The “welcoming committee” will likely be friendly and probably forgiving when bad boy Randy Moss returns to the Metrodome on Monday night August 14.
At least that’s the opinion of WCCO Radio’s Dark Star who scooped his media brethren forecasting the Moss trade to the Oakland Raiders weeks before it happened in 2005.
Star predicts applause for Moss, adding that fans loved the Viking wide receiver and don’t hold a grudge against him. “He was the most exciting Viking ever to watch,” Star explained.
Moss, 29, was a super star receiver with the Vikings but injuries and ineffective quarterback play produced a mediocre season in Oakland in 2005. He holds the NFL record for most 1,000 yard seasons by a receiver in his first seasons, topping that mark in each of his first six years with the Vikings, according to statistics from Wikipedia encyclopedia. Three times in his seven year career with the Vikings he caught 15 touchdown passes or more and entering this season his career average of 12 + touchdown passes per year is the best in NFL history.
He and Daunte Culpepper were going to become the two-some leading the Purple to the Super Bowl, or was it supposed to be Super Bowls? Star was among their admirers. “They were as good as I ever saw in my lifetime. Nobody threw it up in the air better than he (Culpepper) did and nobody could get to it faster than Randy Moss could. With Culpepper’s arm and Randy Moss’s speed and hands it was the best combination I ever saw.”
Star had a solid source with the NFL who assured him there was interest in sending Moss to Oakland. “We had this about a month before it happened and anytime you get the drop on Sid Hartman it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Why did the Vikings part with Moss? Legions of fans can recite his troubles including exiting the field in 2004 before the game against the Washington Redskins ended.
“I think he was traded because it was time for him to go somewhere else and earn his living,” Star said. “I think you get to a point where you wear out your welcome. He’s a gifted kid, a tough kid, a street kid. He never got in a position where he was coachable to the point where they could handle him being around. And when they got to the end of it, I think they said I don’t care how much talent he’s got, he’s got to go.”
The Raiders won four games last season and prospects for better results in 2006 may not be much better. With all those seasons of NFL pounding, and maybe not as much desire, perhaps prospects for Moss are not so bright either.
Star said he feels sorry for Moss. “Randy is probably cooked. He might be at the end of it. Sometimes the real good ones like Randy Moss they play for five-six years and all of a sudden they are not that interested in playing. I don’t think this kid wants it as bad as he used to. And he’s in a bad situation in Oakland and I just expect him to go dog city.”