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Miami's Moss a two-way threat
Posted: Wednesday May 10, 2000 07:28 PM
Miami wide receiver Santana Moss began the first weekend in May by taking an exam in American Literature. Moss enjoyed the class, even though, when asked what he read that he liked, he said, "Shakespeare." "No, wait," he said, rediscovering the correct route in the middle of the secondary. " Mark Twain. Huckleberry Finn. I loved reading that." After the exam, the Hurricanes junior set off on an adventure every bit as surprising and triumphant as those Huck and Jim found on the Big Muddy. Moss, the talented wide receiver with a knack for the big play, made a pair of them at the Big East Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Piscataway, N.J. Last Saturday, Moss won the long jump with a leap of 26 feet, 2 1/4 inches. Sunday he won the triple jump with a leap of 50 feet, 8 3/4 inches. No one has pulled off that double in 16 years, certainly no one who sees track and field as, and we quote here, "something to do." And so it is that winning the Big East Male Outstanding Field Performer is officially approved as a cure for boredom. "I don't go out there [to jump] and say, 'I'll specialize my talents,'" Moss says. "I go out there and try to have fun with it and take it from there. It's not the same as a football workout, where you're on the field all summer, working your hardest because you know your opponent worked his hardest all summer. ... I hadn't practiced [jumping] in I don't know when." In other words, the only person more surprised by Moss's performance than his conference opponents was Moss himself. "Shocked," he said. Moss didn't even think he'd be able to jump. He couldn't reschedule the American Lit final, and the team had planned to leave Friday morning. Moss, who grew up in Carol City, Fla., believes himself to be a kindred spirit with Huck. He admired Huck's efforts on behalf of Jim, his slave companion. Moss also loved Huck's spirit of discovery. "To tell you the truth, as a boy I called myself running away from home, trying to get lost for a day," Moss says. "Going off in the woods, doing mischief, nothing serious. I know Huck would have been doing stuff like that." After taking a few days to chill, Moss will begin workouts for the fall season on May 18. The possibilities for him are endless. Despite being a marked man in secondary meetings every week, Moss caught 54 passes for 899 yards and six touchdowns last year. He had a knack for delivering the big play in the big game. His 67-yard touchdown catch shortly before halftime broke open the Kickoff Classic against Ohio State. He caught a 40-yard TD in the loss to Penn State in September. Against eventual national champion and perennial archrival Florida State in October, Moss caught nine passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns, one of them an 80-yarder. For good measure, he ran back punts for touchdowns against Rutgers and Syracuse, and finished second in the conference with a 14.2-yard return average. Moss already has been named as one of the receivers on the Playboy preseason All-America team, along with Alabama's Freddie Milons . Miami coach Butch Davis wants to push his star for the Heisman Trophy. That might be a reach, given the inexperience of Hurricanes quarterback Ken Dorsey . Moss says he doesn't care. "I'm flattered," he says. "But I'm out there to play ball. Next year someone else is going to get that same award. Someone gets it each year. I just want to do my best to give the team the season we're looking for." There are no more excuses for Miami. The probation curse, with its accompanying scholarship reductions, has been purged from the team's system. The Hurricanes have lost five straight to Virginia Tech and five straight to Florida State. This season will show just how far back Miami has come. You don't have to know Shakespeare from Mark Twain to realize that Moss is the protagonist in this story. Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers college football for the magazine and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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