Larry Brown Sports

Randy Moss returned to his hometown of Rand, West Virginia this week and paid a visit to one of its most famous landmarks. As Moss’ close friend Donnie Jones once said, all they had in Rand was a 7-Eleven store. The people in the community would say that the town’s athletes were doomed because of their upbringing and would be going nowhere for college except Rand University.

As a future NFL Hall of Famer, Moss has obviously broken the mold. He graduated from Rand University and went on to score 155 touchdowns and counting. Upon returning to Rand on Monday, Moss tweeted the following along with the photos you see above.

“I’m at the university. In my hood checking on grade point averages (gpa)!!!boom”

Happy returns, Randy. You’ve certainly earned the right to say you graduated from 7-Eleven.

Randy Moss wasn’t interested in answering questions about his lack of playing time after the 49ers’ 24-13 loss to the Vikings in Minnesota on Sunday.

When asked about his lack of playing time after the game, Moss answered “next question.” He only fielded three questions from reporters.

The “next question” response was a continuation of what Moss did during the week leading up to Sunday’s game. Maybe this is his way of telling reporters to find something else to ask him about.

Moss had three catches for 27 yards on six targets, and he hardly saw any action late in the game. The receiver was thrown to five times in the first half, and did not see another target after the team’s first drive of the second half. The 49ers even went with Kyle Williams in their three wide receiver sets late in the game. That could have bothered Moss, who was overthrown on a potential touchdown pass early in the game, and dropped another pass.

There was a report from 1500 ESPN’s Tom Pelissero that Moss was sitting on the bench late in the game away from the rest of San Francisco’s offensive players.

It’s too early to make any conclusions about Moss’ behavior on the 49ers, but given his history of implosions, it wouldn’t be surprising if this were the beginning of a meltdown. The odds are against him behaving well for the entire season.

Photo Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

During the introductions of the Sunday Night Football broadcast, Randy Moss said he attended “Rand University” when the player introduction graphics were being shown at the bottom of the screen. Fans immediately interpreted “Rand” as some variation of the future Hall of Famer’s name. When you think about it like that, the straight cash homey jokes practically write themselves.

However, that was not what Moss meant. As Game On! pointed out, Moss grew up in a small town called Rand in West Virginia. Back in 2008 when he was with the Patriots, the Boston Globe ran a story in which one of Randy’s friends explained the meaning behind Rand University.

“Growing up in a low-income area, the one thing we had was a 7-Eleven,” Moss’ business manager and close friend Donnie Jones explained. “We’ve had all-state athletes here, but because of the environment in which they grew up, people in the community would say, ‘It doesn’t matter. He isn’t going anywhere but Rand University.’

“I was an all-state football player, but when they said that to me, what they meant was that when I was done with high school, I’d be standing at the 7-Eleven drinking a cold beer. That’s the university. I graduated from there.”

So that explains that. We all know Moss can be a cocky and arrogant guy sometimes, but he didn’t invent a fake university and name it after himself. By saying he graduated from Rand University, Moss was paying tribute to his hometown and the fact that he was able to make something out of his life.

Photo credit: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

From the sound of it, Randy Moss isn’t the only freakishly athletic person in his family. We have all seen the amazing things that Moss is capable of on the field when he puts some effort in, and from the look of it the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Moss’ daughter, Sydney Moss, is a high school basketball star at Boone County high in Kentucky. According to WLWT, she was recently named Kentucky Miss Basketball.

Sydney is only the fifth girls basketball player from Northern Kentucky to win the award. She has already been named the Gatorade Kentucky Girls Basketball Player of the Year and Associated Press Kentucky Girls Basketball player of the year. During her senior season, Sydney averaged 22.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.2 steals per game. From the sound of it, the Florida Gators will be getting themselves a well-rounded player next season.

Unfortunately, Sydney’s team has been eliminated from the Kentucky Tournament after reaching the Sweet 16. She did, however, net 41 points in the loss. If she continues to play like this at Florida next year, the straight cash should be coming in bunches in a few years, homey.

Photo via YouTube user NkySportsBlog

For Randy Moss, signing with the 49ers isn’t just about showing people he can still play. He also wants to prove he has what it takes to be a supportive teammate.

“I think when it comes to the world-wide sports media, I’ve gotten a bad rap … not being a team player and things like that,” Moss said Monday after signing a one-year deal with the Niners. “I really don’t want to get into that because that’s not what I’m here for. I think that one thing I’d like the sports world to understand is the love and the passion I have for the game of football. I think every player wants to win and every organization wants to win.”

Moss could perhaps be referring to the harsh criticisms delivered by Cris Carter and Warren Sapp, two former teammates of Moss’ who both are now part of the media. And after abundant instances of Moss quitting on teammates throughout his career, it’s clear why he’s earned that “bad rap.” You just think Moss would be wise enough to acknowledge the same.

Yes, Moss comes with a bad reputation, but for the Niners it’s a low-risk, high reward signing, as his contract is only a $1.75 million hit on the salary cap. If he delivers, the gamble pays off. If he becomes a headache, you dump him for practically nothing.

Whether Moss has anything left in his career is still to be determined. Moss has been disappointing, often times looking as if he had given up, when playing with less than stellar quarterbacks. How he connects with Alex Smith is key. But he does give the Niners another red-zone target other than Vernon Davis, something they were sorely lacking last season. If the Niners are getting anything better than what Moss showed in his two-year sabbatical, otherwise known as more recent Bay Area stint in Oakland, they’re coming away with a steal.

H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo credit: Brett Davis, US Presswire

Randy Moss has agreed to a one-year deal with the 49ers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Moss worked out for the team Monday with coach Jim Harbaugh throwing to him. Things must have gone well because Moss reportedly has agreed to join the team.

The 49ers stated they were not interested in pursuing free agent quarterback Peyton Manning, who many, including us, thought would be a great fit for the team. Instead, they decided their big move would be signing Randy.

I really don’t see how this can work out well. Moss “vomited” all over the Vikings’ locker room two seasons ago before becoming a total non-factor in Tennessee. He may be able to run fast and be a deep threat, but what else does he offer a team? He generally has a bad attitude and doesn’t try hard, and he didn’t even play last year. Plus, with Alex Smith’s arm strength limitations, we wonder if he can bomb the ball downfield to Moss the way Tom Brady could.

Jim Harbaugh is a disciplinarian who knows how to keep his team in check, but we can’t imagine this benefiting the 49ers much.

Here’s a developing story that should surprise absolutely no one: Randy Moss can still bring it. Moss is 35 years old and a year removed from football, but you would be hard-pressed to find any legitimate evidence that his skills have diminished. Attitude issues have plagued Randy throughout his entire career, but when he wants to compete he can be almost impossible to stop. Moss worked out for the Saints on Tuesday, and according to Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com he does not appear to have lost a step.

“Multiple sources told me he looked phenomenal in his route-running,” Glazer said. “One source told me he looked like the ‘old Randy Moss.’ He meant that in a good way — the Randy Moss who busted his butt out there and looked phenomenal, not the Randy Moss with minor controversy in a few of his years. … The New Orleans Saints were absolutely floored at how good Randy Moss looked.”

An NFL source also told Pro Football Talk that the workout “couldn’t have gone better,” and that Moss looked sharp and showed great football intelligence.

Again, nobody is shocked. Moss forced his way out of New England when the Patriots’ offense started to evolve and get away from its 2007 form. We all know how well things turned out for him in Minnesota and Tennessee after that. After he left New England, it appeared Randy realized he made a mistake. Now, he’s sure to want to play for a clear-cut Super Bowl contender.

The Saints fit that description, and they showed interest in Moss at the start of the season last year. The question is will he be the Moss that is arguably the most talented receiver to play the game, or the Moss that Cris Carter describes as a quitter? Tuesday’s reports will certainly up the amount of teams interested in bringing Randy in for a workout, but they don’t answer the questions about his character. From a physical standpoint, Randy Moss and “lighting it up” have gone together quite frequently over the past 13 years. Why should 2012 be any different?