terry mccormick's randy moss article

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INSIDE

Editorial

Vet’s View ....................................2

Dave Ramsey ..............................4

Nashville Nostalgia ......................4

Karlen Evins .................................4

Community Calendar ..................5

Newsmakers .............................24

Sections

Week In Review ..........................3

Public Notices .............................7

Business Services .....................44

West view

Westestestest P U

B L I C

R E C O R

D S

N O W

I N S I D E

NOVEMBER 12

18 , 2010 www.westviewonline.com VOL. 34, NO. 44

Page 21

Page 6

SILVER BELLS

NOAH’S CHRISTMAS seeksto replace decorations andornaments to those who lostthem during the May flood.

GOOD TO BE GREEN

WHAT DO YOU DO whenyou can’t find a vendor toprovide environmentally safeproducts? Start your ownbusiness, of course.

TEA PARTY TAKES AIM

SEN. BOB CORKER findshimself in the strange, unenvi-able position of not beingconservative enough for farright wing of party.

Pages 20

W h y

h e r e ?

W h y n o w ?

Green Business

Why now?hy now?hy

I ’ d s a y t h

i s i s

p r o b a b l y t h e

m o s t n o t

e w o r t h y

a c q u i s i t i o

n o f

a p r o a t h

l e t e i n

t h i s f r a n

c h i s e ’ s

h i s t o r y. ”

B r a d H

o p k i n s, f o r

m e r T i t a n s

o f f e n s i v e t

a c k l e

“



2 NOVEMBER 12 18, 2010

Randy Moss. Tennessee Titans.That’s a ship that sailed roughly 12½

years ago when the then-Tennessee Oilers passed on the immensely talented wide

due to character issues.Instead, the Titans chose Kevin Dyson

with the 16th pick. And while Dyson

-chise’s two most memorable plays – theMusic City Miracle and his one-yard-short

catch in the Super Bowl – he never quitemeasured up to Moss’ dynamic production

and stature.With the Hall of Fame numbers Moss

put up over the years, there has always been the “what if” factor regarding the

Titans. What if they had chosen Moss?Would he still have put up the same numbers in an offense built around Pro Bowl

running back Eddie George? How muchwould Moss have helped Steve McNair’scareer numbers? Would he have been a

problem child in Tennessee as he has beenon occasion in his 13-year NFL career?

And most importantly, would the Titans

now have at least one or more Super Bowltrophies at Baptist Sports Park?

Given Moss’ mercurial personality and

the Titans’ own conservative nature whenit comes to personnel moves, those ques-tions were simply pie-in-the-sky rhetoric

for a dozen years – until last week.

the previously unthinkable, claiming Moss

off the waiver wire after he had fallen outof favor in Minnesota for the second timein his career.

The Titans’ course reversal – which

comes more than a decade after passing onMoss – sent shockwaves through the NFL.It also created a nearly unparalleled excite-

ment level about the franchise unseen perhaps since the 1999 Super Bowl run

that endeared the Titans to the city.There are many questions as to why

Moss is a Titan now after the team passed

on him so long ago. Are they simply cor-recting a mistake made in 1998? Perhapsthey now feel as Moss’ talents and cre-

dentials outweigh the potential for him to poison a locker room or live in the coach’sdoghouse for not going all out on every

pass pattern.Maybe it is as simple as this: With

Kenny Britt hurt and out for six weeks

with a hamstring injury, the Titans needMoss’ deep threat skill as much as Mossneeds a fresh start with the Titans.

Whatever it is, this much is certain:For a franchise that has been criticized so

often for “not going for it” with splashy

free agent acquisitions, obtaining Mosscertainly does plenty to dispel that notion.More importantly, he could, if things work

-ent for a Super Bowl run.

After all, the Titans are supposed to be

in the business of winning Super Bowls,though it’s been an elusive for a franchise

of any kind since two old AFL titles inHouston from the early ’60s.

Moss, too, for all his talents, has not

been able to break through and earn achampionship. Like the Titans, he has

made one appearance on pro football’s biggest stage and came up short with the

just a Super Bowl win shy of a perfectseason.

Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher admits

as much. Perhaps Moss and the Titans’relationship, however, temporary it might be with Moss scheduled for free agency,

as anything, explains the gamble on Moss -

portunity to land him.“Our thing right now is this is a good

don’t have a ring, he doesn’t have a ring,so we’re going to try and change that.”

Moss’ mere presence will immediately

command enough attention on the outsidethat teams can no longer stack the box tostop running back Chris Johnson. Fewer

defenders near the line of scrimmageshould mean more rushing lanes for last

Caterer says

he, Moss

will be fine

Good news for the Tennes-

see Titans – their daily cater-ing service at Baptist Sports

Park apparently meets the

standards of Randy Moss.

One of the reasons reported

for Moss’ unceremonious

dismissal last week in Minne-

sota were his vocal complaints

over the catering after a

Vikings practice from a restau-

rant called Tinucci’s.

“I don’t see it as a big prob-

lem,” says Charlie McConnell,

who owns and operates Mc-

Connell’s catering in Nash-

ville. “It’s business as usual

for us. I really don’t think it’s

going to be an issue.”McConnell says he saw

Moss on Monday, adding that

the wide receiver “seemed like

a nice guy.”

On Tuesday, McConnell

says everything went well at

the Titans complex and that

the regular week of meals

would begin on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s menu, McConnell

says, consisted of a choice of

meats from chicken cordon

bleu, boneless grilled chicken

breasts, hamburgers, hot dogs

and lasagna, as well as pasta

and salad.

Last week, according to the

Minneapolis Star-Tribune :

Moss screamed at the

co-owner of Tinucci’s

Restaurant and Catering

in Woodbury and New-

port in the locker room

after practice because he

apparently didn’t like the

way the buffet looked.

“[Moss] came walking

up,” Gus Tinucci said.

“There were a couple of

guys that were in line. I

was carving some meat

for a guy and all of a

sudden I heard all this

screaming and I was like,

‘Are you kidding me?’ Iknew who it was imme-

diately. I looked up and

there he was.”

Tinucci said Moss used

two profane words in a

sentence where the ex-

Vikings receiver said he

wouldn’t feed the food to

his dog.

“I was in shock,” Tinuc-

ci said. “I couldn’t believe

it. It was quiet in there.”

Tinucci’s turned the tables

on Moss later in the week by

offering fans a discounted buf-

fet for $8.40 if fans would turn

in their No. 84 Moss jerseys,which are being donated to the

Nashville Boys and Girls Club.

“We want to send the lousy

Moss jerseys (to Nashville)

and keep the cash in the

state,” Tinucci told the St. Paul

Pioneer Press.

Why here? Why now?

Fisher: “Our thing right now is this is a good fit for us and for him”

Is Moss

trouble or just

what the

Titans need?



NOVEMBER 12 18, 2010 Page 23

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season’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

But the Moss factor goes far beyond simply opening up the

motivated Moss can give theTitans a dynamic weapon like

they have never seen. Thethought of Moss running freeon deep routes has energized

the fan base and the city.“I’d say this is probably the

most noteworthy acquisition of

a pro athlete in this franchise’shistory,” says Brad Hopkins, aformer Titans offensive tackle

who made two trips to the ProBowl.

“I’m not talking about a guy

that was hand-picked by theTitans or even the Oilers. I’mtalking about guys brought in

from elsewhere. Bringing himin here has actually created anexcitement level around the city

that hasn’t been seen in a longtime.”

That much is certain. Moss hasled water cooler conversationssince the Titans landed him last

Wednesday. Cameras followedas Moss arrived Sunday at Nash-ville International Airport and

then at the Titans practice facilitythe following day.

Excitement will build further

-

in a Titans uniform.

“The buzz and the excite-

ment level that this has created

is something that we have notseen here in this city since their run to the Super Bowl a few

years ago,” says sportscaster George Plaster, host of theafternoon SportsZone on 104.5

FM The Zone. “It’s all anyone

wants to talk about, and frankly,

The arrival of Moss in Nashville has been explosiveand perhaps bigger than anyone

could have predicted.“He’s going to be a Hall

of Fame player—or is now,”

Fisher says. “Anytime you get achance to get that type of player on your roster to help you win

games, there should be someenthusiasm and excitement as-sociated with that.”

But while Moss may or maynot make the Titans a cinch

to win a championship, hecertainly does not come withoutissues, both positive and nega-

tive.Fisher, of course, downplays

that possibility.

“I see no risk whatsoever. Heis really, really excited to behere,” Fisher explains. “He’s

obviously talked to people, heknows how we do things, he’sexcited about the team, he’s ex-

cited about helping us win ballgames, he’s heard great thingsabout the locker room, and I

don’t see any risk at all. He’s avery good football player who

became available to us, and it’s

a new start. It’s a new start for him and it’s an opportunity for us to get better offensively.”

But Moss comes with a “Han-dle with Care” tag attached. Justask Brad Childress, head coach

of the Vikings. Granted, if itdoesn’t work out, the Titans can

simply do as the Vikings didlast week and show Moss thedoor. But that, for now at least,is far from their minds.

“I am not concerned aboutthat. What I’m concerned aboutis what we do as we move

forward,” Fisher says. “Again,I don’t think there is a better opportunity for any player then

to start off fresh and that’s whatwe’re doing. We’re starting

off fresh, and it’s a new start.When you have an organiza-tion, a team and a staff that is

excited about a newcomer andyou have the newcomer that isexcited about the organization

you have an opportunity to havesuccess.”

Yes, but shoehorning a

dynamic personality suchas Moss’ will require a get-acquainted period for Randy

and his new teammates, whoare rolling out the red carpet for him.

“It’s still going to take somegetting used to because Randyis part of the team now,” Hop-

kins says, adding the attentionMoss generates doesn’t neces-sarily have to be a negative.

“Tennessee is not an incum-

bent, and they’re not alwaysa factor in the AFC race, so

they’re not always getting thenational attention that someother teams are,” Hopkins says.

That changes with Moss onthe roster. If the Titans win and

themselves is a spotlight usu-ally reserved such teams as theCowboys, Steelers and Patriots.

That can be good, Hopkinssays, if the Titans handle it inthe right way.

“You’re still going to get players like Chris Johnson andVince Young that want to get

recognition for themselves andtheir teammates,” Hopkins

explains. “It’ll keep them sharp because they haven’t made it toRandy Moss’ status yet.”

And if it implodes, well, the

results of what could happen

with Moss and the locker roomare very predictable.

But for Fisher, 87-year-old

team owner Bud Adams, whodesperately wants a champion-ship while he still alive, and the

Titans, the gamble that Moss

can put them over the top thisseason is one that is well worth

taking – apparently for all par-ties involved.

“To be able to, as he told me,

‘Land on my feet and end up inthe best place I possibly could be,’ he’s excited,” Fisher says.

As is everyone – for now.

covered the Tennessee Titans

since 1997.

terry mccormick's randy moss article

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