There's so much gold to be mined from seven years worth of Randy Moss archives. So we thought we'd start taking a look back through the Star Tribune clip files to see how the Super Freak was covered. Here's the first effort: Publication date -- July 27, 1998, Moss signs right on the eve of training camp. The first several paragraphs:
A dollar sign the size of a baseball, worked in diamonds and gold, dangled from the neck of first-round draft choice Randy Moss as he climbed from Cris Carter's car about 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Moss was a last-minute arrival as the Vikings opened training camp in Mankato but no one was complaining.
About two hours earlier, Moss had signed a four-year contract that will pay him approximately $4.5 million, including a $2 million signing bonus.
"We talked all morning and got it done at the last minute," Moss said. "I'm satisfied with it, I'm happy with it. Maybe my next contract will be bigger, but I'm not worried about money right now, I'm just worried about playing ball."
Moss' three agents and Vikings vice president Jeff Diamond reached agreement on the major points of his deal at about 10 a.m. Sunday and, after finalizing some details, Moss signed at about 2:30 p.m. and was chauffeured to camp by Carter, his mentor, beating the 5 p.m. deadline.
Moss acknowledged that the possibility he might hold out worried him as training camp approached. "I think I stressed a lot about it to my agents, to get me into camp on time," Moss said. "Holding out was really going to give me a big disadvantage. Now I'm here and ready to go."
