Tag Archives: Randy Moss

March 14, 2012 · 6:26 AM

Wednesday Randomness

I don’t have enough to do one column, so I’ll touch on a bunch of different stuff.

The whole Peyton Manning thing or “Peyton Watch” reminds me of Anchorman’s Panda Watch.

Anyways, it looks like the Peyton watch may finally be over. The signs are pointing towards Peyton taking his talents to South Beach. Personally I would have taken the Broncos over the Dolphins. The signs point towards Miami but Jeff Fisher’s signs did too before he signed in St Louis. So here’s hoping that the Dolphins are left at the alter and Manning goes to Denver. Either spot (or AZ) I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne join him.

(9:15 Wayne re-signed with Indy. So much for that theory.)

The Patriots didn’t make a huge splash. Not initially anyways. It has been rumored that they did make an offer to Mike Wallace. It’s doubtful it was a break the bank offer. Brandon Lloyd who many say is a shoe in in New England is actually heading to the 49ers for a visit. The 49ers who just brought back old friend Randy Moss.

The other huge free agent Mario Williams is headed to Buffalo for a visit. Rumor is that not only will he will sign with the Bills but that the Bills should be players for a second big name. Cross Vincent Jackson off the list as he signed a five year $55 million deal with Tampa Bay.

Enough football.

The Bruins lost again last night and are in a tail spin. Not exactly the time of year you want to see your team in a downward spiral. Here’s hoping they can right the ship in time before they’re swept out of the playoffs in one round.

Finally the Celtics. After losing to the Lakers they beat the Clippers the next night. The team has played up and down but needs to be blown up. The trade deadline is tomorrow. I’ve heard that Ray Allen could be dealt and that the team will hang on to the rest. We’ll see for sure. I think Bill Simmons (with an assist to Bob Ryan) said it best:

Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline gave the game extra meaning for obvious reasons: for all we knew, it was the last time Garnett, Pierce, Rondo and Allen would play together. As the great Bob Ryan remarked a few weeks ago, the Celtics are stuck in Year 5 of a three-year plan. They eked one title out of that nucleus and probably should have won two. Now they’re in no man’s land: just good enough to make the playoffs, not quite good enough to seriously contend. They can’t get fair value for any of their best players, so it makes more sense to flip expiring contracts and a draft pick for one more impact bench guy … only, they can’t find the bench guy, and they don’t want to trade the draft pick. To be honest, I don’t know what the hell they’re doing. And neither do they.

I pleaded last week. Danny, please break it up. I don’t want mediocrity.

I’ll have the NCAA Pick ‘em brackets up later tonight for all the readers to play.

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February 14, 2012 · 4:54 AM

You Voted

So I posted last night on Facebook asking what you wanted for the blog this morning, Randy Moss or David Ortiz. You guys voted and Moss won.

Ah Randy Moss. Boy do I miss you, well the idea of you anyways. I’ll explain.

See what the Patriots have really lacked is that guy that can stretch the field and get Welker and these tight ends open underneath. Moss was that guy but we realized in his final time with the team that he really would take plays off and it absolutely affected the team. The Carolina corner was telling the truth that if you roughed him up early you could totally take him out of the game.

Well, Moss is in the news again as he’s un-retired and wants to play for a contender this coming season.

Really? You un-retired? You couldn’t find a job last season, but now you will? Get real.

There’s reports that he wanted too much money to come back to the Pats. There are reports that his beef was with Bill O’Brien and now that O’Brien is gone and McDaniels back, he can be a productive part of the offense.

We’ve been down this road and I’m really all set. Even on a low risk contract, I’m all set with Randy Moss coming back to the Patriots.

I’m not saying the team doesn’t have a need but I don’t think a 30 something receiver is the answer. I mean, the Giants just beat us with young receivers. I think that’s what the Pats need; a young, smart wide out that can stretch the field. Sure the swung and missed with Bethel Johnson, Chad Jackson, and Taylor Price but the law of averages has to eventually swing back right?

Look how many tight ends Belichick and company swung and missed with before they got Gronk and Hernandez. So I’m really optimistic the team uses one of their high picks on a game changing wide out. Like trade up and take Justin Blackmon.

All indications are the team will sign Brandon Lloyd this off-season. Lloyd’s career was most productive under McDaniels in Denver. But he’ll be 31 when training camp starts. Not exactly getting young at the position.

I’m hoping the team goes all in on a guy like Blackmon (which they won’t but it’s nice to dream). But the bottom line is, I don’t want Moss. Thanks for the memories but you can go elsewhere.

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August 2, 2011 · 6:19 AM

From Invisible To Gone

I got word sitting at my desk yesterday at about 11:30 in the morning. Randy Moss is retiring. From the Pro-Bowl to retired in just two years.

What happened?

That was really the beginning of the end. Following a Patriots win, not a loss, at Foxboro against the Bengals, Randy wandered over to the podium and just went off. Basically complaining that he wasn’t taken care of by the team. Looking to get his next contract and seemed to be pretty upset that the team hadn’t extended him at that point.

He made a point of him saying that he wasn’t retiring but this would be his last year as a Patriot.

Well, shortly after that press conference he had a miserable game against the Dolphins where he was thrown to just once on a fake spike, didn’t catch the ball, and after the game was dealt to Minnesota for a third round draft pick. Many fans, myself included, were upset with the trade thinking the receiving corps didn’t have enough without Moss there but the deal was done.

Moss lasted just four games with the Vikings, his last being against the Patriots in Foxboro. He and then coach Brad Childress clashed and Minnesota waived him the next day. What’s funny is the ownership debated keeping Moss and firing Childress but decided to release Moss only to fire Childress 20 days later.

Moss was picked up by the Titans the next day as rumors swirled that he would be headed back to New England. Although it would have been the ultimate steal in the NFL getting a third round pick and the player back, it was clear that Belichick and the Pats were done with Moss. He had just six catches for 80 yards and no scores for the Titans and was told he wouldn’t be back after the season.

This off-season he was ranked in the top 50 free agents available. Most writers indicated that if he wanted to play that he’s still a force on the football field. Once the free agency window opened Moss was on a few different team’s radars including the Jets and Chiefs. Once the Jets signed Plaxico it was clear that Kansas City would be the likely destination for Moss.

Even yesterday morning the news wires were blowing up that Moss to Kansas City was all but a done deal. Then word from Moss’s agent came out saying he was retiring.

I did get a kick out of the report from ESPN’s Cris Carter who said that the Pats offered him a one year deal and he turned it down. Then they traded for Ochocinco.

Again, when Moss wanted to play he was unstoppable. But if he wasn’t in the mood (that Carolina game comes to mind) he was all but invisible on the field.

So he hangs them up. I say for now. I bet some team gets an injury and comes calling and if that deal is more than a one year deal, Moss will lace them up again. I could be wrong but the lure of the paycheck I think is too large for this guy.

We’ll wait and see.

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January 3, 2011 · 7:05 AM

Year In Review: Patriots

I’m going to take the first four days this week and recap each team’s year (not season). We’ll start with the Patriots.

The year started pretty awful for the Patriots. Playing a nothing game in Houston on January 3rd they lost the team’s heart when Wes Welker went down with a knee injury. The Pats went on to lose that game and followed up that loss by losing in the first round, pretty tough, to the Ravens. Pats fans then watched the hated Jets go all the way to the AFC Championship game but at least the Saints knocked off the Colts in the Super Bowl. Brady 3 – Peyton 1.

April saw one of the greatest drafts in recent memory as several picks were contributors on the roster this season:

1st Round (27th Overall) – Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers (Pro Bowler)
2nd Round (42nd Overall) – Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona (Patriots rookie TD record)
2nd Round (53rd Overall) – Jermaine Cunningham, OLB, Florida (Contributor on defense)
2nd Round (62nd Overall) – Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida (Great ILB until suspended for last 4 games)
3rd Round (90th Overall) – Taylor Price, WR, Ohio (Made a decent debut 1/2/11 against Miami)
4th Round (113th Overall) – Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida (Part of a super tandem with Gronk)
5th Round (150th Overall) – Zoltan Mesko, P, Michigan (Won the job out of camp and was serviceable)
6th Round (205th Overall) – Ted Larsen, C, NC State (Didn’t make the team but started 10 games for Tampa Bay)
7th Round (208th Overall) – Thomas Welch, OT, Vanderbilt (On Minnesota’s practice squad)
7th Round (247th Overall) – Brandon Deaderick, DL, Alabama (Helped the team’s d-line after Ty Warren went down)
7th Round (248th Overall) – Kade Weston, DL, Georgia (IR)
7th Round (250th OVerall) – Zac Robinson, QB, Oklahoma State (Waived in final cut but backed up in Seattle and Detroit)

Following a great draft the team started cleaning house, literally. They took down all the photos from the “glory years” and then started trimming the roster. Gone were Adalius Thomas, Chris Baker, Shawn Springs, Derrick Burgess, and Ben Watson.

Many saw that these moves were part of a rebuilding year. So much so that several experts picked the Jets to win the division and some even picked Miami to finish above the Pats.

The Pats lost Leigh Bodden and Ty Warren in the preseason to injury and it looked not so good for a young, very inexperienced defense. Kevin Faulk went down and the team brought in a midget in Danny Woodhead that had many Pats fans scratching their heads. Josh McDaniels bailed out the team by taking first round failure Laurence Maroney in exchange for a fourth round pick.

Then following some very odd behavior by Randy Moss – who’d been mild mannered till that point – the team sent him to Minnesota netting a third round pick in return. Moss went on to get released from the Vikings and sign with the Titans where he faded to obscurity. The Pats brought back Deion Branch to fill that roster spot.

From a 10-6 team that lost the first round playoff game to the Ravens, the team finished at a league best 14-2 that no one saw coming. If they say they did, they’re a liar. The team’s two losses were to the Jets in week two and to the Browns in week nine that no one saw coming.

After the Browns loss the sports radio was lit up by callers saying the Pats could beat the Jets and still not win the division. Well, for all that people were worried, the Pats beat the Jets, Steelers, Colts, Bears, and Packers in what many said was the teeth of their schedule. Tom Brady didn’t throw a pick in any of those games on his way to his second league MVP trophy and this was by far Bill Belichick’s greatest coaching performance (fact not opinion).

Now the team has a bye week to prepare for their first playoff game January 16th at 4:30. That should be the first of three playoff games they’ll play this year on their way to a fifth Super Bowl appearance in 10 years and their fourth title in that same span.

Oh and they also have three of the first 33 draft picks in the 2011 draft (thank you Panthers and Raiders) meaning that if they draft as well as they did this year, next year’s squad should be even stronger.

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November 23, 2010 · 6:53 AM

Minnesota Mess

The Celtics halt a two game winning streak but beating the snot out of the Hawks, the Bruins lose in Tampa Bay, and the Pats have a short week leading up to the Lions game on Thanksgiving.

So isn’t it a perfect time to talk about Minnesota?

Well, I had to. As you probably figured out leading up to the Pats vs. Vikings game on Halloween, I hate Brett Favre. He plays for the Vikings, so by default I hate them too. I’ve said for months (and years) that Brett Favre shouldn’t have come back and just retired.

Brett Favre skipped most of training camp and came to the Vikings right in time for the first week of the season. He leads the league in interceptions this season with 17. The team thought it was a lack of options when they traded for Randy Moss, an experiment that lasted a whopping four games. It failed and Moss was released.

At that point many questioned if the team should have fired head coach Brad Childress instead of releasing Randy Moss. They did what they did and it was followed by an overtime win against the Cardinals. Ooooh. The Cardinals haven’t been a good team this season as they’re clearly in a rebuilding year. It didn’t do much to quiet the critics.

It was followed by a loss to the Bears in a game many called a must win as their season was pretty much hanging in the balance at that point. Through all this Favre continued to throw pick after pick. Childress refused to bench the future Hall Of Famer and the team continued to sink.

It came to a head on Sunday as the Vikings welcomed the Packers to The Metrodome. Favre threw his sixth pick in the last three weeks and managed no touchdowns. The vaunted Vikings offense put up a whopping three points in a drubbing to the Packers 31-3.

As I sat playing Madden last night I saw it scroll across the news ticker on the bottom of the screen that Childress had been fired. Took them long enough.

The team promoted defensive coordinator Leslie Frazer to interim head coach. A smart play from the standpoint that the team didn’t promote the offensive coordinator and Brett Favre buddy Darrel Bevell.

But Frazer said yesterday at his press conference that Brett Favre would still be the team’s starting quarterback.

Swing and miss by the Vikings yet again. Oh well.

Back tomorrow previewing the Pats vs. Lions Thanksgiving tilt.

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