Randy Moss Trades Barbs With Cris Carter

Randy Moss and Cris Carter have a little beef going. On Monday Moss announced his desire to return to the NFL after a season off, and Carter being an old teammate immediately jumped in with his take on the news. It was not an altogether positive take. In fact, outside of stating that Randy can still run a 4.3 40 even at 35 (Cris timed him lately?), Carter had little nice to say about the man he once called protege. On Mike & Mike Tuesday morning Carter dropped this bomb about Randy’s well-known propensity to pack it in when things don’t go his way:

"The one thing you have to address with Randy Moss is not a conditioning thing. It’s not an age thing. It needs to be addressed. I believe it’s the elephant in the room. It’s that thing called quit.And Randy, not like any other superstar I’ve met, he has more quit in him than any of those other players. So I need to addresses that. That’s what Belichick did when he brought him over from Oakland. He told him he wasn’t going to have it.But Randy, when things don’t go well, like no other player I’ve ever been around or associated with, he has a quit mechanism in him that’s huge. That needs to be addressed before he signs with any team."

“Quit mechanism.” That’s a new one. The next time I give up on something when it becomes too hard I’ll tell everyone it was just my quit mechanism kicking in. Thanks Cris.

As one would expect in this world of instant reaction, Randy wasted no time shooting back at Carter via his Twitter account @darealotismoss. Randy tweet-jabbed “its sad how u stroked ur own ego when u were suppose to b my mentor!then u wonder why karma bites u in the [expletive]! #goodlukwhof” Ooh a Hall of Fame jab. Next Randy should make fun of Carter for chickening out on the zip line at the Super Bowl.

Moss did tone things down a little with his next tweet: “Cc no matter I still luv u bruh.” Well maybe there’s love there but I’ve always sensed there was more than a little tension simmering under the surface. There’s no question Carter helped Moss’s development as an NFL player but I’m guessing Carter wasn’t always the nicest teacher. And there’s naturally going to be resentment any time two alpha dogs like Randy and Cris are forced to co-exist the way they were on Dennis Green’s Viking squads.

There’s also the little fact that Carter is right in his assessment of Moss’s quit mechanism. That sort of criticism may sting, but Moss needs to realize that he brings a lot of it on himself. He was the guy who famously said he plays when he wants to play, right? You can’t make statements like that, then get mad when people accuse you of being a quitter. Maybe Randy will address this on his next Ustream presentation. Or maybe he’ll answer more questions about his poop.

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