Randy Moss is aware of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s perceived bias against wide receivers, the way all but Jerry Rice have been shunned from reaching Canton, Ohio, in their first year eligible.
But with his nomination to be debated Saturday morning, Moss said he isn’t guarding against the possibility that the selection committee forces him to wait another year before the former Vikings great is permitted to put on the Hall of Fame’s gold jacket.
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“No, man, it’s kind of like you’re going into court and being in front of the jury — your fate is in their hands,” Moss said. “I don’t have no control over it, I don’t have a vote. What I will do is just be around close family and friends. There’s nothing I can control. And I didn’t really play the game for the Hall of Fame, I just played for the love of the game.”
Still, Moss admitted he’d be “honored” if he’s named Saturday when the selection committee deliberates from 15 modern-era finalists. They’ll whittle that list down to 10, then trim again to five players. A yes or no vote will follow for those five players and a finalist needs at least 80 percent of yes votes to be enshrined.
It’s a process that hasn’t been friendly to wide receivers, a position Moss dominated for most of his 14 seasons.
His numbers aren’t that different from Terrell Owens, a fellow wideout who Moss said he studied during his playing days. Owens has been a finalist the past two years, but hasn’t received the 80 percent approval needed to get the nod, something he admitted this week has bothered him.
Rice is the only wide receiver since 1995 to be selected to the Hall of Fame in his first year eligible.
Though he called the Hall of Fame process “a political war” in September, Moss downplayed the committee’s perceived bias against his position this week.
| Randy’s résumé | ||
| Few players left a bigger mark on the wide receiver position than Randy Moss, who hopes Saturday brings a Hall-of-Fame nod. | ||
| Stat | Career total | All-time rank |
| Receiving TDs | 156 | 2nd |
| 1,000+ yd. seasons | 10 | 2nd |
| Receiving yds | 15,292 | 4th |
| Receptions | 982 | 15th |
“I guess your overall final accomplishment of being in the National Football League is the gold jacket,” Moss said. “I think that some nervousness will set in, but at the same time, I’ll be patiently waiting. I think I’m deserving of getting in on the first ballot. But if things don’t happen or go according to plan, the show must go on. You win some, you lose some. So I don’t think I would get tied up in not making it. I just played the game for the love and going out there to compete. If the Hall of Fame is my final stop, then I’m definitely honored to put that jacket on.”
Owens is the wide receiver most comparable to Moss.
Owens played in 219 games from 1996-2010; Moss in 218 games from 1998-2012. Owens ranks second all-time with 15,934 receiving yards; Moss fourth with 15,292. Owens ranks third all-time with 153 receiving touchdowns; Moss second with 156.
But if there’s a case that helps Moss, it’s that his best seasons were superior to Owens. Moss set the NFL record for receiving touchdowns in a single season (23 in 2007 with the Patriots) and had four seasons with at least 1,400 yards to Owens’ two.
“He’s one of the greatest players of all time, certainly at the wide receiver position, maybe in general,” said Vikings owner Mark Wilf. “And I know what he did in this market and for this fan base. Hopefully he’ll be in Canton.”
Moss joins Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher and former Vikings lineman Steve Hutchinson as first-year finalists for the Hall of Fame.
Only 13 former Vikings and 25 total wide receivers are in the Hall of Fame — the least of the so-called skilled positions. The 2018 enshrinement will take place Aug. 4 in Canton, and if Moss is selected, the Vikings could take part in the Hall of Fame preseason game that is played the same weekend.
Moss is in town for the Super Bowl as part of his broadcasting job with ESPN, and will attend the “NFL Honors” Saturday night at the University of Minnesota if he’s selected, an award ceremony that will be broadcast on NBC.
The selection committee is made up of a sports writer from each NFL city, perhaps part of the reason that Owens — a player who wasn’t always accommodating or friendly with the media — wasn’t a selection the last two years. Moss, too, had run-ins with reporters, something he addressed this week.
“Yes, I was on some losing ends and bad ends of media reports and things like that,” Moss said. “But that was just all for the love, man. Just the love of the game and wanting to compete and go out there. … MaybeSaturdayit’ll probably hit me. I’ve never been one of those type guys to sit down and think about this and let my nerves get the best of me. Like I said, even though I think I’ve done enough to be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, it’s not up to me.”
(Top image: Now a broadcaster for ESPN, Randy Moss hopes to buck a trend of receivers getting overlooked in their first year of Hall-of-Fame eligibility. Brace Hemmelgarn/USA TODAY Sports)
Chad Graff is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New England Patriots since 2022 after five years on the Minnesota Vikings beat. Graff joined The Athletic in January 2018 after covering a bit of everything for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He won the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2022 Bob Oates Award for beat writing. He's a New Hampshire native and an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of New Hampshire. Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadGraff
