Randy Speaks and People Go Crazy

I’m shocked. I couldn’t believe it when I read it. Randy Moss smokes marijuana? Noooo. For anybody who might have been surprised – get a new hobby. But there are two things that I thought about when I heard this news. 1) It’s Randy Moss’ business and 2) Obviously it doesn’t effect his play.

Next Tuesday night on HBO’s ‘Real Sports with Byrant Gumbel’ Moss says since entering the NFL seven years ago that he still smokes marijuana "every blue moon."

Apparently when asked again whether or not he still smokes marijuana Moss said: "I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason.”

Of course after hearing all of the reports Randy is back pedaling and his agent, Dante DiTrapano is saying that HBO is trying to intentionally damage Randy Moss’ reputation. DiTrapano also said that Moss was talking about past use in the interview.

I would like to note that Moss has never been suspended for violating the league's drug policy. Of course NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said yesterday that it is confidential whether a certain player is in the drug program or not. He did test positive several years ago and had to submit to urine samples for two seasons. After testing clean for those two years following the positive test, Moss was taken out of the NFL's drug program. If a player tests positive, the NFL's drug policy stipulates that players can be tested up to 10 times a month. A second violation results in a fine equal to the player's salary for four regular season games, a third is a four-game suspension, and the fourth is a year's suspension.

Let’s face it, Randy has had his share of problems on and off the field throughout his college and pro career. He lost scholarships to play football at both Notre Dame and Florida State because of a battery charge and marijuana use. Because of that he went to Division I-AA Marshall where he set records was the top receiver in the 1998 NFL Draft, but didn’t get picked until the 21st overall because teams were worried about his past trouble.

Since being an NFL All-Pro receiver he’s bumped a traffic officer with his car in 2002 and squirting an official with a water bottle in 1999. He was fined last year for pretending to pull down his pants to ‘moon’ the Packers fans during the Vikes playoff victory. All of these and probably more led the Vikings to trade their star wide out in early March to the Raiders.

Let’s take a step back for a second and give the guy a bit of a break. If he does still occasionally smoke marijuana – it surely doesn’t hurt his play. His play is sometimes characterized as “All World” and isn’t that what matters most? Sure, Randy might not be the best teammate in the world or the greatest blocking receiver, and he’s admitted to “taking plays off”, but his play is stellar. As Eagles fans would probably laugh about now – Randy has never been kicked out of training camp either. Let the man play and don’t judge an interview on HBO. As long as he’s not using “performance enhancing drugs” such as steroids, I’m not really worried about what he does in the offseason or on his off time.