Moss a distraction? Not for these Patriots
Star's off-field issues may be respite from questions about unbeaten run
![]() Stephan Savoia / AP Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss is at the center of an off-field controversy, but it won't distract his unbeaten teammates, writes msnbc.com contributor Michael Ventre. |
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The Minnesota Vikings probably didn’t flinch back in 2002 when Randy Moss pushed a city traffic employee a half-block after she tried to stop him from making an illegal U-turn. They just went into Randy mode, which is a little like pulling on a poncho and waiting for a storm to pass. They knew what to expect. It came with the territory.
Sadly, the New England Patriots know little about this technique. The Randy Moss they traded for before this NFL campaign was supposedly not the same guy who admitted in a TV interview to smoking marijuana during the season, who fake-mooned Green Bay fans, and who had a reputation for mailing it in more often than contestants for Publishers Clearing House. During this season, Moss was on his best behavior.
But even though the Patriots undoubtedly were blindsided by the latest Moss controversy, it won’t matter. They’ve been through so much in their march toward perfection that Moss could drive club owner Robert Kraft around Boston on the hood of his car and he’d be met with a rousing version of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”
A Florida radio station reported that a woman filed for an order of protection from Moss, and later was granted a temporary injunction. Moss reacted strongly to the report, suggesting the woman was out to make money.
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Still, while the “He said, she said” is being hashed out, the relatively unimportant matter of Moss and his residual effect on the Patriots’ drive toward a Super Bowl championship — with the AFC title game Sunday against the San Diego Chargers representing the penultimate step — needs to be addressed.
The Patriots knew what they were getting into back in April when they sent a fourth-round draft choice to the Raiders in exchange for Moss. It was Moss’ third team in four seasons. He didn’t participate in the Raiders’ offseason conditioning program before the trade, not exactly a sign of dedication. Yet the Patriots went ahead and made the deal anyway, figuring he would thrive in their veteran-heavy locker room.
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