Post by TheShadow on Dec 28, 2007 8:37:55 GMT -5
www.contracostatimes.com
GARY PETERSON: TIMES COLUMNIST
THEY LOVE RANDY MOSS in Boston. Looooove him. Patriots coach Bill (Candid Camera) Belichick will tell you how much Moss has changed. Tom Brady's scouting report: "A great guy and a great teammate."
Say, now that they're wrapping up the Big Dig back there, maybe they can start on a Randy Moss statue to replace that tired ode to Paul Revere near the Old North Church.
Funny how we confuse high performance with character rehabilitation, isn't it? Moss is having a monster year for the practically perfect Patriots. In fact, a sub-sub-subplot to Saturday night's game, in which the Pats will try to become the first NFL team to go undefeated in a 16-game season, is Moss' quest to top Jerry Rice's single-season record of 22 touchdown catches.
If you don't have a rooting interest, you should give it some thought.
They don't have a statue of Moss in Oakland. There's no need -- during his two forgettable seasons with the Raiders, he was a statue. Just stood there. Didn't care. Dogged it, and admitted he dogged it.
That act was offensive enough in and of itself. Now, it's juxtaposed against the standard Rice established in 1987, playing only 12 games with the 49ers in a strike-fouled season.
"If I break the record," Moss, who has 21 touchdown catches, told reporters this week, "I'm cool. If I don't, I'm cool."
As observers, we don't get to choose which athletes hold significant records. What we can decide for ourselves is which athletes, and which achievements, we hold in high regard. What His Coolness has done this season is admirable. What Rice did in 1987 is worthy of respect.
That puts Rice's '87 season on a higher plane than whatever numbers Moss winds up with after Saturday's game. For one thing, Rice never cheated his wondrous natural ability by applying it on a conditional basis. Moss did, and that kind of thing leaves a stain.
For another, Rice's contributions were essential to the success of the '87 49ers -- certainly more so than Moss' have been to this year's Patriots, who would have been plenty good without him.
The '87 49ers were at something of a crossroads -- coming off consecutive first-round playoff losses, having traded for Steve Young because of concerns about Joe Montana's health and having lost their Super Bowl mojo.
They would end the season mauling teams in the manner of today's Patriots, outscoring opponents 131-7 in the final three-and-a-half games and finishing 13-2. But it began inauspiciously, with a 30-17 loss in Pittsburgh. The following Sunday, with the drumbeat of labor discord as a backdrop, the 49ers found themselves trailing the Bengals in Cincinnati, 26-20, with two seconds remaining.
"You're up against the wall," Ronnie Lott would say later, "and there's one of two ways to go."
Rice went into the end zone and caught Montana's pass for a 25-yard touchdown. It turned out to be the most important play of the season for the 49ers, sustaining the team through one canceled game and three games played mostly by strike-breakers.
The strike fizzled, and the real players returned to work. Some teams never recovered. The 49ers lost just one more regular-season game. Rice did what had never been done, dominating games from the receiver position. He scored 13 touchdowns in the final five regular-season games, personally outscoring the opposition by 25 points.
"He has all the talent in the world," teammate Dwight Clark said after the game in which Rice tied and broke the single-season record for touchdown catches. "But he works like a 10th-round draft choice."
"He's a class guy," Steve Young said after that same game, "which I think separates him from a lot of guys who have a lot of talent."
Which would be our point exactly.
That season didn't end happily for the 49ers, who were upset by Minnesota in their postseason opener. But they rediscovered their mojo, and won Super Bowls after the 1988 and '89 seasons.
Now here come Moss and the Patriots. Rice, in a recent interview with SI.com, expressed admiration for Moss and pride in the record he set in a compressed season.
"You would prefer someone to match or break the record in an equal amount of games," Rice said. "I did it in 12 games. That's all I'm saying."
Twenty years ago, having saved the footballs he caught for the tying and record-breaking touchdowns, Rice was saying this: "I'm going to take them home, and one day my little girl is going to look over them and say, 'My daddy was a good player, he set some records.'"
And at least one standard Moss can never surpass, given that it requires more of him than he can be counted on to give.
GARY PETERSON: TIMES COLUMNIST
THEY LOVE RANDY MOSS in Boston. Looooove him. Patriots coach Bill (Candid Camera) Belichick will tell you how much Moss has changed. Tom Brady's scouting report: "A great guy and a great teammate."
Say, now that they're wrapping up the Big Dig back there, maybe they can start on a Randy Moss statue to replace that tired ode to Paul Revere near the Old North Church.
Funny how we confuse high performance with character rehabilitation, isn't it? Moss is having a monster year for the practically perfect Patriots. In fact, a sub-sub-subplot to Saturday night's game, in which the Pats will try to become the first NFL team to go undefeated in a 16-game season, is Moss' quest to top Jerry Rice's single-season record of 22 touchdown catches.
If you don't have a rooting interest, you should give it some thought.
They don't have a statue of Moss in Oakland. There's no need -- during his two forgettable seasons with the Raiders, he was a statue. Just stood there. Didn't care. Dogged it, and admitted he dogged it.
That act was offensive enough in and of itself. Now, it's juxtaposed against the standard Rice established in 1987, playing only 12 games with the 49ers in a strike-fouled season.
"If I break the record," Moss, who has 21 touchdown catches, told reporters this week, "I'm cool. If I don't, I'm cool."
As observers, we don't get to choose which athletes hold significant records. What we can decide for ourselves is which athletes, and which achievements, we hold in high regard. What His Coolness has done this season is admirable. What Rice did in 1987 is worthy of respect.
That puts Rice's '87 season on a higher plane than whatever numbers Moss winds up with after Saturday's game. For one thing, Rice never cheated his wondrous natural ability by applying it on a conditional basis. Moss did, and that kind of thing leaves a stain.
For another, Rice's contributions were essential to the success of the '87 49ers -- certainly more so than Moss' have been to this year's Patriots, who would have been plenty good without him.
The '87 49ers were at something of a crossroads -- coming off consecutive first-round playoff losses, having traded for Steve Young because of concerns about Joe Montana's health and having lost their Super Bowl mojo.
They would end the season mauling teams in the manner of today's Patriots, outscoring opponents 131-7 in the final three-and-a-half games and finishing 13-2. But it began inauspiciously, with a 30-17 loss in Pittsburgh. The following Sunday, with the drumbeat of labor discord as a backdrop, the 49ers found themselves trailing the Bengals in Cincinnati, 26-20, with two seconds remaining.
"You're up against the wall," Ronnie Lott would say later, "and there's one of two ways to go."
Rice went into the end zone and caught Montana's pass for a 25-yard touchdown. It turned out to be the most important play of the season for the 49ers, sustaining the team through one canceled game and three games played mostly by strike-breakers.
The strike fizzled, and the real players returned to work. Some teams never recovered. The 49ers lost just one more regular-season game. Rice did what had never been done, dominating games from the receiver position. He scored 13 touchdowns in the final five regular-season games, personally outscoring the opposition by 25 points.
"He has all the talent in the world," teammate Dwight Clark said after the game in which Rice tied and broke the single-season record for touchdown catches. "But he works like a 10th-round draft choice."
"He's a class guy," Steve Young said after that same game, "which I think separates him from a lot of guys who have a lot of talent."
Which would be our point exactly.
That season didn't end happily for the 49ers, who were upset by Minnesota in their postseason opener. But they rediscovered their mojo, and won Super Bowls after the 1988 and '89 seasons.
Now here come Moss and the Patriots. Rice, in a recent interview with SI.com, expressed admiration for Moss and pride in the record he set in a compressed season.
"You would prefer someone to match or break the record in an equal amount of games," Rice said. "I did it in 12 games. That's all I'm saying."
Twenty years ago, having saved the footballs he caught for the tying and record-breaking touchdowns, Rice was saying this: "I'm going to take them home, and one day my little girl is going to look over them and say, 'My daddy was a good player, he set some records.'"
And at least one standard Moss can never surpass, given that it requires more of him than he can be counted on to give.