Friday, November 27, 1998

Great day can't change attitude of petulant Randy Moss

By Don Pierson

Chicago Tribune

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - Randy Moss had warned everybody to forget about his past and watch the present. They're all wrong again. Randy Moss is the future.

The Minnesota Vikings are getting lazy. It's hard to blame them. They have Randy Moss. They are the Bulls of the NFL. When in doubt, they get the ball to Jordan.

The Vikings came into Texas Stadium on Thursday and saw Deion Sanders in street clothes. Game over. He was the Dallas Cowboys' only chance against Moss. Maybe he knew better than to test his sore toe against Moss in front of a national audience.

Backup cornerback Kevin Mathis also took the day off with an injury. Veteran Kevin Smith lined up against Moss first, but soon headed for the sidelines himself. That left Moss against rookies Terry Billups and Izell Reese and a safety pressed in at cornerback, Charlie Williams.

It wasn't fair, but it sure was fun. Three catches. Three touchdowns.

The Dallas receivers took one look at Moss and took the day off too. They dropped three times as many passes as Moss caught, figuring what's the use? If Moss is the standard-bearer, nobody else can compete. He is Microsoft in a world of typewriters.

By the end of the first quarter, Fox commentator John Madden called Moss the best receiver in the NFL. Who can argue? The game revolves around him whether he is catching passes or not.

But afterward, Moss tried his best to ruin his day of glory. After accepting Madden's traditional turkey leg on the sidelines and providing a few remarks, Moss refused to speak to the national media.

"Got nothing to say," Moss said. "I'm not answering any questions."

He had done his talking on the field, which of course is not enough anymore. Obviously wary of a media that reported Moss' repeated run-ins with the law during his circuitous college journey from Notre Dame to Florida State to Marshall, Moss flashed the surly side of his often-engaging personality. There was nothing the Vikings could do to convince Moss to talk. After Sunday's win over the Green Bay Packers, Moss was polite and responsive. Thursday he looked like a turkey bone had lodged in his throat.

Moss told the cameras to clear out, dressed quickly, put on a headset and was escorted from the locker room, protected by a Vikings public-relations staff that knows there are problems ahead.

Just when Moss had a chance to focus the media on what appears to be a bright future, he drifted into the darkness of his past, preferring to add to his reputation as a difficult and moody character.

It was a sorry sight and a shame in contrast to such a spectacular performance. Maybe it was the pass Moss dropped toward the end, an apparent effort to prove he is human.

"If he can't be more consistent than that, we'll have to get somebody else," joked offensive coordinator Brian Billick.

Moss' first two touchdowns came so quickly you wondered whether the Cowboys had watched any video on him. Billick said Cunningham did a great job checking off between Moss and Cris Carter to see which one was singled.

Billick started talking about strategy and reading coverages and then admitted, "Sometimes, to be quite frank, it's, 'I'm going to heave it up and he'll go to it or jump up and get it, one or the other.' "

It's the latest play in the Vikings' plan, the one run by every kid on every street corner in America: Go long and go get it. Maybe Moss simply can't understand why everybody makes it more complicated than he does.

More amazing than the two long passes was the third and final touchdown, a 1-yard "slip screen" Cunningham threw to Moss in front of the poor Charlie Williams.

The Cowboys had closed to 32-22 late in the third quarter and had effectively stopped the deep balls to Moss. Momentum threatened to shift.

"You normally get 10 to 15 yards at best," Billick said. "For him to take it the way he did, yeah, that's pretty good."

Moss shook off Williams and began a sprint down the sideline for 56 yards that defied description. Three Cowboys defenders had an angle and misread it. He simply beat them. None of them was Deion Sanders, but none of them was as crippled as Moss made them look.

"It's one thing to say a guy can run 4.2. It's another thing to watch him run 4.2," Vikings coach Dennis Green said. "His speed is just unbelievable."

Unfortunately, he kept right on running, as if he still has something to hide. He'll be back and so will the media. Next stop: the Bears. They will be playing deep.

(c) 1998, Chicago Tribune.

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