Biography

Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), as well as the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998).

All-time, Moss ranks second in career touchdown receptions (leading the league five times in touchdown receptions, third most all-time) as well as fourth in career receiving yards. In addition to possessing extraordinary speed at his size (4.25 40-yard dash at 6 ft 4 in) and superior leaping ability (43-inch vertical), he was famously known for often securing spectacular contested catches in tight coverage by physically overpowering defenders. The term "mossed", referring to this ability, has since become a common term in the football lexicon.

Moss played college football for the Marshall Thundering Herd and earned Unanimous All-American honors in 1997. A six-time Pro Bowl and four-time first-team All-Pro selection, Moss was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL draft, where he set the single-season record for touchdown receptions in a rookie season and was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. In his first stint with the Vikings, Moss caught 90 touchdown receptions in his first seven seasons, as well as having more than 1,200 yards in each of his first six seasons. He was traded in 2005 to the Oakland Raiders, where he experienced a slump in play, notably due to the lack of talent surrounding him and perceived decline.

In 2007, Moss was then traded to the New England Patriots, where he experienced a career resurgence and set the single-season record for total touchdown receptions. That season, he helped lead the Patriots to a record breaking 16–0 regular season record. During both the 1998 and 2007 seasons, Moss was the catalyst of the two highest scoring offenses of all time at the time they occurred (556 points in 1998, 589 points in 2007), now ranking sixth and second all-time. In October 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots but was waived less than a month later and then claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 before retiring following the season.

He played in two Super Bowl games, XLII with the Patriots and XLVII with the 49ers, both losses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, and is a member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for its Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs. In 2022, Moss left Monday Night Countdown.