No Moss
- Wade
Randy Moss, the Vikes' talented but turbulent receiver, suffers from a bit of Barrybondsitis. Often petulant and regularly excused from the team's media events, Moss, like Bonds, is perceived as someone who gets a bad rap from the media. Check here for examples of some folks pleading poor Randy's case. To borrow phrasing from the Trailblazers' Reuben Patterson, he ain't no bad guy. It's just those bloodthirsty reporters, making shit up to vilify Moss and sell a few more newspapers.
And, to a point, I agree. Look at Bonds-- his worst crime (at least his worst proven crime) is to get a powerful swing at age 39, and not discuss that with the media. Said media, upset that they weren't good enough to talk to, started rumors saying that Bonds must have used illegal substances. They even leaked supposedly sealed testimony to incriminate him in the public eye, even though the courtroom found no fault with him. Steroids or no, Barry is truly the subject of a witch hunt.
But Randy? I'm not convinced he just isn't an asshole. Squirting water on referees. Pushing a police officer with his car with joints strewn about the inside. (Those weren't his, by the way-- he had let his friend borrow it and the weed was in it when he got it back. Call it the LeBron James excuse. Neither Moss nor James were charged. Wonder if that would work for you and me?)
The latest incident involves Moss leaving the field at RFK (or whatever it is now) before the Vikings/Skins tilt was actually over. Granted, there were only two seconds left, and, granted, it would have taken a miracle for the Vikings to win. But so what? Moss deliberately made a spectacle of himself by walking from the sidelines into the tunnel before the play clock expired. Supposedly he was "frustrated." I'm guessing everyone on the Minnesota bench was frustrated, but since most people can grasp the concept of team, they stayed until the end.
Not Randy. As stated previously, he plays when he wants to play. And apparently, fifty-nine minutes was about all he had in him on Sunday. Teammates Matt Birk and Daunte Culpepper took Moss to task in the newspaper today for his actions. Will it stick? Or will it go down as another episode of Randy "doing what he wants to do," as fellow receiver Marcus Robinson said in defending his teammate, and the media is just playing it up to harm Moss and his reputation?
I never was much for book learnin', but there is no "does what he wants to do" in "TEAM." If Red McCombs wasn't drunk all the time, he should trade Moss for a pro bowler or two on defense while his value is still high. I think Nate Burleson can fill in just fine as the team's top wideout. And he probably won't be as big of an asshole about it.
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