Why Such Love For Randy Moss?

Lately, you have heard a lot about Randy Moss in the sports news. First, Randy was upset about the fact that he was in the last year of his contract with the Patriots and the Patriots had not offered him a contract extension. In other words, when this season ended Randy would be free to sign with any team he wanted. Probably, what upset Moss about this is the fact that if he suffered a major injury, he may not be able to play next year or ever again and would no longer be making the big money, since he would be without a contract. In addition, not being wanted by someone hurt his massive ego. Randy publicly voiced his displeasure with the situation and the Patriots traded him to the Vikings.

After playing only 4 games with the Vikes, Moss complained about the coaching staff by expressing how much he loved the Patriots and their coach. He also cursed out a caterer who was serving lunch to the team, apparently, because he didn't approve of the food. So the Vikings just released Moss to be claimed by any other team through the order of worst record moving to best record. The Tennessee Titans have claimed him.

Sarge has watched Moss closely for the last year and half. See, Sarge's favorite player is Tom Brady - yes he needs a haircut; he is not a European model for crying out loud he is a quarterback in the NFL. Sarge watches the performance of Tom Brady and the Patriots closely each week. Over the pat two seasons, Sarge has repeatedly noticed that Randy Moss is not nearly as dominant as he once was. Randy Moss was lethal in his younger years because he was so fast, so tall, and could jump so high. All a quarterback had to do was throw the ball up near Moss and he would out run or out jump anyone else for it. Defenses had to account for not letting Moss get behind them and even then it still didn't matter some times.

Based on the eye ball test, my friends, those days appear to be over. All of last season and this season so far, Sarge has not seen Moss out jump a defender for the deep ball. Only occasionally does Moss get behind the defenders. The most lethal part of his abilities appear to have disappeared with his youth. Moss is 33, which is old for a receiver. His legs and speed could be gone at any minute of any day.

Yet, NFL people continue to give Moss the same respect he commanded in his prime. Sure, he will occasionally make a great catch but not with the frequency of a dominating player. When Moss went to the Vikings, everyone thought that him stretching the defense down field would allow Adrian Peterson to run the ball better. Yet, Peterson's numbers went down rather than up. Maybe quarterbacks and coaches feel the need to force passes to Moss to keep him happy, which in turn takes opportunities away from other players? Now as Moss heads to the Titans, people continue to say that Moss will help Chris Johnson run the ball better. Only time will tell but Sarge encourages you to monitor Chris Johnson's rushing numbers before and after Moss.


Sarge is stunned that Moss would not be putting forth his best effort and behavior since he is playing to get a new contract and get paid the big money for the final time in his career. Teams will be less likely to sign Moss or if they do they will be more inclined to give him less money and less years if they know his attitude is still a major problem or his abilities have faded. Vice versa, teams will be willing to pay more money if they see that Moss is still lethal and his attitude is in check.

Maybe Sarge is wrong, and he is more wrong than he is right, but it sure does appear that Randy Moss does not out jump or out run people with the dominance that he once did. If he still can, he doesn't show it hardly ever. Yes, defenses still respect his ability but maybe it is time they start to not show so much respect. Maybe it is time for defenses to challenge the 33 year old Moss and make him prove he can still do what he once could. If they get burned a couple of times then the defense should play back and respect Moss. However, defenses playing with less respect for Randy Moss just might expose the fact that Moss is a shell of what he once was. Which would mean that the team that employs Moss does not have to tolerate his unreasonable attitude or antics. Uh oh, then Moss may be without a contract at all.