Who does the former Minnesota Vikings star think is the best wide receiver to ever play in the NFL?
From the moment he first stepped onto an NFL field, most would agree that it was pretty easy to tell that former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss was going to end his career as one of the best players in the history of the league.
Moss burst into the NFL during his first year with the Vikings back in 1998 when he caught 69 passes for 1,313 yards and a rookie-record 17 touchdowns. Since then, no rookie wide receiver has finished with more than 12 touchdowns in a single season.
Moss was a three-time First-Team All-Pro during his tenure in Minnesota and after departing the Twin Cities for the first time in 2005, he went on to play for another seven seasons before retiring for good in 2013.
Who did the former Minnesota Vikings star pick as the greatest receiver ever?
Recently, Moss appeared on the “Getcha Popcorn Ready with T.O. and Hatch” podcast with Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens and former Vikings pass-catcher, Matthew Hatchette.
During the latest episode of the show, Moss was asked by Hatchette to name the best receiver to ever play in the NFL and the former Minnesota superstar who was known as “The Freak” gave an answer that everyone should have expected.
“You’re talking to him. I put myself first, I’ll put T.O. second, and Jerry (Rice) is probably third or fourth.”
Moss went on to explain that his rankings are not necessarily based on which guys accumulated the best stats during their careers, but they are based on the impact that each receiver was able to have on the sport of football.
Obviously, he believes he had a great impact on the sport and he would be very correct. Before Moss, there weren’t really any 6-foot-4 receivers who could make their opponent look silly with their route-running ability and also blow past a defense with blazing fast speed to get open down the field.
If not for Moss, does the NFL see guys like Calvin Johnson, A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Mike Evans, or D.K. Metcalf experience success? The former Vikings receiver really set the bar and helped begin the trend of quarterbacks just chucking the ball downfield to let their targets go up and grab the pass out of their opponent’s grasp.
Few receivers who have ever played in the NFL have also had a divisional opponent use multiple draft picks on players that were specifically selected to stop them. This happened to Moss in 1999 when the Green Bay Packers used their first three draft picks on defensive backs.
There are multiple ways to argue about who really deserves to be regarded as the best NFL wide receiver of all-time. But when looking at which guys made the most impact on the sport, it’s hard to disagree with Moss choosing himself as the best to ever step foot in the league.