Monday, September 13, 2004
Gather No Moss
Randy Moss could be the epitome of everything I hate about sports today. Allow me to revisit a moment from Sunday's game versus the Cowboys in which Moss nicely summed it all up for me.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Moss made an amazing falling-down catch in the endzone but wasn't able to keep his feet in bounds. The pass was ruled incomplete so there was no touchdown scored, but there was a penalty called on Randy's defender. The normal reaction to such a play would be to jog back to the line and get ready to take another shot at scoring, perhaps applauding the penalty call along the way. What does Randy Moss do though? He gets up and taunts his opponent by mimicking throwing the flag in his face. Then he walks over to a bank of photographers on the corner of the endzone and mugs for the cameras by putting his hands on his waist and proudly tilting his chin toward the sky. He was posing for photographers on an incomplete pass! An incomplete pass! A play that netted him (and his team) zero points! Can you picture a firefighter coming out of a burning building posing for the cameras and saying "I almost saved that kid's life. And didn't I look fine doin' it?" Unfortunately, Randy Moss is one of the most talented receivers in the NFL so he gets away with such shameful shenanigans, but he'll never be off the hook with me. I have no problem with touchdown celebrations. It's an emotional game and there's going to be reactions to complement that. However, there is celebration and then there's downright idiocy. Moss is a consistent example of the latter.
The gifts of world class athleticism are not always wasted on the brash and tactless, however, as evidenced by the behavior of breakout Denver running back Quentin Griffin. In his first NFL start, Griffin amassed 156 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns. He averaged 6.8 yards per carry and was virtually unstoppable all night. Unlike Randy Moss, Griffin's performance actually merited some mugging, but Griffin did nothing of the sort. He got up and, without so much as a chest pound or a smile, ran to the sidelines and let the scoreboard do the talking. After being promoted to starter following the trade that sent Clinton Portis out of the mile-high city, reporters were naturally eager to compare the two running backs' first game statistics. Even though Griffin surpassed the yardage and touchdowns of Portis, a humble and grateful Quentin would not boast or brag.
"Clinton is a very good running back," he said, "I don't think I'm the one to compare myself to him."
No you're not, Quentin, your numbers did it for you.
Randy Moss has played six more NFL seasons than Quentin Griffin, but he could stand to learn a thing or two from the second-year man out of Oklahoma. One about sportsmanship and another about being a man rather than a punk. As the great Jerry Maguire told a quan-seeking Rod Tidwell, "You're a paycheck player. You play with your head. Not your heart."
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Midway through the fourth quarter, Moss made an amazing falling-down catch in the endzone but wasn't able to keep his feet in bounds. The pass was ruled incomplete so there was no touchdown scored, but there was a penalty called on Randy's defender. The normal reaction to such a play would be to jog back to the line and get ready to take another shot at scoring, perhaps applauding the penalty call along the way. What does Randy Moss do though? He gets up and taunts his opponent by mimicking throwing the flag in his face. Then he walks over to a bank of photographers on the corner of the endzone and mugs for the cameras by putting his hands on his waist and proudly tilting his chin toward the sky. He was posing for photographers on an incomplete pass! An incomplete pass! A play that netted him (and his team) zero points! Can you picture a firefighter coming out of a burning building posing for the cameras and saying "I almost saved that kid's life. And didn't I look fine doin' it?" Unfortunately, Randy Moss is one of the most talented receivers in the NFL so he gets away with such shameful shenanigans, but he'll never be off the hook with me. I have no problem with touchdown celebrations. It's an emotional game and there's going to be reactions to complement that. However, there is celebration and then there's downright idiocy. Moss is a consistent example of the latter.
The gifts of world class athleticism are not always wasted on the brash and tactless, however, as evidenced by the behavior of breakout Denver running back Quentin Griffin. In his first NFL start, Griffin amassed 156 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns. He averaged 6.8 yards per carry and was virtually unstoppable all night. Unlike Randy Moss, Griffin's performance actually merited some mugging, but Griffin did nothing of the sort. He got up and, without so much as a chest pound or a smile, ran to the sidelines and let the scoreboard do the talking. After being promoted to starter following the trade that sent Clinton Portis out of the mile-high city, reporters were naturally eager to compare the two running backs' first game statistics. Even though Griffin surpassed the yardage and touchdowns of Portis, a humble and grateful Quentin would not boast or brag.
"Clinton is a very good running back," he said, "I don't think I'm the one to compare myself to him."
No you're not, Quentin, your numbers did it for you.
Randy Moss has played six more NFL seasons than Quentin Griffin, but he could stand to learn a thing or two from the second-year man out of Oklahoma. One about sportsmanship and another about being a man rather than a punk. As the great Jerry Maguire told a quan-seeking Rod Tidwell, "You're a paycheck player. You play with your head. Not your heart."
# posted by j.h.k. @ 6:21 PM 
