PHOENIX — A stocky man wearing a cut off Vikings T-shirt that revealed thick biceps was wandering about the media complex at this 42nd Super Bowl on Friday. He saw a Minnesota reporter, walked over and they exchanged a handshake.

With no other option, the reporter asked, "Who are you?"

The man with the biceps looked surprised and said: "I'm Syd Davy. I'm the guy who caught Randy Moss."

Davy comes from Winnipeg. He has driven to every Vikings home game since 1986. He wears the full regalia of an ancient Viking, and paints his face purple and gold. He has a souvenir card that identifies himself as "100% Cheese Free," in honor of his favorite team's rivalry with the Green Bay Packers.

That was his identify, the Cheese Free fan, until Moss came leaping into his muscular arms behind the end zone after scoring a touchdown against Cincinnati on Nov. 15, 1998.

Friday, Davy pointed at his right bicep, where there was a very neat tattoo of a Moss signature sitting above 11 tattoos of various NFL helmets.

New York Times, Star Tribune
Patriots receiver Randy Moss is seeking his first Super Bowl championship today.

"These are the teams Randy scored against when I caught him," Davy said.

So you like the guy?

"Love him," he said. "He's always been great to my wife and me. Last time we saw him was two years ago, when he was in the Dome with Oakland for an exhibition game.

"He told us, 'I have to get out of here. Oakland is NFL hell.'"

So hellacious was the situation with the Raiders that Moss was willing to take a huge pay cut for this season to wind up with the New England Patriots.

This was the smartest decision ever made by Moss, a man previously renowned for making poor decisions going all the way back to high school.

He has played in 18 consecutive victories for the Patriots, he has replaced Jerry Rice as the recipient of the most touchdown passes in an NFL season, and he's a 12-point favorite to get a championship ring tonight.

A Moss victory will bring great joy to Syd Davy and the thousands of Vikings fans who still wear Moss jerseys to the Metrodome. They remain convinced that dumping Moss was the worst decision in franchise history.

Randy's Minnesota army (with a high-ranking officer from Winnipeg) gives him full benediction for playing as if he had a restraining order to stay 10 yards from the middle of the field during his final days with the Vikings, and then for two seasons in Oakland.

Somehow, they figure if Moss caught 23 touchdown passes from Tom Brady in 2007 that he could have turned Tarvaris Jackson into a phenom rather than a flop as a second-year starter.

They aren't going to concede that what made Moss such a well-behaved star in New England this season was that -- for his first time ever -- he was playing for a coach (Bill Belichick) and with a quarterback (Brady) who had all the power.

In Minnesota, Dennis Green, Mike Tice, Randall Cunningham and Daunte Culpepper were never more important to the Vikings than was Moss' talent.

Whatever Randy pulled, they were required to make excuses for it, until Tice finally was required to question him when he walked off the field prematurely in a loss at Washington that ended the 2004 regular season.

The Vikings backed into the playoffs, Moss starred (and mooned) in an upset victory over the Packers, did nothing memorable in a decisive loss at Philadelphia, and was shipped to Oakland.

He spent two seasons pouting his way out of Al Davis-created Hades before being rescued by New England.

It wasn't even necessary for Belichick to give Moss a lecture on behavior, as the Packers had done in a half-baked attempt to bring him to Green Bay.

Belichick could talk only football, only winning, because Moss -- not an eloquent fellow but bright enough -- understood it was a privilege for him to play for the Patriots, not the other way around.

The Patriots won three Super Bowls without top-flight receivers, and they would try again if Moss went oft-kilter. He didn't, although there is a woman in Orlando who might disagree.

Tonight, Moss will win his Super Bowl, and Syd Davy and many members of the Purple Faithful will celebrate, and then will come the fun part: finding out if the Patriots will spend a meaningful chunk of their salary cap to re-sign him.

Such a move would return power to Moss, and that's when he's dangerous.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com