The reason? No. 84.
Today marks the second day in my life that my favorite team has—and I cannot stress the next word enough—incorrectly decided to take Randy Moss away from Viking Nation.
The first time was after the 2004 season—a year in which an over-hyped QB named Daunte Culpepper would have won the NFL MVP had it not been for some guy named Peyton—and Randy was ignominiously traded to the Oakland Raiders. (Remember this, class. It comes up on the quiz.)
Randy languished in Oakland with no direction, no quarterback and no reason to excel. He considered retirement. (Actually, he considered retirement as soon as the trade was announced.)
Daunte Culpepper went on to…whatever. In his defense, I will say he entered the 2005 season in the best shape of his career. But without his bail-out option, he proved to be what most of us knew him to be—another guy wearing a purple jersey. Nothing special. Not bad, but not a world-beater, either. I hear he looks great in the UFL.
Fast-forward to 2007. After dealing with the loser mentality in Oakland for two years (quiz time!) Randy was traded to the New England Patriots. Under the coaching staff and imaginative game plans of Bill Belichick—which included such great plays as “Randy Go Deep”—the Patriots became the highest-scoring offense in NFL history. And who did they beat? The 1998 Vikings. But I digress…
Randy continued to produce in New England until this year, when he let it be known at the beginning of the season that he was looking for a contract extension. He said at the time that New England wouldn’t offer that because that isn’t the way they do business, which is true. Ask Richard Seymour, Mike Vrabel or a host of others if you’re in doubt.
(Aside: Since 2001 and the Korey Stringer training camp death, the one thing I have said about Randy is, “Keep him away from a microphone unless you want to hear the truth.” Again, keep that in mind for the quiz.)
So here come the Vikings, offering a third-round pick for Randy. The Patriots gladly accept, the Minnesota Vikings fans go crazy—myself included—and Randy takes back No. 84. All is right with the world.
Except this: Randy smells Oakland, not New England. Randy knows this is a contract year. And—gasp!—Randy has access to a microphone!
So what does Randy do? If you’ve been paying attention, you know that Randy told the truth in front of that microphone. He told the world how the Vikings were out-coached by the Patriots. He said that he tried to help, but that it fell on deaf ears. He sensed a commitment to crap.
In a contract year, he needs to be somewhere where they will use him as John Madden once suggested. “You have to throw it deep to him once per quarter or he’ll sulk,” I can still remember the old man saying. And that’s kind of the deal.
The other side is that Randy wants to win. The Vikings are not winners. They don’t act like winners. They don’t smell like winners. And they sure as hell aren’t coached to win.
So, for the second time in my life, my favorite team has given up on my favorite player. And for the second time they fired the wrong guy. I can only wonder if Brad Childress will look great in the UFL. Lord knows I won’t watch him.
But I’ll watch Randy in Seattle, Denver, KC or wherever. And he’ll rise above it. Because he IS that good. And people will wonder, “Why couldn’t he do that as a Viking?”
The answer: We fired the wrong guy. Again.
