The time is now for the Vikings to retire Randy Moss’ number

Now seems like a perfect opportunity for the Minnesota Vikings to retire the jersey number of one of the best to ever put on the purple and gold.

For the 2007 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings decided to allow rookie wide receiver Aundrae Allison to don the number 84 on his jersey. Allison became the first player on the Vikings’ roster to wear the number since Randy Moss was traded away to the Oakland Raiders during the 2005 offseason.

No offense to Allison, but Minnesota letting their 2007 fifth-round draft pick have the number 84 on his jersey was a metaphorical slap in the face to everything that Moss had done for the franchise since his career began with the team in 1998. But the team’s feelings toward Moss were definitely not at an all-time high in 2007, so honoring Moss’ legacy was not exactly a top priority when they gave Allison the number.

Allison lasted two seasons in Minnesota and caught a total of 18 passes for 231 yards and zero touchdowns. That sounds like a stat-line Moss could have compiled in just one game.

After Allison was released before the start of the 2009 season, no player on the Vikings’ roster wore the number 84 again until Moss himself when he returned to the team for a brief, four-game stint in 2010. Following Moss’ second go-round, wide receivers Michael Jenkins (2011-2012) and Cordarrelle Patterson (2013-2016) have been the only players to take the field in a Minnesota uniform with the number 84 on their jersey.

Minnesota Vikings

At this current point in time, no player on the Vikings’ roster has been assigned Moss’ old jersey number. But before someone else comes along with zero chance of living up to Moss’ excellence in Minnesota, the Vikings should just go ahead and retire the number 84.

The relationship between the franchise and their former star wide receiver seems to at least be at a civil level right now. If it was not, Minnesota likely would not have asked Moss to blow the gjallarhorn before their game against the New York Giants last season.

Moss is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the first time this year and there is a pretty good chance that he will be a part of the group that will be inducted in the summer of 2018. Why not get the Hall of Fame campaign started early for the former wide receiver and retire his jersey number Vikings?

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Chances are microscopic that any player in the near future will ever be able to live up to what Moss did in Minnesota wearing that number. So the Vikings should just end any opportunity of embarrassment and raise Moss’ number 84 into the rafters at U.S. Bank Stadium.