While reading Cris Carter's excellent book, Going Deep, so many memories came flooding back. None gave me more chills than his retelling of the months before the 1998 season when Randy Moss came to town. Thinking back to that 1998 NFL Draft, there was no way that Moss would fall to the Vikings pick at 21. No way. When the Tennessee Oilers, for whatever reason, selected Utah receiver Kevin Dyson at 16, I thought that it might be possible. If a team was willing to select any receiver before Moss there had to be substantial concern around the league about that kid from Marshall. At about that point I was worried that the Vikings might be buying into that concern as well. When the Detroit Lions selected itty bitty Tennessee corner Terry Fair at 20, I realized that the impossible could actually happen. Marshall receiver Randy Moss was sitting there for the Minnesota Vikings at 21. Little did I know then that Vikings head coach Dennis Green had been planning to take Moss from the moment that the draft started. He knew that the troublemaking receiver was going to fall. The Vikings took about as long as it takes to fill out that draft card to make the pick. One of the first things that I thought of when the Vikings made Moss the pick was that the 5'10" Fair was going to have to cover this guy.
There was a lot of excitement in Minnesota during that offseason of 1998. Red McCombs had purchased the team. There always seems to be a jolt to a franchise when there is a change like that. The Vikings had made several playoff appearances under Green. The team had a real nice offense with Cris Carter and Jake Reed catching passes and Robert Smith running. When Moss fell into their laps on draft day, Vikings fans were giddy with anticipation. After the draft, Moss went down to Florida to join Carter, Reed, and a few other teammates for offseason workouts. It was then that Carter realized why Green was so excited about this young receiver. He saw a 6'4" man with the quickness of a receiver who stood 5'9". He glided in and out of breaks and exploded when he had to go to another gear. He always seemed to have another gear.
"The more time I spent around Randy in those early days, the more I sensed that he wasn't going to disappoint. When our offensive coordinator, Brian Billick, called to tell me how great Randy could be, I told him he had no idea what was coming to minicamp in a few weeks."-Cris Carter
Moss changed the way the people viewed the game, how routes could be run. "Everybody was a little in awe of what he was doing," said former Vikings center Matt Birk. "Even in practice, you could tell you were watching something you'd never seen before." Billick had a 45-and-5 rule with his quarterbacks. This meant that on a go route the ball had to travel at least 45 yards downfield and be within 5 yards of the sideline. The idea was to give the receiver enough room to catch up to the football while keeping the throw far enough from the safety, who would be coming from the middle of the field. With Moss, the 45-an-5 rule became the 55-and-5 rule. A few weeks later, it became the 60-and-5 rule. He was too fast for the quarterback's arms. He was changing the game. He changed the Vikings offense. He changed how the Green Bay Packers drafted. He changed what teams looked for in a receiver. As he said that he would, Randy Moss ripped the league apart.
69 catches, 1313 yards, 19.0 yards/catch, 17 touchdowns. The numbers are big. How he made them was even more impressive. He took apart the Packers on a rain-soaked Monday Night. Perhaps more than any of his handful of games before, what he did to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day was the most astonishing. On 3 catches. He had 51-yard touchdown off a flea-flicker(!) on the Vikings first possession. He had a 56-yard touchdown later in that first quarter. His final catch was a quick, little hitch. It should have been a short gain. Moss took off as if he was shot out of a cannon. A stutter-step gave him an opening. This was the first time that I saw that Moss always had another gear.
That 1998 season was such a thrilling ride. It should have had a better ending. That last game was one of those forgettable games that can't be forgotten. Still, it was an exciting season. "The Freak" made the Minnesota Vikings "can't miss" football.
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