While his second, very abbreviated tenure with the team did not go well, or end well, Randy Moss occupies a special place in the hearts of Minnesota Vikings fans who are a certain age. His arrival in 1998 drove great interest in the team after years of occasional local tv blackouts (back when those were a thing), and he gave everyone a young star to root for.
Moss's playing career is, of course, long over now at 49 years old, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. But most high-level athletes never lose the idea that they could still do what they did when they played, even in a limited capacity at their current age.
If not for a couple of rough years in the middle of his career with the Oakland Raiders and some down years as his career came to an end, Moss would be even higher than fourth on the all-time list for touchdowns from scrimmage.
With how the NFL has changed the rules to favor offense, even compared to the latter years of his career, Moss is not alone among former wide receivers if he thinks he still has something to offer.
Legendary former Minnesota Vikings WR Randy Moss thinks he'd still be good for some touchdowns in the NFL
Moss appeared on the most recent episode of the "New Heights" podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce. Jason Kelce asked him if he could still "Moss" somebody right now.
"I really believe, the way that they changed the rules of the game, that I could really still go out there and give a team close to double-digit touchdowns.
I can still get up on the rim — I can still dunk a basketball. So, me just being able to go up and just use my hand-eye coordination and body control...I still think I can go out there and get close to 10, 11 touchdowns a season."
But would Moss come back and play? Jason Kelce posed that question, however rhetorically of course, but he got a legitimate-sounding answer.
"It would have to be the right call, the right team, because the only thing I'm really missing right now is a Super Bowl ring.
So, if the right call and the right opportunity came, and the team gave me an opportunity to come out there and just be a red-zone threat, I could put that 84 back on one more time."
As great a football player as Moss was, he was also a high-level high school basketball player, and that he can still dunk at his age is remarkable. The opportunity to play in the NFL again isn't coming, we think, but it is fun to think about based purely on his faith he could do it.