Patriot, The (1998)

This article is part of a series of articles written on some of the current players of the New England Patriots. In this article we'll focus on life and football career of Randy Moss, the Patriots' star receiver wide. Although some of his transgressions off the field are well known, his stature as one of the best receivers ever passes in the NFL is not disputed. Lets you examine the biography of Randy Moss.

Randy Moss was born in Rand, West Virginia, on February 13, 1977 to Maxine Moss and Randy Pratt. Rand was a small mining town, not the kind of city that you expect to produce one of the biggest stars of the NFL. Rand was so low that they do not have their own high school. Therefore, Randy attended high school at the defunct DuPont High near Belle, West Virginia.

During his high school years, Randy has excelled in sports. His favorite sports are football and basketball. He helped to bring its titles in both the state team football and basketball during his junior and senior years. Because of its excellent performance in football during his high school years, college football power plants has become very interested in it. Top colleges that have shown an interest in Randy were Ohio State, Notre Dame and Florida State University. Lou Holtz of Notre Dame said that "Randy Moss was the best high school football player he has ever seen." In 1995, Randy has signed a letter of intent to attend Notre Dame on a full football scholarship.

Racial tensions were high in high school that Randy Moss attended. These tensions led to many fights at DuPont High School. After signing to go to Notre Dame, Randy was involved in one of these fights racist. The result was Our Lady rescind the award. Lou Holtz has to Bobby Bowden, head coach of the FSU, to give Randy a chance. So Randy for FSU to go on a full football scholarship. However, because of his letter of intent signed at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student. This made him play for the Seminoles to the 1995 season of football. In 1995, Randy was red shirt.

In 1996, because of some off-field transgressions, Randy has been dismissed from the State of Florida. He ended up never playing for the former USSR. He then need to take a decision on where to play his college football. He said Marshall University, which was only a few hours away from his hometown. Randy knew that Marshall was a Division 1-AA to Division 1-A, which means increased competition and greater exposure to NFL scouts. That is what I am sure influenced his decision to attend Marshall.

During the 1996 season, Randy broke records many freshmen as to Marshall. This included most games with a pinch hit in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown-making (13) and most touchdown passes caught in a season (28). He also broke the record for most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (78 catches 1709), a record that still stands today. He helped Marshall make the national championship for Schools Division I-AA.

Randy also played football at Marshall during its second year. It was the first year of college at a school in Division IA. Over the past two seasons that Randy played at Marshall, he broke many records in the NCAA. Global Marshall, he scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games he has played. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's leading wide receiver, and was a finalist for the Heisman in 1997. He finished fourth in the poll this year, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson. Not bad for Randy was a sophomore. Charles Woodson, the University of Michigan star, who won the Heisman this year, said "Randy had a superior talent, and he was surprised that Randy did not get the Heisman."

Randy Moss was so good during his sophomore.