Though he once dubbed the voting process for the Pro Football Hall of Fame a “political war,” Randy Moss’ ticket to Canton was never in question.
Moss accomplished something just six receivers have managed to do in NFL history by entering the Hall as a first-ballot selection.
Moss' career started off in dominating fashion as a 21-year-old rookie and lasted 14 years.
“I stand up there with the greats,” Moss once said.
Here are the five most memorable moments from his career.
Monday night magic
The setting: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Oct. 5, 1998
What happened: Coming out swinging at the start of his rookie season, Moss already had four touchdowns before facing the Packers on Monday Night Football in Week 5. Green Bay had won 25 straight games at home before welcoming its NFC North rival. With the stage set for Moss’ first nationally televised game, the rookie receiver introduced himself to the country with a 75-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings’ first possession, a play that was called back because of a holding call. Moss then caught a 52-yard TD pass after he won a one-on-one battle against Tyrone Williams, stepped over him and then broke through a Darren Sharper tackle for the score. Moss finished with 190 receiving yards, the second-most in a game in his career, and another touchdown. Getting a taste of how big a problem Moss would cause their defense for many years to come, the Packers altered their draft strategy in 1999, selecting defensive backs in each of the first three rounds.
Quotable: “I never understood it until the plane ride home when my brother came up to me and asked me, ‘Are we going out?’ and for the fact that it was a Monday night game, I said, ‘Going out? No, I want to go home!’ But then he goes to the back and the next thing you know, I get a pat on my shoulder, it’s Johnny Randle -– Johnny Randle telling me, as a rookie, ‘We’re going out, we’re going to party tonight.’ That’s when I finally understood what it meant to the guys for us to go into Lambeau and win on Monday Night Football.” -- Moss
The no-look lateral
The setting: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Oct. 28, 2003
What happened: Call him the king of improvising. No one will remember any of the 10 catches for 151 yards Moss had against Denver in this game except for the wild, backyard play he made at the end of the first half. With time expiring, quarterback Daunte Culpepper launched a 44-yard pass that Moss caught at the 15-yard line. In the process of being tackled by two defenders, Moss flipped a no-look lateral over his head to Moe Williams, who caught it and ran into the end zone as time expired to give the Vikings a 14-7 lead at the half.
Quotable: "I don't particularly like it that much, but you can't take all the fun out of the game. You want to have a little bit of fun, so they do it all the time in practice. I roll my eyes and cringe ... but I guess I'll let them keep doing it." -- Then-head coach Mike Tice
Thanksgiving feast
The setting: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas, Nov. 26, 1998
What happened: Over the years, Moss didn’t let the Cowboys forget their foolish decision to pass up on him with the eighth overall pick in the draft. Seven months after the Vikings selected him 21st in the first round, Moss was out to prove a point on Thanksgiving Day -- one he did succinctly: three catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns. The first touchdown, a flea-flicker from Randall Cunningham on the fourth play of the game, carries a funny backstory: Head coach Dennis Green kidded Moss that he shouldn’t accelerate to full speed so as not to outrun Cunningham’s throw.
Quotable: “The guy changed the game. The way we played back then, we weren’t much of a Cover 2 team. We didn’t double guys. We just played guys pretty much head up, one-on-one. Let Kevin Smith or Deion [Sanders] out there by themselves. But this dude, he made us rethink our entire defensive philosophy and even change it. We couldn’t match up.” -- Cowboys safety Darren Woodson, to ESPN
The moon over Lambeau
The setting: Lambeau Field, Jan. 9, 2005
What happened: There was a lot of hubbub before the 2004 NFC wild-card game. One week earlier, as the Vikings backed their way into the playoffs at 8-8 with a loss against Washington, Moss left the field before the game was over, which did not sit well with his teammates. Going into the playoffs as huge underdogs on the road, Moss was battling through a high ankle sprain, which made the double move he put on Green Bay corner Al Harris to break away for a touchdown catch all that more impressive. In the end zone, Moss ran over to the goal post and pretended to moon Packers fans, which prompted Fox play-by-play announcer Joe Buck to call the celebration “a disgusting act.” The motivation behind Moss’ post-touchdown moment was the handful of Packers fans who would throw eggs at the visiting team’s buses and moon opposing players as they arrived in Green Bay.
Days later, Moss was hit with a $10,000 fine from the NFL, which sparked another iconic moment. On a freezing January afternoon in the days leading up to the Vikings’ divisional matchup with the Eagles, a handful of reporters caught Moss in the players' parking lot and asked him whether he had sent in his check to pay his fine. Moss responded that “when you’re rich, you don’t write checks.” How, then, might he fork up the money the league was owed? “Straight cash, homey,” Moss quipped. And thus, a viral, meme-worthy moment 13 years in the making was born.
Before the 2005 season, Red McCombs traded Moss to Oakland, a controversial move made by the then-Vikings owner on his way out.
Quotable: “It’s not like I pulled my pants down or anything like that. If I had to do it all over, no, I wouldn’t change it. I think the Vikings fans got more out of that than the Packers fans, and I’m not a Packer, I’m a Viking." -- Moss
Setting the record straight
The setting: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, Dec. 29, 2007
What happened: Coming off two of the worst seasons in his career, Moss turned 30 ahead of the 2007 campaign and brought a redefined, sharpened skillset with him to New England. The Tom Brady-Randy Moss connection torched teams en route to a 16-0 regular season. Up 28-23 in the fourth quarter of a Week 17 game against the Giants, Brady, who had already hit Moss for a touchdown earlier in the game, launched a deep ball toward his favorite target. Moss dropped the pass, but the Patriots called the same play the next snap, resulting in a 65-yard touchdown that simultaneously broke two records. Moss set the single-season record for touchdown catches with 23, surpassing the mark of Jerry Rice, while Brady tossed his 50th touchdown pass of the year, breaking Peyton Manning’s record.
Quotable: “If you ask Kevin Faulk, I expected to do that. I really did, and I’m not just saying that. I put in the work, and I remember telling Kevin Faulk that we’re going undefeated, and I’m going to break the record."