Straight Canton, homie!

[vike daddy]

35 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

I personally think the thing that has kept Marshall out of the HOF all these years has been the low profile he kept when playing and after he retired. 

well, other than the snowmobiling incident where HE SAVED EVERYONE'S LIVES.

[swede700]

On 8/4/2018 at 8:00 AM, vike daddy said:

Moss:  “I get to put on a gold jacket regardless of the stuff that was written, the things that were said about me throughout my whole career. And the thing about it is, it brainwashed a whole lot of football fans out in the world. I think it was very unfair to me. I think it was unfair to my family. Being able to look back and reflect back, man, I wouldn’t change it. I just wanted to play football. Now that I look back and reflect back and seeing all these cameras and all these positive stories written about me, it’s still not fair and I’m still not pleased with it.”

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/08/04/randy-moss-believes-he-could-still-play/

It's those kind of quotes from Randy that drive me nuts.  For all he's grown as a person, he's still manufacturing media persecution.  If there was any sort of persecution from the media, it was all self-created.  And he continues to ignore that fact.  

[VikeManDan]

@swede700 have you seen the 30 for 30 on Randy? I believe it documents his mistrust of the media there. That is a series I need to get more into, most are very well done.

[swede700]

16 minutes ago, VikeManDan said:

@swede700 have you seen the 30 for 30 on Randy? I believe it documents his mistrust of the media there. That is a series I need to get more into, most are very well done.

I did watch it and I certainly understand part of it.  But, the fact that he ignores his own role in it is what drives me nuts.  He's not innocent.  Most of the things he's done certainly don't rise to a level of the Ray Lewis situation or some others, but that he continues to plead that he's done nothing to warrant the criticism is ridiculous.  Often, in fact, he's the one that escalated it with his lack of accountability. 

With Randy, you have to accept the bad with the good.  It's part of his story and it's a part that has to be told.  It can't, nor should it, be swept under the rug, all for the sake of stroking his ego and "having his back."  That's not the media's job.  I accept Randy for who he is and will always appreciate what he brought to the franchise on the football field.  I will also appreciate the things he did off the football field with children, often with little fanfare or appreciation.  But, I can't ignore the stupid things he did on the field and off as well, with his lack of self-awareness at how some of his actions impacted the team on the field (such as tipping off plays that weren't coming to him) and off the field with his antics that got him on the news. 

The media didn't hit the accelerator on his car and nudge a traffic cop, he did.  The media didn't squirt the official in the face, he did.  The media didn't push him off the field with 2 seconds to play in the Washington game, he did that.  For him to think that the media should ignore those things to "support him" is unrealistic and probably would be fireable offenses for they wouldn't be doing their job.       

[Klomp]

1 hour ago, swede700 said:

I did watch it and I certainly understand part of it.  But, the fact that he ignores his own role in it is what drives me nuts.  He's not innocent.  Most of the things he's done certainly don't rise to a level of the Ray Lewis situation or some others, but that he continues to plead that he's done nothing to warrant the criticism is ridiculous.  Often, in fact, he's the one that escalated it with his lack of accountability. 

With Randy, you have to accept the bad with the good.  It's part of his story and it's a part that has to be told.  It can't, nor should it, be swept under the rug, all for the sake of stroking his ego and "having his back."  That's not the media's job.  I accept Randy for who he is and will always appreciate what he brought to the franchise on the football field.  I will also appreciate the things he did off the football field with children, often with little fanfare or appreciation.  But, I can't ignore the stupid things he did on the field and off as well, with his lack of self-awareness at how some of his actions impacted the team on the field (such as tipping off plays that weren't coming to him) and off the field with his antics that got him on the news. 

The media didn't hit the accelerator on his car and nudge a traffic cop, he did.  The media didn't squirt the official in the face, he did.  The media didn't push him off the field with 2 seconds to play in the Washington game, he did that.  For him to think that the media should ignore those things to "support him" is unrealistic and probably would be fireable offenses for they wouldn't be doing their job.       

I don't think anyone expects perfection from him. But people do hold minor incidents like these against guys far too often. He's not the only guy to get in trouble with a traffic cop. He's not the only player to walk off the field early. But I'm guessing he did get far more grief from reporters because of it.

It's not the reporting of the incidents, but how he was perceived by the media and then framed to the public because of them,

[SemperFeist]

Moss didn’t kiss ***, and pander to the Minnesota media, and a select number of media members in Minnesota vilified him for it. 

There are a select few within the Twin Cities press that have always acted and written as if they are entitled anything and everything simply because they are journalists. 

Luckily most of them are aging out. 

[swede700]

24 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

Moss didn’t kiss ***, and pander to the Minnesota media, and a select number of media members in Minnesota vilified him for it. 

There are a select few within the Twin Cities press that have always acted and written as if they are entitled anything and everything simply because they are journalists. 

Luckily most of them are aging out. 

I'm sure there were certain media members that did vilify him to a degree, but he didn't do himself any favors by completely shutting out the local media because of those select few.  Denny did the same thing (which is why I assume Randy followed his lead), and it's the same reason why there's always this sort of "smudge" on their legacies in the eyes of the local fans, myself included.  If he had ever learned how to use the local media to his advantage, such as Kirby and KG did, maybe there would have been a different perspective portrayed.  But, you view the media as the enemy and shut them out, don't be surprised when they keep their distance from you and don't always gush over you like Sid does.  

[Uncle Buck]

3 hours ago, swede700 said:

I did watch it and I certainly understand part of it.  But, the fact that he ignores his own role in it is what drives me nuts.  He's not innocent.  Most of the things he's done certainly don't rise to a level of the Ray Lewis situation or some others, but that he continues to plead that he's done nothing to warrant the criticism is ridiculous.  Often, in fact, he's the one that escalated it with his lack of accountability. 

With Randy, you have to accept the bad with the good.  It's part of his story and it's a part that has to be told.  It can't, nor should it, be swept under the rug, all for the sake of stroking his ego and "having his back."  That's not the media's job.  I accept Randy for who he is and will always appreciate what he brought to the franchise on the football field.  I will also appreciate the things he did off the football field with children, often with little fanfare or appreciation.  But, I can't ignore the stupid things he did on the field and off as well, with his lack of self-awareness at how some of his actions impacted the team on the field (such as tipping off plays that weren't coming to him) and off the field with his antics that got him on the news. 

The media didn't hit the accelerator on his car and nudge a traffic cop, he did.  The media didn't squirt the official in the face, he did.  The media didn't push him off the field with 2 seconds to play in the Washington game, he did that.  For him to think that the media should ignore those things to "support him" is unrealistic and probably would be fireable offenses for they wouldn't be doing their job.       

 

You are right about these things, but Randy does have a point about the media.  They took his "I play when I want to play" statement completely out of context and never let go of it.

[swede700]

2 hours ago, Uncle Buck said:

You are right about these things, but Randy does have a point about the media.  They took his "I play when I want to play" statement completely out of context and never let go of it.

True...if there's one thing that they did harp on a lot, it was that.  But, he also should have known better, especially by then,  to say it in the first place.  He's never really acknowledged that it was probably in poor taste to say it.  I think we all know that no player is going to go 100% all of the time...but there aren't many that made it that obvious either.  Also, I'm sure now, in the days of the All-22, I'm sure we could rip 80-90% of the players for taking plays off.  

[Guest]

22 hours ago, Uncle Buck said:

You are right about these things, but Randy does have a point about the media.  They took his "I play when I want to play" statement completely out of context and never let go of it.

The issue with Randy, that Swede rightfully points out, is that he seemed completely unaware that his actions (minor and major) would bring him attention from the media.  Whether he liked it or not, or thought the media was unfair, is not the issue.  The issue is that he did not take responsibility for his behavior and work towards growth and maturity while he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Randy was a great player...and he had a difficult upbringing!  He has done some fantastic things with charitable work...and he has done some moronic things with his self behavior.  Blaming the coverage of his behavior instead of changing his behavior was immature of Moss.  He's in his 40's now...he's in the HOF.  It's time for him to stop pointing at others and take responsibility for himself.

[Uncle Buck]

On 8/7/2018 at 11:29 AM, Virginia Viking said:

The issue with Randy, that Swede rightfully points out, is that he seemed completely unaware that his actions (minor and major) would bring him attention from the media.  Whether he liked it or not, or thought the media was unfair, is not the issue.  The issue is that he did not take responsibility for his behavior and work towards growth and maturity while he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Randy was a great player...and he had a difficult upbringing!  He has done some fantastic things with charitable work...and he has done some moronic things with his self behavior.  Blaming the coverage of his behavior instead of changing his behavior was immature of Moss.  He's in his 40's now...he's in the HOF.  It's time for him to stop pointing at others and take responsibility for himself.

Very well said, VV.  I can agree with all of that.

[Uncle Buck]

On 8/6/2018 at 3:24 PM, swede700 said:

True...if there's one thing that they did harp on a lot, it was that.  But, he also should have known better, especially by then,  to say it in the first place.  He's never really acknowledged that it was probably in poor taste to say it.  I think we all know that no player is going to go 100% all of the time...but there aren't many that made it that obvious either.  Also, I'm sure now, in the days of the All-22, I'm sure we could rip 80-90% of the players for taking plays off.  

Actually, he wasn't even talking about taking plays off when he made the statement "I play when I want to play."  What happened is they asked him if Cris Carter was being a very strict, demanding mentor.  His response was meant to convey that it wasn't necessary for CC to be a taskmaster.  He [Randy] is self-motivated.  "I play when I want to play."  

I think he just worded his thought incorrectly.  If he had said "I play because I want to play" instead of "I play when I want to play," nobody would have taken it the way they did.  Either way, it was never a response to any questions about taking plays off.  It was more his way of saying "even though I'm a rookie, I am a professional now, so there is no need for Cris Carter or anyone else to get on me.  I'll take care of that myself.  The media took the statement out of context, created their own narrative, and we know the rest. 

All I can say is that if he only played when he wanted to play, he must have wanted to play an awful lot because he now has a bust in Canton.