The Return of Randy Moss

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Vikings have stumbled out of the gate this season with a 1-2 record, beating only the Detroit Lions (who should be 4-0 instead of 0-4).  The offense has been listless, and the defense not much better.  Fortunately for them, the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears are not going to run away with the NFC North division title.  But the Vikings needed to do something.

Then quarterback Brett Favre got a nice 41st birthday present:  the wide receiver he's always wanted since his days as a Packer.  Randy Moss is back in town.

The New England Patriots surprised the rest of the National Football League by trading Moss back to the Vikings, where he had starred from 1998 to 2004, for draft picks. 

Moss is one of the most exciting wide receivers the NFL has seen, when he's on.  But he's burned his bridges everywhere he went--from Minnesota to the Oakland Raiders to New England--because of his "I play when I want to play" attitude and his antics on and off the field. 

Bill Belichick, who likes to run a tight ship as coach of the Patriots, must have gotten tired of Moss' antics and his lack of production on the field.  So he would rather sacrifice his team's offense than put up with it.

For the Vikings, this latest example of owner Zygi Wilf's willingness to acquire name-brand talent is born of desperation.  He wants a Super Bowl.  He wants a Metrodome filled with purple.  He wants a new stadium. (Not necessarily in that order)  And the sooner, the better.

One would think that Moss, in his second tour of duty in Minnesota, has grown older and wiser at 33.    Then again, maybe not.  The rest of the season will determine if Moss has anything left to offer, or if the Vikings just traded for a nostalgia act.