Randy Moss: Lots of Talent, No Brains

When the sun came up over the plains of Wisconsin, it might have been the first time in quite a while that Brett Farve's football career was in doubt. Yesterday's 31-17 drubbing by the Minnesota Vikings, easily qualified as the weekend's most shocking upset. But while Farve, who is unanimously respected around the NFL for being a quality guy and a tough, hard-nosed competitor, might have played his last NFL game yesterday afternoon, it's too soon to tell the fate of yet another notable member of the NFL's star corps: Randy Moss.

Randy Moss came from a small college program (Marshall) with discipline and legal issues. No other team was willing to chance taking on his lousy attitude -- which is serious, despite his talent -- which is also serious. One week after another, Randy Moss does and says things which mystify, captivate, and demonstrate exactly how much of a selfish asshole he really is.

Yesterday afternoon was no different. Prior to the game, FoxSports broadcast former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson interviewing Randy Moss about his leaving the field during the prior week's game against Washington, and rather than Moss acknowledging he had done something wrong and apologizing for it briefly, his indignance and his ego got in the way, so much so that it was pretty clear that he just doesn't understand what it means to be part of, let alone a leader of, a team.

During the game itself, Moss caught a touchdown pass; in an attempt to let Green Bay's fans know what he thought of them, he proceeded to pretend to pull down his pants and moon the fans in the end zone. It was funny and entertaining and memorable, and disrespectful and low end and unbelievable and stupid and ridiculous.

It turns out that Green Bay fans have a tradition of mooning the visiting team's bus (assuming the visiting team lost that day) on its way from the Lambeau Field parking lot. So his mimicking of their tradition wasn't so much vulgar as it was a response to that. And Vikings coach Mike Tice, as well as Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy, both echoed similar sentiments, ie that while it was inappropriate, they understood why he did it. Tice in particular suggested that the fans in Green Bay were not acting in a very classy manner. That may be true, but they're paying for the privilege of being imbeciles. Randy Moss is paid a large sum of money to not only perform as an athlete but to be a member of a team and a league, so his behavior reflects not only on himself but on his team and the NFL. What he did yesterday wasn't really offensive or vulgar; it was just stupid, low-end and surprising.

I think the main issue here is the right vs. privilege argument. Each of the major sports -- football, baseball, basketball and hockey -- should establish a five-man, rotating group of former players which should decide punishments for the modern athletes stupidities: whether it's Pedro Martinez's altercation with Don Zimmer two years ago, Todd Bertuzzi attacking Steve Moore at the tail end of the 2004 NHL season, or even the brawl that occurred at the end of the Pacers/Pistons game in Detroit. Former athletes have the unique perspective of having lived that life and have graduated onto (for the most part) responsible, upstanding members of society. As it stands, many of today's modern athletes don't have the perspective or the understanding of society or their place therein. Perhaps it's because the modern athlete is getting younger and younger while their IQ's are getting smaller and smaller; or perhaps it's that athletes today get paid so much money and have so much carte blanche that they feel it's their right to do whatever they please (Kobe Bryant, Mike Tyson, et al), rather than comprehending (and behaving accordingly) that their talent is a gift and their ability to play professional sports for millions of dollars a year is a privilege, not a right. In essence, there seems to be a lot of flashy imbeciles like Randy Moss and Terrell Owens and very few stand-up guys like Derek Jeter and Michael Vick, guys who are at the top of their sports but don't abuse that platform by making themselves out to be bigger than their game, or better.

Last year, Derek Jeter bloodied his face racing into the stands to catch a foul ball; last weekend, Randy Moss, in a fit of irritation over his team losing a crucial game to get into the playoffs, walked off the field before the game ended. And his team welcomed him back to play yesterday. Personally, these are the kinds of personalities that persuaded me to begin referring to the New York Knicks, circa 1989, as 'carjackers in shorts' -- the thug, "me-first" mentality in team sports today makes watching the team, and the sport, anything but exciting. Frankly, I've lost interest in watching basketball specifically because of the selfishness of its players, and football is heading in that direction. But the truth is, it's not so much the "me-first" that bothers me, it's when the "me-first" is accompanied by a lack of brains, a lack of class, and a lack of respect for the game. If the players themselves don't respect their own game, why should anyone care or watch what they do?

I think that what Randy Moss did yesterday was funny, no question about it. But I also know that if the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown can restrict Pete Rose's entry into the Hall because of his gambling, I think that Randy Moss, whose talent and ability mirrors, if not exceeds, Rose's, should be barred from the Football Hall of Fame due to his immense selfishness and his brash, effervescent stupidity. I think what players like him and Terell Owens are doing is disrespects the game, and watching that behavior makes it really difficult to respect his ability and to enjoy the game.

For anyone who thinks what Moss did yesterday has a place in the modern game, I respectfully disagree; football once used to be about competition and blood and effort, and it's become a cesspool of stupidity, much like what Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday purported to suggest. The more players are given the opportunity to express their stupidity, the less I want to watch, and the harder it is to tell from professional wrestling. Except wrestling is, on the surface, supposed to be funny.

At least I think it is.