The News Of …

Randy Moss (the former and perhaps soon-to-be-again NFL receiver) made a couple of entertaining appearances on the live video site Ustream Monday, announcing his plans to return to football and on least one occasion comparing himself to Calvin Johnson.
“Am I better deep threat than Calvin Johnson? I don’t know” – Moss said in a Monday night video, according to MassLive.com. “That’s going to be interesting to see this year.”
Moss retired from the NFL after a rocky 2010 season when he played for three teams (the Patriots, Vikings and Titans), caught 28 passes and was both traded (by New England) and released (by Minnesota).
Johnson led the NFL in receiving yards and scored 16 touchdowns last year, seven shy of Moss’ record total for a receiver in 2007.
Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, who spent three seasons with Moss in Minnesota, was asked about the parallels between Johnson and Moss last October.
“Where the comparison is, is that they were both just very physically gifted players that have imposing size and they also have the ability to attack every part of the field” – Linehan said. “And you can use those guys in certain situations as a go-to weapon, and we certainly did in Minnesota and we’re doing our best to do it here. It’s fun to watch him grow and develop.”
Moss goes by the name “Otismoss” on Ustream, though his most recent chats don’t appear to be archived.

Randy Moss.

Randy Moss once said: “I play when I want to play.”
Six months after retiring, the veteran NFL wide receiver wants to play again.
Moss announced on a webchat Monday — his 35th birthday — that he’s planning a comeback.
His agent, Joel Segal, wouldn’t go into his client’s available options.
“Randy and I have discussed it” – Segal said of Moss coming out of retirement. “He still has his fire and he’s looking forward to playing football. He’s excited.”
Moss posted on his Twitter page – “Now back to biz!! There’s good an bad an u have to b ready for both! its in gods hand now.”
Moss retired last August, compiling 14.858 receiving yards and 153 touchdowns in 13 seasons.
He last played in 2010, getting traded by the New England Patriots to the Minnesota Vikings before finishing the season with Tennessee. That year he had career lows of 28 catches for 393 yards.
Moss’ 23 TD catches in 2007 that helped the Patriots reach the Super Bowl are a single-season NFL record.
His 10 seasons of at least 1.000 yards are second only to Jerry Rice’s 14. He’s tied with Terrell Owens for second on the career TD receptions list, well behind Rice’s 197.
There were questions when Moss retired whether it would last.
Then came Monday’s announcement.
“It didn’t surprise me when he retired, and it doesn’t surprise me he wants to come back” – said Bob Pruett, Moss’ college coach at Marshall. “I think he can be a great player for whoever picks him up.”
It’s now up to NFL teams to decide whether they want to take a chance on the six-time Pro Bowler. Former Patriots teammate Tom Brady has said he’d like to throw to Moss again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGtmy1pZ1U

Randy Moss turned 35 Monday. How old is 35? Carolina’s Steve Smith will turn 33 in May.
What do you give a man who has everything but a job? You give him a job.
Moss announced during a birthday chat on Ustream.tv that he will end his retirement and return to the NFL next season. Moss added on Twitter – “Now back to biz!”
Why not get back to business in Charlotte?
I’m serious. If Moss can be anything akin to the devastating New England Moss, and not the bored or occasionally disruptive Oakland, Tennessee or 2010 Minnesota Moss, the Panthers should jump.
They shouldn’t hand him a check. They should treat him like a serious job candidate.
Moss didn’t play last season. So he should be rested.
What did he learn from his time away from football?
Moss has said he plays when he wants to play. Will he commit to playing when his employer wants him to?
Maybe I’ve given him too much credit, but did he miss being part of something bigger than he is? Most of the superior athletes I know say after they leave their sport that they miss being part of a group.
Couldn’t Moss have evolved? Reputations are flexible, as Cam Newton will attest. Many teams – and we forget this – would not have invested the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft on Newton. The Panthers trusted their instincts.
Newton drops back, and there’s Smith on the left and Brandon LaFell or David Gettis or Greg Olsen or Jeremy Shockey over the middle and who’s the tall guy streaking down the right side? Hello, Randy.
Despite his age, Moss never sustained the damage most receivers do because he never made his living running across the middle the way most receivers do. Smith will go anywhere to grab a pass. Moss (who is 6-foot-4) long-legged and lean, makes his living on the edge of the field, in the margins.
The margins also are where he’s spent pieces of his off-field career. One player can undo the camaraderie in a locker room. When Carolina failed to renew the contract of Keyshawn Johnson, then a 6-4 receiver and now an ESPN star, a Panther told me he wanted to throw a party. The Panther who told me this was not a receiver.