Randy Moss Biography

Randy Moss

Birthdate: February 13, 1977
Birthplace: Rand, West Virginia

Kidzworld takes a look at Randy Moss - one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and the New England Patriots' most dangerous weapon.

Starting Out

Randy Moss was a natural athlete growing up. At Dupont High School, he was a four-sport star, playing football, basketball, baseball and track. Randy could run the 40-yard-dash in 4.25 seconds and had nearly a three-foot vertical jump!

The College Years

After high school, Randy was offered a football scholarship to Notre Dame. He was all set to join the Fighting Irish but, after he got into a fight during the last month of high school, Notre Dame revoked the scholarship offer. Randy eventually ended up playing college football at Marshall, where he tied an NCAA record by scoring 28 touchdowns and led the Thundering Herd to the NCAA Division I-AA title. He left Marshall after two years and was drafted in the first round of the 1998 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

NFL Superstar

It didn't take Randy long to make an impact with the Vikings in the NFL. His rare combination of speed, body control, jumping ability, soft hands and big ego made him an NFL superstar almost instantly. In his rookie year with the Vikings, Randy Moss had more than 1,300 yards receiving, scored a league-high 17 touchdowns, and helped the Vikings go 15-1 during the regular season. Randy Moss has already set several NFL records during his short NFL career. He's been named to the Pro Bowl six times and is the only NFL receiver in history to record 1,000 yards in his first six seasons. In March 2005, Randy was traded to the Oakland Raiders - where he spend two unproductive and injury riddled seasons. Randy was traded once again in April 2007 to the New England Patriots where he became the league's most dominant receiver again. In this historic season, he helped lead New England to an undefeated season and also set a single season record by getting 23 receiving touchdowns.

Off Field Problems

While Randy Moss has had great success on the field, his record off the field has been anything but perfect. In November 2001, he was booted off an airplane after being accused of yelling at a flight attendant and in 2002 he was arrested and charged after being accused of knocking over a Minnesota traffic cop over with his car. A week before the 2008 Super Bowl Randy was accused of battering a female friend.