Randy Moss

Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977 in Rand, West Virginia) is an American football wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders NFL franchise. He formerly played for the Minnesota Vikings prior to a trade in 2005. He is 6 ft 4 in. and weighs 210 lb (95 kg).

High School

As a high school sophomore at DuPont High School, a now-defunct institution in Belle, West Virginia (near Charleston), he helped lead his school to the state AAA football title (West Virginia's highest class), starred in basketball alongside current Miami Heat point guard Jason Williams, and also won the state title in the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash. He played center field in baseball, which some argued was his best sport. He played wide receiver, safety, punter, place kicker, kick returner, and punt returner in football. He finished his high school football career with 109 catches, 2,435 receiving yards, and 44 receiving touchdowns. He rushed the ball 75 times for 843 yards and nine touchdowns. He ended his basketball career at DuPont with 1,713 points scored. He went on to become the state's Athlete of the Year once in football and twice in basketball. In track, Moss won the state title for the 100 and 200 meter dashes.

Related Topics:
Belle, West Virginia - Charleston - Basketball - Miami Heat - Jason Williams

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Along with his State Athlete of the Year awards, Moss was named to USA Today's All-USA high school football team in 1994, and was named to USA Today's 20th anniversary All-USA high school football team.

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His dream was to play for Notre Dame, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle.

Related Topics:
Notre Dame - Ohio State

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According to Lou Holtz, Moss was the greatest high school athlete he had ever seen because "he was just a bigger Deion ".

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After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 1995, Moss took part in a racially-charged fight at his high school that left a person (Ernest Johnson) hospitalized. He pled guilty to battery and received probation and a 30-day suspended jail sentence. Notre Dame revoked his scholarship, but this setback did not stop another high profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested Florida State due to the esteemed reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players. However, because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student, which made him ineligible to play for the Seminoles in the 1995 football season. He was redshirted in his freshman season. In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for smoking marijuana, violating his probation, and was let go by Florida State. He served 60 extra days in jail for the probation violation.

Related Topics:
College football - 1995 - Battery - Florida State - Bobby Bowden - 1996 - Marijuana

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