Larry Brown Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals are not interested in signing any veteran free agent wide receivers. On Sunday, Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer urged the team to stop sitting on its hands and be more active in free agency. In particular, he said the Bengals need to bring in a veteran receiver presence rather than stick with Mohamed Sanu as the team’s No. 2 receiver behind AJ Green.

Head coach Marvin Lewis disagrees with that notion, to say that least. Lewis defended Sanu while using Chad Johnson and Randy Moss as examples of why bringing in a veteran free agent would accomplish nothing for the team.

“Mo Sanu (is) way ahead of where one certain receiver (Johnson) was in his second year playing in the National Football League. I’ll go on record saying that,” Lewis told the Enquirer’s Joe Reedy. “That’s the uneducated putting dumb thoughts in people’s minds. It’s why you have an opportunity to go after these guys and go get these guys. So you continue to make your team better.

“You are not a positive in making your team better when you keep adding old guys. What did Randy Moss do for those guys last year? He did nothing. He got in the way of a younger player performing.”

Moss’ numbers in 2012 were nothing to get excited about, but he did catch seven passes in the postseason, where every play counts a little more. Some would argue that he helped stretch the field and provided leadership for the team’s young receiving corps, but we have no way of measuring such things.

During his rookie season with the Bengals, Johnson caught 28 passes for 329 yards and a touchdown. He burst onto the scene in his second year with 69 catches for 1,166 yards and five touchdowns and was one of the most productive receivers in the league for the next five seasons. Sanu caught 16 passes for 154 yards and 4 touchdowns with Cincinnati last season, so their rookie production was similar. Plays like this remind us that Sanu is a tremendous athlete, so he is certainly capable of making the type of jump Johnson made in his sophomore season.

Obviously, Lewis would rather develop his younger guys than try to to incorporate a veteran into his offense. Coaches all have their own methods, but Lewis’ have resulted in zero playoff wins in his 10 seasons as coach of the Bengals. Just saying…

H/T Pro Football Talk

Randy Moss‘ tenure with the San Francisco 49ers may be short-lived.

Pro Football Talk reported Saturday that the 49ers made it clear at the Combine that they were not intending to bring back Moss next season.

Moss seemed to be disappointed with his lack of playing time, even though he didn’t vocally complain most of the season.

Moss said in January that he wants to play another season, though he said “next question” when asked if he wanted to return to the 49ers.

Moss sent a tweet Saturday evening a few hours after the report was published, and he made it seem like he’s anticipating and accepting of a split:

Wished we could’ve finished the job!!thanks for the opportunity an good luck in the future 9ers

— Randy Moss (@RandyMoss) March 3, 2013

Moss just turned 36 and played last season after taking the 2011 season off. He had 26 catches for 406 yards and three touchdowns. Though he is still a deep threat, he offers little else at this point. He was said to be a good influence on the Niners’ other receivers, but his attitude is always a concern.

It’s hard to imagine too many teams being interested in signing him, and it’s hard to imagine him being too productive for anyone else.

Photo credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

Randy Moss made waves during the week leading up to the Super Bowl when he confidently proclaimed himself to be the greatest receiver to ever play in the NFL. Jerry Rice was not shy in expressing how strongly he disagrees with Moss, and he pointed to statistics and championship rings to argue that he, not Moss, is the best ever.

Naturally, Rice’s former quarterback also believes Moss is mistaken. During an appearance on PFT Live on Tuesday, Joe Montana talked about the differences between Moss and Rice.

“I just think that he can’t do all the things that Jerry could do,” Montana said. “Randy will get behind you and he’s pretty good at going up and down the field. But going across the middle and catching little 10-yard crosses and 5-yard shallow crosses and turning them into a big play by making people miss, that’s not going to happen. He may outrun you, but he’s not going to make you miss.

“He’s a great receiver, but he’s not Jerry Rice.”

One of the arguments Moss supporters will make is that Rice played with tremendous quarterbacks. Moss, on the other hand, bounced around throughout his career and played with some signal-callers who were average at best, with the exception of Tom Brady for more than three seasons and Brett Favre for a handful of games.

Moss may be the most physically-gifted receiver to ever play, but no one ever questioned Rice’s effort or work ethic. Whether you agree or not, the comments that Bill Romanowski made about Moss on Sunday would never have been made about Rice during his career. Had Randy given 100% effort  throughout his 14-year career and continued his career the way it started, he would have certainly had a chance to be the best. Rice simply did it more consistently and for a longer time period.

Sunday night may have been the last chance Randy Moss will have to capture a Super Bowl ring, and his team came up short once again. The San Francisco 49ers turned Super Bowl XLVII into a close game, but the Baltimore Ravens were in charge for most of the night. One of the most devastating plays for the Niners came in the second quarter, when Colin Kaepernick threw an interception with his team already trailing 14-3.

The pass was intended for Moss, and although it sailed a bit high you have to wonder if he could have at least gotten a hand on it by extending himself. Instead, he watched it sail over his head and into the arms of Ed Reed. This infuriated Bill Romanowski, who laced into Moss during the Niners’ postgame show on Comcast SportsNet.

“Randy Moss alligator armed it, he didn’t go up for the ball!” Romanowski said while gradually raising his voice, via CSNBayArea.com. “He said he was the best receiver in the DAMN world — ok, you hear me? OH GOD! That’s what pisses me off! You’re playing in the SUPER BOWL, guys!”

Video of the play can be seen here.

Just as a 60-yard touchdown down the middle of the field is vintage Moss, so too is giving up on a play. He may feel that he is the most skilled player to ever play the position, but Moss never had a chance at being the best of all time due to a lack of effort. Would he have changed the outcome of the game had he broken up the pass? Could he even have reached it? We’ll never know, but we wouldn’t have to ask these questions if he at least made an effort. That’s simply Randy being Randy, and it may be one of the many reasons he’ll likely never win a ring.

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Randy Moss raised some eyebrows earlier in the week when he decided to come out and call himself the greatest receiver to ever play the game. The statement may have been arrogant, but it certainly wasn’t the dumbest thing a San Francisco 49ers player has said all week.

Leave that to cornerback Chris Culliver, who made incredibly insensitive homophobic remarks during a media day interview on Tuesday. Culliver later apologized after he was ripped to shreds by media outlets, fans and many of his fellow players. On Thursday, Moss shared his thoughts on the topic.

“You see guys, you sometimes wonder but it’s not anyone’s job to call them out,” he said according to CNN’s Rachel Nichols. “I really believe we should be able to look beyond that. It’s 2013.”

Moss was then asked if he believed an openly gay high school recruit would be treated the same way other straight college prospects are.

“I don’t think we’re ready to move past that, but we should be,” he said. “We need to be able to move on and accept it.”

It’s a shame that Culliver’s boneheaded remarks have made this such a major topic of discussion just days before the Niners will be playing for a championship, but Moss handled himself well. In the year 2013, these should be issues we can move past. As we know, they are not. The only thing more disappointing than homophobia is a professional athlete using his influence to perpetuate it.

H/T Around the League
Photo Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

Randy Moss has said hardly anything to this point in his first season with the San Francisco 49ers, but he may have tossed out the quote of the week at Super Bowl media day on Tuesday. While answering questions from writers and reporters on Monday, Moss labeled himself the greatest receiver of all time.

“I don’t live off numbers,” Moss said when asked about how much of a roller coaster his career has been, via Boston.com. “I live off impact. So I really do think that I’m the greatest receiver to play this game.”

Jerry Rice was quick to disagree with Moss and asked that their numbers be compared. Of course, ESPN obliged:

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Colin Kaepernick had made a lot of plays with his legs for the San Francisco 49ers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t throw. Not only has he completed more than 67% of his passes this season, but Kaepernick is also capable of putting some zip on the ball and sticking it into tight spots. Randy Moss said that is the reason he recently suffered the first dislocated finger of his 14-year career.

“When he found me (on one play) it was kind of too late to throw it, but he threw it anyway,” Moss told CSNBayArea.com when discussing the play where he hurt his finger. He had to put one of them Randy Johnson fastballs on me. When it hit my finger I felt my finger pop. I dislocated it so I had to come back to the sideline and the doctor had to pop it back in.

“Kap throws hard. He’s very strong, he works out every day. I didn’t really say anything to him besides keep doing what he’s doing. My finger will heal up.”

Moss has played with Daunte Culpepper, Brett Favre and Tom Brady — three players who can be categorized as having strong arms. A dislocated finger can happen on any play regardless of how much zip is on the ball, but the fact that Moss brought it up is obviously an indication of how strong he thinks Kaepernick is. When you spend some of your free time lifting up a 115-pound pet tortoise, arm strength is probably easy to come by.

Helmet smack to Pro Football Talk
Photo credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE