Randy Moss - you have to laugh at his comments

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Raiders' top-paid player claims he'd perform better if he was happy

By Jerry McDonald

MEDIANEWS STAFF

OAKLAND - Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss knows he's dropping more passes than usual.

He also knows why.

"Maybe because I'm unhappy, and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so my concentration and focus level tends to go down when I'm in a bad mood," Moss said Monday. "So all I can say is if you put me in a good situation and make me happy, man, you get good results."

Moss, who normally does not talk to Bay Area reporters, was the subject of a news conference at the Oakland Airport Hilton to announce an award in his honor. The Randy Moss Award will be given each year to the top return specialist in NCAA Division I-A football.

Moss, besides being a record-setting receiver, was a return specialist at Marshall University.

He talked with reporters before, during and for a few moments after the news conference and said he was proud and humbled to have his name associated with the award.

It was just before he left that Moss, when asked about the dropped passes, described playing for the Raiders as a mood-altering experience.

When the comments were relayed to coach Art Shell at his weekly news conference, Shell paused for a moment.

"Is that what he said? Well, then that's a problem he has. I don't have that problem," Shell said. "You hate to hear that. You hate to see that."

Shell said he couldn't understand how a player's mood could affect his performance.

"You're paid to play a game you've played for many years and that you love and once you hit the field, you compete," Shell said. "That's the way Art Shell sees it."

Moss, Oakland's highest paid player (a base salary of $8.25 million this season) and team captain, caught one pass for 8 yards in a 17-13 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Although the NFL keeps no official statistic for dropped passes, conservative estimates have Moss nearing double figures in that category.

He's the team's leading receiver with 33 catches for 455 yards and three touchdowns, well below the standard Moss set as a perennial Pro Bowl player for the Minnesota Vikings.

Moss has caught two or fewer passes in a game eight times in 25 games as a Raider after doing it just 11 times in 109 games with Minnesota.

When asked if he is the same player with the Raiders he was with the Vikings, Moss said, "Given the opportunity to be myself and to make plays, a nine-year vet knowing that, no, I might not be able to do the things I used to do back in the day, but if you give me some help I'll show you something."