Vikings fan reaction to potential Moss trade overwhelmingly positive

Dammit Randy. I had made so much progress.

Granted it has taken me every Sunday for the last 12 years, but progress is still progress. It was progress away from the best football season I’ve ever known, progress away from one of the worst football experiences of my life. It had been buried, even after last years’ horrendous ending.

Last night it all came back.

At first I was confused, much like everyone else, when Bill Simmons sent out the tweet that broke the internet.

Then I was annoyed when Pro Football Talk did a post about it.

Then came more confusion when Jay Glazer confirmed it was actually real.

Then it all kind of hit me. Randy Moss, Number 84 of the Minnesota Vikings. Mooning the town of Green Bay and making catches that no one else could. The second best receiver in NFL history.

Eight-year-old Drew got up and ran around the house. Time to put the Brad Johnson jersey back in the drawer. It’s Randy Moss time.

20-year-old Drew grabbed his phone and texted all of his friends who are Vikings fans, as well as the one Patriots fan, and told them the great news.

Since then I’ve seen one reaction that doesn’t involve eighty exclamation points. That reaction was from my friend Calby, the Patriots fan.

At first he didn’t respond, then he finally responded by saying it would be the end of his life, then tried to talk himself into the fact that Moss is getting old and was dispensable, and ended with “F*** you. Don’t talk to me.”

I don’t know if Moss joining the Vikings is the push they need to get back to their old ways and make another run at the Super Bowl. We don’t even know if the trade is actually going to happen.

What we do know that an offense with Moss, Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice (when healthy), Visanthe Shiancoe and Adrian Peterson is the kind of team that only exists in Madden. It might even make Brett Favre want to play the rest of the season and show some life.

Randy Moss is the guy who holds two single season touchdown records, most in a season (23) and most in a season as a rookie (17) and is second all time in career touchdown catches (151).

Randy Moss is the second greatest receiver in the history of the NFL. I will fight anyone who tries to say otherwise. He brought me more joy than any single football player ever has. He will always be my favorite football player, regardless of how many traffic officers he hits or crowds he moons or referees he sprays water on.

Sure he is 33 years old. Sure his best years are behind him. None of that really matters. It would be like if next year a 15-16 Boston Celtics team offered Minnesota a trade to take back Kevin Garnett. The state of Minnesota would all run out and have to buy new bottoms.

Minnesota fans are nothing but loyal to their stars. There aren’t that many that come around. Garnett, Moss and Mauer are the three main guys that I can remember as I wasn’t around for the Kirby Puckett era. Peterson could be added to that list as well. In the 12 years that I can remember being a Vikings fan, having only two players that actually mean something isn’t very many. If Peterson ever left, I would probably consider not watching football anymore.

Randy Moss coming back to Minnesota means more than improving the 2010 Vikings. It means google searching “randy moss vikings” and looking at pictures for 20 minutes. It means going on youtube and watching videos for an hour. It gives FOX and ESPN an excuse to bring up old highlights. It allows us to talk about the ’98 team again.

It allows me to feel like I’m eight-years-old again. Not many things in life can make that happen. My biggest worry when I was eight was missing a Vikings game and when my next tooth would fall out. I like eight-year-old version of me. He was awesome and loved Randy Moss.

I still love Randy Moss. The entire Vikings fan base still loves Randy Moss, and we’d be happy as hell if he came back to us.

---

---

---