As the Hall of Fame weekend has arrived, so many great players, coaches, and contributors will be forever immortalized. As Terrell Owens will be recognized, despite him not showing up, there is another wide receiver that will be honored. His name is Randy Moss. People consider Moss as one of the most dominant wide receivers in NFL history.
He played 14 years with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers. In his career, he had 982 receptions for 15,292 yards (fourth all-time) and 156 touchdowns (second all-time). Also, Moss set NFL records for touchdown catches as a rookie (17 in 1998) and a season (23 in 2007).
Some say he’s better than Jerry Rice because of his speed, size, talent and leaping ability to jump over the top of a defender. Furthermore, he was so good that he can go deep and catch passes and defensive backs couldn’t stop him. The Vikings made a strategy called ‘Randy Ratio’ to throw to Moss 40 percent of the time to keep him in the game. Opposing defenses would have the Randy Rules,’ meaning that they would have double coverage on Moss to take him out of the game. They would have the cornerback jam him and cover the underneath routes. Then, the safety will help and cover the deep ball.
It showed that Moss put fear in his opponents so that they wouldn’t get Mossed. With his legendary career going to the Hall, here are the top moments of Randy Moss’ Hall of Fame career:
The Best Moments of Randy Moss’ Hall of Fame Career
Rookie Debut
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Moss burst out onto the scene with an unbelievable performance. He caught four passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL game in the Vikings 31-7 blowout over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
3 Catches for 3 TD’s on Thanksgiving Day
It could be labeled as the revenge game because Moss thought that the Dallas Cowboys were going to draft him and they didn’t. So on Thanksgiving Day, he had one of his greatest performances that would make them pay. He had three catches and all of them were for touchdowns. Additionally, he had 163 receiving yards. Moss sent the message to Jerry Jones and the Cowboys organization that they would regret passing on him.
Lateral for a TD
Near the end of the first half in a 2003 game versus the Denver Broncos, the Vikings were in a position to throw a Hail Mary. Daunte Culpepper avoided the rush and threw the long bomb to Moss. He caught it and then lateraled it to Moe Williams who ran it for the touchdown as time expired. It was an unbelievable play by Moss showing his awareness of the situation.
Mooning in Lambeau Field
In the Wild Card game against rival Green Bay Packers, Moss scored a huge touchdown as Al Harris played in off coverage. Then, he would proceed to pretend to take his pants off towards the direction of Packers fans. It was a play that most would say it’s disgraceful and one of the low moments of his career.
Patriots Debut
In the 2007 offseason, Moss was traded to the Patriots from the Raiders to rejuvenize his career. There were questions whether or not his best days were behind him. Well, he would soon shut them down and had a spectacular debut with the Pats. He had nine receptions for 181 yards and a 51-yard touchdown burning three New York Jets defenders in the 38-14 victory over the division rivals.
Record-Breaking touchdown
The Patriots offense was breaking all-time single-season records in the 2007 season. In the regular season finale against the Giants, the record-breaking would continue. In the fourth quarter on third and 10, the Pats were trailing the G-Men 28-23. Then, Tom Brady threw a deep pass to Moss and he ran down the sideline for the touchdown. It was Moss’ record-breaking 23rd touchdown reception and Brady’s record-breaking 50th touchdown pass of the season. They say it’s like killing two birds with one stone.
One-Handed Touchdown on Revis
With 1:02 left in the first half against the Jets, Brady threw a deep pass to Moss and he caught it for a touchdown one-handed. The amazing part was that All-Pro cornerback Darrell Revis was covering him and he was Mossed. As he would say, it was Straight cash, homey.
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