the league five times in touchdown receptions, third most all-time) as well as fourth in career receiving yards.

In addition to possessing extraordinary speed at his size (4.25 40-yard dash at 6 ft 4 in) and superior leaping ability (43-inch vertical), he was famously known for often securing spectacular contested catches in tight coverage by physically overpowering defenders.

The term "mossed", referring to this ability, has since become a common term in the football lexicon.

In 2007, Moss was then traded to the New England Patriots, where he experienced a career resurgence and set the single-season record for total touchdown receptions.

That season, he helped lead the Patriots to a record breaking 16–0 regular season record.

In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans.

After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season.

He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, and is a member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.

In 2022, Moss left Monday Night Countdown.

Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia.

He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track.

Randy was also on the school's debate team.