Whether he was in Minnesota driving his car into crossing guards, or in Oakland telling a reporter that he still got high from time to time, or whether he was in New England telling a throng of reporters that he was done talking about a domestic assault charge before going on an uninterrupted 10-minute rant, Moss has always been a source of entertainment for me.
Whenever people in newspapers or on talk radio would make the claim that Moss was dogging it, I just about always disagreed. He was easy to pick on, and it was more often the media pundit being lazy by criticizing him than it was Moss jogging around the field.
So in writing this, it's not to bash the former Patriots wideout. It is, rather, written in amazement at how quickly and how greatly Moss' star has fallen. He's gone from catching touchdown passes from Tom Brady every week to standing on the sidelines and watching the Titans lose every week. The fact that he can't even get regular playing time on a team that's now lost six straight games is simply befuddling.
He can't possibly be done, right? It wasn't all that long ago that he was hauling in touchdowns every week. In the middle of last season, he caught 15 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns in two games. He was yukking it up with fans on the video board. He was as Randy Moss as Randy Moss has ever been.
Now? He might as well start calling himself Randall and stop going to games. If another guy with the same name hadn't already done so, he'd be better off embarking on a new career as a horse racing analyst.
On Thursday night, he didn't even step on the field until very late in the second quarter. By the end of the night — which ended in yet another loss — he had zero catches and he was targeted for zero passes. Forget decoy — Moss has taken on a mannequin role since joining the Titans.
It's all very hard to understand. When Bill Belichick shipped him out of town for just a third-round pick, the region erupted with rage. Had Belichick lost his mind? Sure, Moss was a few years older, but he had broken the single-season touchdown record just three seasons ago. He couldn't have dropped off that bad.
But, two teams and just 18 catches later, Bill was right. Somehow. It has us all wondering how Randy Moss could have fallen so fast.
Check out the brief gallery of Moss' recent "highlights", then leave your explanation for his lack of role in Tennessee in the comments section below.
At least he's staying warm? (AP Photo/Joe Howell)
I won't tell you how this play ended, but I'll tell you how it didn't end: with a catch. (AP Photo/Joe Howell)
Eighty-four is the loneliest number. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
When the highlight of your season is returning to the town that you shot your way out of just a couple of months earlier, you're not having a very good year. (AP Photo)
