Tuesday, November 24, 1998

NFL catching on to what Vikings knew of Moss

By Mike Fisher

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

MINNEAPOLIS - The acrobatic touchdown catches have asserted Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss as the NFL's top rookie and perhaps it's next great phenomenon.

But beyond the eight catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns on the national stage against Green Bay Sunday, Moss is fashioning a rookie season that measures up to the greats in the game. With six receptions and 76 more receiving yards, Moss (44 receptions, 851 yards, 8 TDs) will top Jerry Rice's rookie numbers, and he's already way past what Cowboys wideout Michael Irvin did in his first season (32 catches, 654 yards, 5 TDs).

"He's better than we ever dreamed," said Vikings receivers coach Hubbard Alexander, formerly of the Cowboys. "We say we've never seen anything like him. We're amazed. He might have a little Rice in him. He might have a little Michael (Irvin) in him. He might have a little (Vikings wide receiver) Cris (Carter) in him. Seven or eight years from now, when you ask about other receivers, you ask about them in comparison to Randy."

Moss comes to his latest proving ground Thursday when the Vikings visit Texas Stadium to play the Cowboys. And through the first 11 games of the season, the tales of Moss' clutch plays and highlight-film catches are becoming almost as widespread as the stories about his questionable character causing the Cowboys and most of the rest of the NFL to pass him up in the 1998 draft.

"It's motivation for me, every single day," said Moss, the Vikings wunderkind who most teams viewed as a top-five talent but slipped to the 21st spot because of "character issues. "I hear all the different teams with all the different reasons. But it all comes down to so-called character issues. So every day, I try to prove them wrong."Moss, 21, whose teenage nickname "Superfreak" (for his unusual physical skills) is tattooed on his bicep, is the best player ex-Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz said he's ever seen. He's "the best athlete ever to come through here" said Bobby Bowden of Florida State. He's "unnatural," said Vikings offensive coordinator Brian Billick. Carter, himself a Hall-of-Fame type, guarantees Moss will someday join him in Canton, Ohio.In his home state of West Virginia, Moss was the best high school football player around, the best baseball player around, the best track man around and such a basketball talent that Chicago Bulls GM Jerry Krause said Moss could've played in the NBA.In two years at Division I-AA Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, Moss caught 168 passes for 53 touchdowns and 4,528 all-purpose yards. He's 6-foot-4, almost 200 pounds, and runs a 4.2 40-yard line.NFL scouts had a difficult time putting him into a box before finally settling on reports that read something like this: "A faster, bigger Jerry Rice."Moss' coming out party was the Week 5 Monday night game in Green Bay, where the Packers hadn't lost in four years. Moss made five catches for 190 yards and two touchdowns to highlight a 37-24 Vikings victory, capping a five-week start to his career that included 22 receptions for 463 yards and six TDs.

"Here it is, Monday night in Green Bay, and this guy is loving every minute of it," Billick said. "There's not a nervous bone in his body. He's absolutely unflappable."

Here's Carter's scouting report on his protege:

"He's the most natural receiver I've ever seen without any work. He's only 22 and I don't believe he's been involved with very sophisticated passing attacks. But he is very, very natural as far as his movements to the ball, his route running. He is a tremendous athlete, not only just jumping for the ball but unbelievably fluid going for the ball, very comfortable in a crowd and very, very tough in a crowd. He has unbelievable drive in him."The teams that passed on Moss are now stumbling all over themselves to note that Minnesota is an ideal situation for "somebody like Randy." Maybe they mean that Minnesota isn't exactly Manhattan or Miami. And maybe they mean that the presence on the Vikings roster of Moss' half-brother Eric, and the presence of Green, and the presence of the commanding Carter are all comfort-zone-creating factors."I came out of a situation that was very similar to Randy's, and I know how some people judged me," said Carter, involved in an agent-payment scandal at Ohio State and later waived by Philadelphia because of his substance-abuse problem. "So I try to enlighten him."Or maybe the other 29 teams need enlightenment. After all, don't other NFL teams have understanding coaches, along with some brotherly-type players and at least one preacher/leader on the roster?

Perhaps, but the Vikings were team to realize what Alexander is now touting.

"This," he said, "is a once-in-a-lifetime guy."

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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