The High Court

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The Real Randy Moss

From the desk of The Chief Justice...

 

 

I sat down to watch the Randy Moss interview on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and I came away shocked.  Not at Moss’ revelations that he had smoked marijuana, or at the suggestion that he might still light up from time to time (depending on the shade of the moon), but shocked at how perfectly human this much-maligned character was.  He was not repulsive, not evil, not someone to be loathed.  Moss was open, honest, and flawed.  Capable of exhibiting some of the very worst and the very best that humanity has to offer.  Just like the rest of us.

 

So I was also shocked that Moss backpedaled from his statements in the interview with host Bryant Gumbel, and completely shocked that his agent, Dante DiTrapano blamed HBO for the media furor over the marijuana statements.  “In an attempt to promote their dying network, they have maliciously couched his remarks in a manner that is confusing and leaves room for negative interpretation (HBO is dying?  Has anyone told the Sopranos?), DiTrapano told the Associated Press.  I have no sense that HBO has done any such thing.  The interview placed Moss’ statements in what seemed to be proper context, and the piece viewed in its entirety was more than fair and portrayed Moss in a very honest, if not positive, light.

 

What I do understand (and likely the reason Moss was trying to retreat from the admission of current marijuana use) is the concept of negative interpretation.  And so does the Worldwide Leader in Sports.  That’s right, folks.  Our good friends at ESPN took this revelation and opened the 6 p.m. SportsCenter with it on Thursday night (Or so my sources tell me…as you know I am currently boycotting that program until further notice).  The only problem is, the only part of the interview the ESPN crew talked about was the admission of marijuana use.  They did not take the time (at least not in the opening) to discuss the fact that Moss attempted to deflect kids from using him as a reason to use marijuana.  “But you know, I don’t want any kids, you know, watching this taking a lesson from me as far as ‘Well, Randy Moss used it, so I’m going to use it.’  I don’t want that to get across.”  And there you go.  While Moss’ own drug use may have been irresponsible, while a public admission of it may have been irresponsible in terms of what effect it might have on children who look up to him, at least Randy Moss (a father of four) has the maturity to recognize both of those points.  It was not his intention to lead children down the wrong path.  He was simply answering a question asked of him in an honest fashion, and trying to do so in a socially responsible fashion.  Like him or not, you have to respect that.

 

We learn later in the piece that Moss has been wonderfully devoted to a little girl named Kassi, a young lady Moss befriended at a practice early in his career.  In 2000, when Kassi was diagnosed with leukemia, Moss was a constant visitor to her hospital room.  They remain friends to this day, and it was clear to see that young Kassi thought the moon (blue or otherwise) was hung by a man named Randy Moss.  Gumbel’s piece would also inform us that Moss also held fishing tournaments to benefit children with birth defects and had spent time and money helping a center for troubled youth in the Minneapolis area.  And not one single time had Moss sought out the press for attention that would certainly have improved the public’s perception of the Vikings’ volatile star receiver.

 

Randy Moss is not a saint.  His problems, on the field and off, have been very well documented.  Public spats with teammates, tantrums directed at coaches and officials, rants toward team sponsors, bumper tag with a meter maid…you all know the list.  But what the Real Sports interview with Moss reveals is a deeply complex man (like most of us) who is capable of being a spoiled, immature prima donna, and also capable of being a kind, honest, and generous man.  It is wrong for any of us to judge him (or anyone else, for that matter) based on just what we know.

 

Because what we know is basically only what the overlords of information want us to know.  ESPN has become the poster child for sensationalistic (Is that even a word?  It is now…) and one-sided journalism.  Maybe the management and producers have drunk from their own hype-fountain one too many times, or maybe they think they are giving us what we want.  I don’t know, and I don’t much care.  What I do care about is getting the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  And we stand by that here at The High Court of Sports.  When it is fact, we will tell you it is fact.  If we are wrong about the facts, we will clean up after ourselves.  When it is opinion, we will tell you that it is opinion.  And if our opinion is proven to be short-sighted and empty, we will tell you that as well.  Somebody has to.  The big boys don’t seem inclined to start anytime soon.  And that, my friends, is an insult to our collective intelligence.

 

Bryant Gumbel is a guy I have never really cared for.  But I salute him, and the producers of Real Sports.  I have never known what to think about Randy Moss, other than thinking he was the most physically gifted wide receiver I had ever seen.  But now I respect him.  I don’t condone his drug use, be it past or present.  But what he has done to help the lives of young children, and his obvious desire to continue to do so, that alone is worthy of my respect.  Randy Moss is honest.  Randy Moss is real.  Randy Moss is flawed.  I can relate to that.  And I will be rooting for the Raiders on Sundays this fall.

 

 

You can reach The Chief at chiefjustice@thehighcourtofsports.com.

Expect a rejuvenated Moss to pay big dividends for Al Davis’ Silver and Black.  And we know at least one little girl will be rooting hard for the real Randy Moss.  (AP)