Randy Moss Biography

Dupont High School / (Class of 1995) Belle, West Virginia

Classification: AAA

Specialty: Sprints

Marshall University / Huntington, West Virginia

Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football wide receiver who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998), and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156.

Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors.

High School (1993-1995):

Moss was born and raised in Rand, West Virginia. He attended DuPont High School, one of two schools that later consolidated into Riverside High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Randy was also on the school's debate team. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played free safety, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored with the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time. At DuPont, he was a teammate of future Chicago Bears linebacker Bobbie Howard.

In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993, 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams.

As a sophomore in 1993, at the age of 15 years, Moss joined the track & field team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100- and 200-meter dash with times of 10.94 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the school's track team, but he would later join the Marshall Track team and lower his 200-meter dash time to 21.15 seconds. It’s worthy to note, as a track and field athlete, Moss was a state champion sprinter, despite barely running at all during the season. He also played center field for the baseball team.

Randy Moss on West Virginia State Meet All-Time List:

· Moss is tied for 6th during the 1990's for Class AAA 100-meter dash

· Moss is tied for 6th during the 1990's for Class AAA 200-meter dash

College:

In 1995, following his graduation from high school, he was presented a scholarship to play football at the University of Notre Dame. However, before joining the college, he got involved in a racially motivated fight, for which he received a 30-day suspended jail sentence. After pleading guilty, the university revoked his scholarship.

Freshman (redshirt) (1995) - Because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student to Florida State, so he had to redshirt the 1995 football season.

Freshman season (1996) - In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.

Marshall University (1997-1998):

Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for the most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 – tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1,709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0-yard average. Marshall went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title in its last season before moving to Division I-A.

As a freshman (1997), Randy agreed to run track for Marshall as a sophomore and won the Southern Conference indoor track 55-meters and 200-meter championships. He had not raced competitively for four years, yet his time in the 200 (21.15 seconds) was one of the best in the country that year.

Moss was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.

MU Men’s Individual Champion:

· 1997: 55-Meter Dash - Randy Moss, Marshall - 6.32

· 1997: 200-Meter Dash - Randy Moss, Marshall - 21.15

Marshall won the 1997 Men’s Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship with 117 points.

MU Individual Awards:

· 1997: Freshman of the Year / Randy Moss, Marshall

· 1997: Coach of the Year / Jeff Small, Marshall

Professional career:

Moss was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. On April 29, 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick. On October 6, 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots. However, his second stint in Minnesota was short-lived, as he was waived by the team less than a month later, and claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers for the 2012 season then opted to retire prior to the 2013 season.

NFL Career Highlights and Awards:

· 6× Pro Bowl (1998–2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

· 4× First-team All-Pro (1998, 2000, 2003, 2007)

· NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (1998)

· 5× NFL receiving touchdowns leader (1998, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009)

· NFL 2000s All-Decade Team

· MAC Offensive Player of the Year (1997)

· Fred Biletnikoff Award (1997)

· Paul Warfield Trophy (1997)

· Consensus All-American (1997)

NFL records:

· 23 receiving touchdowns in a season

· 17 receiving touchdowns in a rookie season

Personal:

· Moss's parents are Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt

· He has a sister named Lutisia and a brother Eric

· Birth Date: February 13th, 1977

· Height: 6′ 4″

· Has four children with Elizabeth Ann Offutt: two daughters, Sydney and Senali, and two sons, Thaddeus and Montigo

· Moss, is currently an NFL analyst for ESPN

Submitted by Mike McMillion (06/18/17)

Results courtesy of RunWV & HerdZone