OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -When Randy Moss first arrived in Oakland nearly four years ago, he was greeted with a police escort, scores of adoring fans and loads of fanfare as the possible savior for the Raiders.
The reaction when he returns to town for the first time since his disappointing two-year stint with the Raiders ended with a trade to New England last year doesn’t figure to be quite as welcoming.
“I’m sure there will be some heckling going on. I’m pretty familiar with the Black Hole and what they’re all about,” said Patriots linebacker Junior Seau, the target of many jeers in Oakland while playing for San Diego. “For Moss to have the year he had last year and the year this year, I’m sure they’re pretty upset about that.”
Moss figures to be public enemy No. 1 when the Patriots (8-5) face off against the Raiders (3-10) on Sunday in a crucial game for New England’s postseason hopes.
first place in the AFC East, while the Raiders are trying to avoid becoming the first team to lose at least 11 games in six consecutive seasons.
The anger at Moss has as much to do with the success he’s had with New England as it does with what he failed to accomplish in Oakland.
Moss arrived from Minnesota in 2005 as the game’s biggest big-play threat, the player the Raiders needed for their vertical passing game to succeed.
He caught a 73-yard TD pass in his debut game at New England and had 18 catches for 466 yards in his first four games. Moss then sustained bruised ribs, a strained groin and a bruised pelvic area in a hard fall while trying to make a leaping catch the following week. He had just 42 catches for 539 yards in his final 12 games of his debut season.
By the time the next season started, Moss was already disenchanted with the new coaching staff of Art Shell and offensive coordinator Tom Walsh, complaining about how things were “fishy” in Oakland.
He had the worst season of his career in 2006, with just 42 catches for 553 yards and three scores for one of the most inept offenses in NFL history. Moss attributed his dropped passes and low numbers to his unhappiness and said it would be better off if he were traded.
While many questioned whether Moss still had his supreme ability, his confidence never wavered.
s cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. “He would let me know that this is just a road stop in his career. It kind of hurt him, while he was here, to see some of the things that were going on and you would see maybe a lack of production from him. But he was frustrated, and everybody deals with their frustration in different ways.”
New coach Lane Kiffin didn’t want the distraction Moss brought around the team, so the Raiders traded him to New England for a fourth-round draft pick in a deal that owner Al Davis says he now regrets.
Moss quickly returned to stardom, setting an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches last season, when he caught 98 balls for 1,493 yards while helping the Patriots put together a perfect regular season.
“I don’t think I was very surprised because everybody knew he had it in him,” Patriots receiver Wes Welker said. “He came here with a great attitude. He worked hard. He wants to be the best. He wants to prove it every single week and that’s pretty much all he has shown whenever he showed up from Day 1.”
Making matters worse for the Raiders is that they have struggled at receiver since the trade and have nothing to show for the deal. The player they drafted with the pick for Moss, cornerback John Bowie, appeared in just two games his rookie season and has been on injured reserve all of this year with a knee injury.
1 catches for 871 yards and five touchdowns. Moss has done just about that on his own, with 61 catches for 841 yards and eight scores.
“People are going to have off years, down years in there,” Raiders receiver Ronald Curry said. “Two of his down years in his career were here. It didn’t make his career. It might have made him a little hungrier. That may be one of the reasons why he is doing what he’s doing now.”
Despite Moss admitting that he all-but-quit on the Raiders in 2006, most of his former teammates have fond memories of his time in Oakland.
Asomugha called Moss a good teammate and credits him for playing a big role in his own development, learning what receivers dislike most from the game’s best. Asomugha hopes the lessons Moss taught him in practice will pay off in Sunday’s game.
“I know most of his moves, but some of them are just unorthodox, so you really don’t know how to gauge what he’s doing,” he said. “He always had a different way of getting to the routes, a dig, a slant. He always did it a different way so it was difficult to cover.”
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