Vikings Insider: Angst over Moss' dismissal could have been easily avoided

The Vikings' decision to fire Randy Moss after a four-game return to Minnesota is as much an indictment on the franchise as it is a reflection on the controversial wide receiver.

Moss might not have been the type of person Brad Childress felt belonged in his locker room, but for the Vikings coach (or anyone else in the organization) not to have known what he was getting in Moss is mind-boggling. Moss has built a Hall of Fame résumé in his 13-year NFL career as a wide receiver and a résumé of events that show he can be difficult to manage.

Somehow in the Vikings' desperation to add a No. 1 wide receiver, they only looked at the former and skipped the latter. That's amazing considering Childress had a front-row seat for the Terrell Owens debacle in Philadelphia in 2005 when he was Eagles offensive coordinator.

Still, no matter how knee-jerk the decision to obtain and then jettison Moss might have been, Childress compounded the problem with his handling of it and, in doing so, put his job on the line.

The shame of it from Childress' end is that by piecing together the events of last weekend -- Childress has refused to go into any detail and owner Zygi Wilf has declined interview requests -- it appears as if much of the angst between coach and owner could have been avoided.

First a history lesson: Childress' first season as Vikings coach was coming to a close in 2006 when he became angered with wide receiver Marcus Robinson. On Christmas Eve, Childress cut Robinson and set off a firestorm of fan and player reaction.

Cutting Robinson wasn't a big deal, but doing it on Christmas Eve was considered inexcusable. Five days later the Vikings started their offseason early by losing 41-21, ending the season with a 6-10 record. Childress has since admitted he made a mistake by acting in a rash manner. Wilf obviously came up with guidelines so Childress wouldn't repeat that mistake.

Only on Monday, Childress did it again. He did not inform Wilf that he was going to put Moss, who cost the Vikings a third-round pick, on waivers but told his players in a meeting that Moss wouldn't play for the Vikings again, and that if management wanted to fire him over the decision, that was its right.

Childress, oddly, held his day-after-game news conference shortly before going to meet with his players and answered a dozen Moss-related questions as if everything were status quo.

What he didn't take time to consider was that Wilf likely would have been on board with the decision if it had been executed properly. A day before Childress decided Moss was a "programmatic non-fit," Wilf had seen a clear side of what one former Viking has called "Bad Randy."

The Vikings lost 28-18 to the New England Patriots last Sunday, and various members of the ownership group and team executives stood in the locker room. Moss, frustrated with the Vikings offense and catching only one pass for 8 yards against the team that had traded him on Oct. 6, informed Wilf exactly what he thought of his coach.

An NFL source familiar with what transpired said Moss told Wilf in very unflattering terms that Childress was a "sorry coach" and should be fired. Moss then decided to conduct his own postgame news conference at which he asked the questions and provided the answers, finding ways to praise the Patriots and criticize the Vikings.

It's unclear if and when Childress found out about Moss' criticism, but it's a lot more likely that played greater a role in his release than his over-the-top bashing of the team meal catered by a local restaurant last Friday. Bashing Childress to Wilf was a much bigger threat to the coach than criticizing the buffet spread.

Childress' message to his players on Monday was that Moss' actions were not consistent with what he wanted from his players. What Childress didn't think about was that his actions weren't consistent with what Wilf wanted either.