As Jon Gruden would say, “I like this Randy Moss.”
Or as Jimmy Johnson did say, “Whenever he’s on, he’s tough to turn off.”
While he might not be able to match the football equivalent of scoring 17 touchdowns in his NFL debut for Minnesota in 1998, Moss looks to be the early favorite for rookie of the year on the NFL analyst front. He currently is working for Fox Sports 1 on Fox Football Daily and Fox Football Kickoff.
However, don’t be surprised if Moss eventually finds himself at the big boys table on Fox NFL Sunday, sooner than later. He has some Charles Barkley in him. The combination of being candid and unpredictable will carry him a long way on TV.
On a Fox conference call Wednesday, Moss questioned his old teammates, Colin Kaepernick and Vernon Davis’ ability to mesh on the field.
“From my time there last year, it didn’t seem Kaepernick and Vernon Davis had a rapport. They haven’t shown that yet,” Moss said.
That prompted this response from Davis: “His job is to critique our offense and say whatever he feels is right. But my opinion is totally different from what he’s saying. We’re on a different level, for sure.”
Stirring it up is what analysts are supposed to do. It is why Fox Sports executive producer John Entz called Moss, “a game changer.”
“He was someone we hadn’t thought of until late in the audition process,” Entz said. “It wasn’t something he was actively looking to do. He came in and liked it better than he realized. We immediately thought of (him) as a game changer.”
During the call, I asked Moss how he liked his new job.
“It’s definitely eye-opening to be in this environment as opposed to a locker room,” Moss said. “I’m a work in progress. (The other analysts) were once rookies too. Each and every day, I learn something.”
Later, Moss was asked to describe his style.
“I haven’t had time to really think about a style,” Moss said. “You can hear in my voice I’m excited to have something different in my life. I don’t know about too many things, but I do know about football.”
Just as it did for him as a player, football also can take Moss a long way as an analyst.