Randy Moss is out there, ready and willing to come back to the NFL.
He’s eager to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight and prove to everyone that even at age 35 he’s still the best wide receiver you ever saw.
“I wanna play football,” Moss posted recently. “Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I’m really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life.”
So, the speculation has begun. If Moss wants to play – and he’s reportedly in shape – where will he sign?
Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks this week, in his “Inside the NFL” column, took a look at the 32 teams around the league and ranked the 49ers as the No. 1 candidate.
The Niners have a need, and Moss would fill it.
But here’s another thought: Don’t do it, 49ers.
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Don’t even think about it.
Moss is that box of jelly doughnuts sitting on the counter, looking sweet and delicious when you’re hungry. You just know those gooey, sugary treats are going to taste so sweet going down – but you know you’ll regret it later. Eventually, you’ll pay the price.
That’s Randy Moss.
Fifteen seasons in the NFL have shown that Moss a) is perhaps the best wide receiver of his era, with 153 TD catches, a 15.6-yard average and 954 catches in 202 career games and b) a guy who eventually will create dissension, create a scene and cause problems.
It happened in Minnesota, Oakland, New England and Tennessee.
So, would Moss the wide receiver fit the Niners’ positional need? Absolutely. Would it be worth the eventual cost? Absolutely not.
In Jim Harbaugh’s first season as head coach in San Francisco, he built a team that was we-first instead of me-first in going 13-3, winning the NFC West and advancing to within one victory of the Super Bowl.
When wide receiver Braylon Edwards became a distraction late in the season, he was released.
Moss seems anything but suited to the now-happy atmosphere at Camp Harbaugh.
Even Banks, in noting the 49ers seem a good fit, adds a “Why it doesn’t work” caveat, writing: “You get the feeling 49ers tightly-wound head coach Jim Harbaugh would not abide by players who aren’t 100 percent committed team-first guys above all else.”
Cris Carter, the former NFL wideout who played with Moss in Minnesota, was even more harsh in his critique of his former teammate, who sat out this past season.
Carter, speaking to ESPN, says he has no doubts Moss is likely in “fabulous shape” and physically capable of competing at a high level.
But, says Carter, “Randy, not like any superstar I’ve met, he has more quit in him than any of those other players.”
Carter says Moss “Has a quit mechanism in him that’s huge. That needs to be addressed before he signs with any team.”
So, 49ers, think twice about grabbing that doughnut. Look for more substantial nutrition in the free-agent market or in the draft.
Stay away from Randy Moss.
He’s just a box of empty calories that will weigh you down later.
