Love him or hate him, Randy Moss changed football by himself. When the Vikings drafted Randy Moss with the 21st pick in the 1998 draft our world was never the same. Like a terrifying rollercoaster, Moss' actions both on and off the field kept the world of football exciting until the end. Now with word of his retirement, Randy Moss can be canonized and vilified all in one. Or, we can chose to remember him the way we want.
According to sources, Randy Moss grew up basically without his father. As is often the case, this impacted early choice making about friends and how to handle yourself. But fatherless or not, Randy was an athlete. He lettered in four different sports in high school (basketball, football, baseball, and track). He was selected as the best athlete in the state in both football and basketball. He also won state his one year in track, in both the 100 and 200 meter events. In 2005, Parade magazine listed Moss as one of the 50 greatest high school athletes of all-time.
However, in March of his senior year randy joined another in a fight in a hallway against a white student. Randy's kicking of the student would lead to a felony charge, later reduced to two misdemeanors for battery, of which he plead guilty. The greatest athlete DuPont would ever see was expelled. Moss finished his high school diploma at an alternative school. Did he lose his control over a racial slur? Did he feel the need to defend a friend? Or was he 'punking' another student?
Obviously, this impacted his desire to attend his dream school, Notre Dame. He then decided (upon advice) to attend Florida State, where he was then ruled ineligible, costing him the year. Compiling his troubles, Randy ended up testing positive for marijuana and was dismissed from FSU. Randy then chose Marshall University, as being a 1-AA school there was no year of redshirt for transfers. He shined at Marshall, which ironically became a 1-A school in Randy's second year. With Chad Pennington throwing TDs to Moss, Marshall became a national interest.
When the 1998 draft arrived Randy Moss was more than a known commodity. His legal troubles, chemical issues, and amazing talents were on everyone's white boards. He was projected to go early in the first round. But he did not. Minnesota swooped him up after teams like the Cowboys had snuffed him, afraid of his personal issues.
His career with the Vikings has been well documented. Any Vikings' fan can tell you Randy was the greatest game changer the Purple had ever seen. In 1998 he scored 17 times in his rookie year. His first game on national television he scorched the Packers for three TDs (one was called back). The Vikings, 9-7 the two previous years, went 15-1 and set an NFL record for points (34.8 per game). Randall Cunningham, thrown in for an injured Brad Johnson, threw 41 TDs including the playoffs. Only a tragic self-destruction vs. the Falcons kept the team from winning the state's first Super Bowl.
Other things changed as well. The Vikings had averaged between 50,000 and 58,000 per year from the 1980s and on since moving to the Metrodome. In 1998, the Vikings averaged almost 64,000 and continued to sell-out ever since. Randy put fans in the stands.
Randy was a Pro-Bowler no matter who threw the ball. Cunningham was replaced by Jeff George, and he by Daunte Culpepper. It did not matter. Teams drafted different, and schemed defensively different. Moss forced the other divisional teams to worry about defending against his 4.4 speed and leaping ability (dubbed Randy Rules by Chris Walsh).
