"Your boy is gonna come back and play some football, man." So says Randy Moss, the retired NFL wide receiver who announced Monday that he is planning to make a comeback next season. It's a confusing career move for the pot-smoking former New England Patriots superstar. Moss hasn't played in the NFL since the 2010 season, when he was all but forced into retirement because no team wanted the unpredictable star on its roster. But in Moss' heyday in 2007, he caught an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes in a single season, and helped lead the Patriots to an amazing 16-0 record. So far, no team has expressed interest in signing Moss. Can he really mount a comeback?
Let's hope so: The return of Randy Moss? "We should be so lucky," says Andrew Sharp at SB Nation. First, consider the entertainment value. Because of his borderline-legendary status, Moss is now "free to tell the truth and be himself without worrying much about the consequences." In a league "perpetually encased in eight layers of PR," that would be hugely refreshing. And remember, Moss is "still the player that has more wisdom to offer a team than just about any veteran skill player in football." He may be old, but he could be a real asset.
"Randy Moss returning? We should be so lucky"
What team would want him? Moss' final NFL season was abysmal, says Joe Fortenbaugh at National Football Post. He played for three different teams, and all three clearly thought he was washed up. And what about his "attitude problems... and end zone hijinks"? No team with a young quarterback will run the risk of "having their signal-caller's confidence shattered by an over-the-hill wideout who starts causing problems the moment he isn't receiving an abundance" of passes.
"Will anyone bite?"
The Patriots certainly won't: The natural question is whether one of his old squads, the Patriots, will pick Moss up, says Mike Reiss at ESPN. But "the team has moved on," and they're smart to do so. Moss' 2010 "halftime blowup" with Patriots play-caller Bill O'Brien proved that Moss is no team-first player, but rather "someone more interested in his own production." That attitude likely led to quarterback Tom Brady's exasperation with Moss, "to the point that it became a concern of the coaching staff." These problems have not magically disappeared in the last two years.
"Opinion: No mas on Moss"
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