The former Minnesota Vikings All-Pro receiver answered some questions on his Instagram account on Thursday, including one about his old jersey number.
Much has been made, once again, this year about the Minnesota Vikings still giving out the No. 84 jersey to their players to wear. Made famous by former Vikings star wide receiver Randy Moss, rookie tight end Irv Smith Jr. currently has the honor of wearing the number.
After it was announced that Smith would wear Moss’ former jersey number, some believed that Minnesota was disrespecting the Hall of Fame receiver by continuing to let other players wear the No. 84 on their uniform.
However, the former Vikings pass catcher recently revealed that he has no problem with Smith wearing his old number this season.
During a live video post on his Instagram account on Thursday, Moss answered a bunch of questions from people watching and someone asked for his opinion on Minnesota giving his old number to the rookie tight end. Never one to bite his tongue, the former Vikings receiver kept his answer honest.
"“Hey look man, a jersey is just number. I made that number what it is, so hopefully he can keep that trend going. I can’t wait to see him out there. So No. 84, Minnesota Viking purple, can’t wait to see him.”"
The full clip can be viewed here.
Moss is right, it is just a number. It may be very special to some Minnesota fans and some may think that the team should retire it. But at the end of the day, it is just a number.
Back in 2013, Moss was actually in the camp of believing it was disrespectful for the Vikings to give out his old jersey number to young players. But obviously, he’s changed his opinion on it.
Retiring numbers is also not as common in the NFL as it is in other sports. During training camp and the preseason, teams have to make sure they have enough numbers for a 90-man roster and each position group is only permitted to wear a certain range of numbers.
It’s always nice to hear Moss still rooting for the Vikings though. The Hall of Fame wide receiver didn’t spend his entire pro football career in Minnesota, but he still knows his tenure in purple was more memorable than his time with any other team.