Randy Moss

Former NFL wide receiver Randy Gene Moss was born in Rand, W. Va.. He played multiple sports while attending DuPont High School but excelled in football, helping lead the team to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He received the Kennedy Award as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year in 1994 and was named to Parade magazine's All-American high school football team the following year. His dream of playing for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was derailed when he spent 30 days in a Charleston, W. Va., jail following a racially charged fight at DuPont that left someone hospitalized. That situation caused Notre Dame to deny his enrollment application. Moss was later admitted to Florida State University, but a positive marijuana test violated the terms of his probation and led to his dismissal from the school. He eventually transferred to Marshall University and as a freshman in 1996 set several NCAA Division I-AA records, including most games in a season with a touchdown catch (14). Moss was named as a first team All-American in his sophomore season, during which he caught 26 touchdown passes. He entered the NFL draft in 1998 and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick, signing a four-year contract with the team. He began his career strong, ending his rookie season with 69 catches for 1,313 yards and 17 touchdowns. His success continued, and he put up some of his best statistics in 2003 when he had 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. After leaving the Vikings following the 2004 season, Moss played two nondescript years with the Oakland Raiders but enjoyed a career renaissance upon joining the New England Patriots for the 2007 campaign. That year, he set a career-high with 23 touchdowns and racked up nearly 1,500 receiving yards. He had more than 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns each of the next two seasons but played just four games with New England in 2010 before they traded him to the Vikings, who waived Moss on Nov. 2 after he publicly criticized the team and head coach Brad Childress. He finished the season with the Tennessee Titans, who claimed him off waivers, but he had just six catches in eight games with the team. Moss, through his agent, announced his retirement from the NFL on Aug. 1, 2011, but declared he was returning to the league on Feb. 13, 2012, his 35th birthday. He signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers on March 12 and helped the team advance to Super Bowl XLVII; he had two receptions in the 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in what ended up being the final game of Moss' career. After being released by the 49ers, Moss became an analyst for Fox Sports. In July 2016 he joined ESPN, serving as an analyst on such shows as "Sunday NFL Countdown" and "Monday Night Countdown."