Randy Moss Retirement

After a long hiatus I am returning, for the 6 of you who read my posts I am very infrequent and usually only post when the mood strikes me, such is the case with this post.

As you have gathered, this post shall be about the retirement of Randy Moss.

I fell in love with Moss when he burst onto the scene in 1998 with the Vikings. As a Vikings fan who was in third grade at the time, nothing was more exciting than watching Moss streak by a defensive back (who a defensive coordinator was foolish enough to not give any safety help to) and catch a ball from Randall Cunningham on his way to the endzone. The NFL had never scene an athlete with that combination of speed, size and athleticism and he had a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas.

The Vikings drafter Moss with the 22nd overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft, Moss was the best receiver and athlete in the draft but some "character issues" saw him slip from Top-10 talent to the bottom of the first round. For his entire rookie he was the most exciting player in the league, scoring 17 touchdowns en route to the Rookie of the Year award and giving the Vikings their best season in franchise history with a 15-1 record, he even caught a touchdown pass in the NFC Championship Game. For the rest of his career in Minnesota, Moss was a fan favorite (including this fan) and one of the top receivers in the NFL.

Randy Moss was also a unique personality. Like many receivers, he wanted the ball all the time and was unhappy when he didn't get it. This personality trait, along with some questionable off the field choices (including hitting a Minneapolis traffic cop with his car) led to his departure from Minnesota via a trade to the Oakland Raiders. Moss spent two years in Oakland, where he had his least productive years of his professional career before being dealt to the New England Patriots after more complaining about the franchise.

In New England, Moss showed the spark that allowed fans to fall in love with him when he first burst onto the NFL scene. He proved nearly impossible to cover and caught an NFL record 27 touchdown passes in 2007. Moss was productive with the Patriots before being traded back to the Vikings during the 2010 season. The Vikings released him later in the year and Moss finished the season as a Tennessee Titan.

Moss announced his retirement today, to me his legacy is simple. He was one of the best athletes the NFL has ever seen. I've heard a lot of comparisons to Jerry Rice today in light of the news of Moss's retirement, to me its a bit unfair. Moss forever changed the way defenses prepared for receivers of his caliber. He was the best deep threat the game has ever seen, and in my opinion will ever see. Despite his character issues, to me Moss is a first ballot hall of famer on numbers alone. He may not have ever won the NFL's Man of the Year award but it was his bad boy attitude and desire to win that made him one of the greatest players ever to set foot in the NFL. If this retirement is for real (which I highly doubt due to the fact that plenty of teams could use his skills, and if the right team asks he'll come back) then I thank him for his years in the league, he was amazing to watch.

Vikings Off-Season

As the people of Minnesota now look to survive another brutal winter in which they are left to look forward to Twins baseball in the summer, let me examine how the Vikings should approach their off-season

My philosophy: SCRAP EVERYTHING

This team needs to get back to basics...run the football, something they were not able to throughout a lot of the season because the offensive line was made of swiss cheese. The Vikes have the games most punishing back, Adrian Peterson, who is capable of taking it to the endzone every time he touches the ball and has seemingly taken care of his case of the fumbles. With a weapon like that an offensive line that can actually move a D-line off the ball would be extremely helpful.

The simplest way to rebuild the offensive line is through the draft, and there are several strong prospects this year. I realize that new head coach Leslie Frazier has already said he's looking for the next Matt Ryan but there are options at quarterback in free agency that could benefit the Vikings without the team needing to spend another year in mediocrity. Recent examples of Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan and Sam Bradford show that college quarterbacks are capable of having an immediate improvement and playoff berths. But with the Vikings picking 12th and Andrew Luck not coming out, any quarterback in this year's draft would be a project with no one for the potential rookie to learn under. This means another year of .500 at best. Cam Newton is an athlete, lots of potential but needs to learn the pro game. Ryan Mallet has a huge arm but by all accounts could be the next Ryan Leaf (he's also rumored to score single digits on the wonderlich test). Jake Locker's stock has dropped big from last year, and Blaine Gabbert is the best prospect but played in the spread offense at Mizzou, coming from a pro-style offense would be a great help to him. Due to this I think the Vikings should grab an offensive tackle.

Obviously the Vikings need an upgrade at Quarterback but they can do it through free agency. Washington looks like their going to part ways with Donovan McNabb and Tennessee has already declared that Vince Young will not be back next season. McNabb is a proven pro who given the right weapons can flourish...no offense to the Redskins but Ryan Torrain and Santana Moss are not Adrian Peterson and Sidney Rice. As far as Young, yes he's by no means a proven passer, but he's a proven winner. Young is 30-17 in NFL starts and he did much of that managing an offense that already had a strong running game with Chris Johnson and Lendale White with mediocre receivers. Young's receivers were Justin Gage, Nate Washington and Bo Sciafe...who? And both of these guys can still move a little bit, and with a patchwork and potentially young offensive line, mobility would be a plus for the veteran signal caller the Vikes desperately need.

Of course the defensive backfield also needs work, but the defense ranked in the top 10 this season so the offense needs the most work now. Viking fans are in for an eventful off-season, and thats without considering the fact that they may be leaving Minnesota...