In hindsight, Moss
still a good pick—for Vikings
only
Posted: Mon September 21,
1998
SEATTLE (CNN/SI) -- I had a lot of time on the flight Friday to
Seattle for the Seahawks-Redskins game to catch up on my
NFL reading and one thing really got my
goat.
The media talk has started in earnest now that all the
teams that passed up on
Randy
Moss in the first round of the April draft made a horrendous
mistake. Through three weeks, Moss looks like a gem. He has 15
catches for 221 yards and three touchdowns, including the
difference maker in Sunday's 29-6 win over Detroit—a
five-yard touchdown strike from
Randall
Cunningham
in the third
quarter.
My opinion on draft
day: Minnesota was the perfect team for Moss, for two reasons.
One, it was the perfect spot in the round, considering the
possible risk-reward ratio: if the receiver got in serious
trouble, the Vikings could cut him without doing a lot of damage
to their salary cap, and if he played like he should,
they'd have the steal of the draft. Two,
Cris
Carter would be the perfect mentor for
Moss.
Moss, of course, has had a pack of trouble in high school
and college. In that time, he pled guilty to two charges of
misdemeanor battery and subsequently had his scholarship to
Notre Dame revoked. He tested positive for smoking
marijuana and subsequently had a scholarship to Florida
State revoked. He landed at Marshall, and he was charged
with domestic battery against the mother of his two
children (the charges were
dropped). Now he's on fire. And now some talk shows around the
country, and some media in the cities that ignored
Brett
Favre, are out for blood. Mike
Bruton
of
The
Philadelphia
Inquirer wrote last Wednesday: "There are teams in the
NFL—and in all professional sports—that shy away
from a black man with a criminal record ... Here is the
almighty NFL, with its virtuous scouts, personnel
executives and general managers, passing judgement on this
young man based in some cases on gossip, innuendo and
rumors."
Assault. Marijuana use. Fighting with a girlfriend. No
gossip. No innuendo. No rumor.
Fact.
And absolutely nothing to do with skin color.
Nothing.
This is no time to tell everyone they blew it on Moss. Let
the guy play, and live, and let's see what happens, on and
off the field. I think he'll make it; I've always thought
that, but that doesn't change why it'd have been dumb to
take him earlier in the first round. Here's what the Moss
draft story is all about. Let's say the St. Louis
Rams—whose coach, Dick Vermeil, said he would not take
Moss because of the baggage—had taken him with the
sixth pick in the draft and given him the six-year,
$12.75-million contract with a $6 million signing bonus
they gave defensive end
Grant
Wistrom instead. And, for argument's sake, let's say that in Year
2 Moss gets involved in something that causes the Rams to
cut him (which happened with their last very high No. 1
pick,
Lawrence
Phillips). Then, $4 million would immediately be charged to the St.
Louis salary cap, as well as the entire year's salary. Moss
signed a four-year, $4.5-million deal with Minnesota. If
he's jettisoned in the middle of Year
2, only $1 million comes due immediately on the Vikings
cap.
There are enough dumb things NFL teams do that you can
criticize. There are enough unjust things in this society,
enough things to cry racism over. The Randy Moss draft
story isn't one of
them.
Now some thoughts on Sunday's
games:
Offensive Player of the Week: San Diego RB Natrone
Means. Think of what a truly remarkable day Means had on Sunday.
First, he was running in the muck of Arrowhead Stadium.
Second, he was facing one of the best defenses in football.
Third, I bet nine of the Chiefs defenders on every play
are faster than Means. So he went out and ran 22 times for 160
yards. Means has had some very good days as a pro,
particularly in the playoffs against Denver a couple of
years ago for Jacksonville. But no day better than this
one.
Defensive Player of the Week: Denver
LB Bill
Romanowski. His vicious half-sack and an interception of
Jeff
George stunted two of Oakland's first-half drives, and his
deflection of a pass headed for tight end
Rickey
Dudley's breadbasket ended the Raiders' first drive of the second
half. At 32, Romanowski is still one of the best defensive
playmakers in the
game.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Seattle
FB Reggie
Brown. This is a team award, really, for the bottling-up job the
Seahawks did on Washington's
Brian
Mitchell, one of the premier returners in the game. Brown nailed
Mitchell after only 11 yards on one kickoff return, and he
was flying around like the kamikaze pilot special-teamers
are supposed to
be.
Coach of the Week: the Jets' Bill
Parcells. Parcells has always said that to be an effective coach
your players have to have some fear of you. Last
week he made it clear that falling to 0-3 would cost a bunch of
players their
jobs.
Goat of the Week: San Diego QB Ryan
Leaf. Some weeks it's hard to pick one of these. Not this one.
One of 15. Four yards. Four fumbles. Two interceptions.
Yowza.
The 10 Things I
Think I Think this
week:
1. I think Ryan Leaf knows something about this Arrowhead
Stadium decibel-level monster now, don't
you?
2. I think I believe in the Miami
Dolphins.
3. I think
Jeff
Hostetler should be Washington's No. 2 quarterback, not No. 3. But I
don't think the Redskins should give him his freedom. Would
you? If they cut him today, they guarantee his final 14
weeks' salary—which totals
$658,824. After talking to
Norv
Turner Saturday night, I'm sure the Redskins would let Hoss go,
as long as some team picks up the rest of his contract. But
GM
Charley
Casserly told me yesterday in the press box in Seattle that even
Marvin
Demoff, Hoss' agent, can't stir up any interest in the
37-year-old
quarterback.
4. I think I can't believe
Kordell
Stewart didn't see Miami's
Zach
Thomas on that interception. Didn't
everyone?
5. I think when the epitaph is written on this horrid era in
Philadelphia Eagles' history, the first chapter should be
all about how management totally botched the trade for
quarterback
Mark
Brunell the week before the 1995 draft. "I was an
Eagle," Brunell told me last week. "I was there.
I was already talking to the coaches about the
playbook." But Brunell got dealt from Green Bay to
Jacksonville instead of to Philly when the Eagles wouldn't
up the signing bonus they offered
him.
6. I think I'm still waiting for either offense in that awful
Sunday night game to make a
play.
7. I think the Giants wouldn't be in their eternal search for
a great receiver had they hung onto
Ed
McCaffrey four years ago. McCaffrey pulled in two touchdowns in
Denver's 34-17 win at Oakland. He undressed
Charles
Woodson in the end zone on one of them, and you'd have sworn it
was
Steve
Largent or
Jerry
Rice doing the
undressing.
8. I think I can't figure out fans. I've been in two
undefeated teams' stadiums the last two
weeks—Jacksonville's last Sunday for a showdown with
unbeaten Kansas City and the Kingdome yesterday—and
seen big chunks of empty seats between the thirties.
There's a pennant race going on, people. Your teams are in
it.
9. I think one of the most underrated players in football is
Seattle defensive end
Michael
Sinclair. He's one of the best interviews,
too.
10. I think the ump blew the call Sunday on
Mark
McGwire's home run. I don't think; I
know.
Here's my weekly top
10:
1. Green Bay
(3-0)
2. Denver
(3-0)
3. Jacksonville
(3-0)
4. San Francisco
(2-0)
5. Kansas City
(2-1)
6. Miami
(3-0)
7. Minnesota
(3-0)
8. New England
(2-1)
9. Seattle
(3-0)
10. Vacant. There is no 10th-best team in football right now.
The next-best team is about
18th.
See you next
week.
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