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MOSS
ADDS INSULT TO VIKINGS VICTORY AT LAMBEAU
by Bob Lowe
January 11, 2005
It
was painful enough to see the Green Bay Packers lose to the
Minnesota Vikings 31-17 at legendary Lambeau Field on Sunday.
But my disappointment was doubly compounded by the juvenile
antics of the Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss after he scored
his touchdown and pretended to moon the crowd.
On
a day when there was a dignified tribute to the late Packers
defensive end Reggie White, it was an affront to have to view
this distasteful demonstration by Moss. And to have others
cheer him and even exalt him for this conduct are particularly
disturbing.
Even though Moss tried to compare his antics to Philadelphia
wide receiver Terrell Owens, I see a difference here. Owens’
end zone celebrations with a Sharpie pen, his dancing with
cheerleaders or his flexing of his biceps adds some harmless
humor and fun to the game.
I didn’t find it particularly humorous and it shows
a lack of class. The fake mooning might earn him a stiff fine
from the National Football League. But it is doubtful that
it will lead to his suspension.
Some rabid Packer fans believe Moss should be suspended for
the rest of the playoffs or even longer. But we have to be
careful here not to over punish. I recalled some years ago
when Packers wide receiver James Lofton dropped a pass and
was booed in his own stadium, he flipped a bird to the crowd.
Some would put the two incidents in the same category. I don’t
recall Lofton being fined or suspended for his three-fingered
gesture.
But the NFL recently fined Denver Broncos quarterback Jake
Plummer $5,000 for making a similar gesture at a heckler at
Denver’s Invesco Field on Dec. 12.
Packer partisans might be accused of a double standard if
they advocate suspending Moss for this incident, while not
calling for a similar punishment for their own players when
they misbehave.
After recently communicating with friends in the Minnesota
area about this incident, they said Packer fans are hypocrites
and that they are getting a dose of their own medicine. They
pointed out something I was unaware of: that it is a Packer
fan practice to line up and fully moon the visiting team when
they depart Lambeau Field on the bus.
Tony Dungy, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and now Indianapolis
Colts head coach, stated in a TV interview Monday that this
happened to his teams all seven times that they came to play
at Lambeau Field.
My Minnesota friends said if Moss’ fake mooning was
"disgusting," as Fox Sports play-by-play commentator
Joe Buck said, then the rowdy drunken behavior of the Packer
fans is truly offensive because they actually dropped their
trousers. Is this a vicious rivalry or what? My own view is
that a Moss suspension at this point would be excessive.
It won’t be fair to the other Vikings players like quarterback
Daunte Culpepper and former UW star running back Michael Bennett,
who deserve to have a shot at the Super Bowl with all of their
best offensive weapons on board. If you remove Moss at this
point and the Vikings lose another playoff game or the Super
Bowl, they would vociferously complain that the Moss suspension
cost them the championship.
I hope the NFL rules committee doesn’t crackdown on
all end zone celebrations, as it seems inclined to do. This
would be too heavy handed and would take some of the spontaneity
and fun out of the game.
Maybe I am channeling some of my anger at Moss for the Packers’
loss. And perhaps, like many other Packer fans, I need to
let off some steam. But I won’t apologize for that.
It is regrettable that we even have to be spending valuable
time and space discussing this distasteful sideshow rather
that lauding the achievements of a truly great athlete on
the Minnesota team, Daunte Culpepper.
Considering the kind of season the Vikings have had, what
Culpepper did on the cold, outdoor Lambeau turf on Sunday
– instead of the Vikings noisy and enclosed dome stadium
in Minneapolis – was truly impressive.
Were it not for Peyton Manning shattering Dan Marino’s
record for most touchdowns in a season – 49– Culpepper
would surely be in line for a Most Valuable Player award.
It’s too bad for him that his accomplishments are overshadowed
by Manning – and somewhat tarnished by the actions the
mercurial Moss.
As a diehard Packer fan, these words of praise for the Vikings
don’t come easily. But let’s give credit where
credit is due. Culpepper is an awesome quarterback. He is
every defensive player’s nightmare because it is so
hard to defend against him. Even Brett Favre would agree with
that.
Speaking
of Favre, I am not going to vent my anger at the Packers quarterback
– a pallbearer at Reggie White’s funeral –
for throwing four interceptions. Those football pundits and
so-called "fans" who are saying that Favre should
pack it in and retire from the game, need to get a grip on
themselves. Calm down. Go to your favorite health club and
work out some of your anger. Trust me. This too shall pass.
This is not how I want to see one of the NFL’s most
elite quarterbacks leave the game. He is a class act compared
to Moss. Just leave Brett Favre alone. He is deserving of
a better exit than leaving after such a sloppy performance.
If he can’t leave with another Super Bowl ring, then
at least let him retire after he has played one of his better
games – not one of his worst.
I won’t even vent my anger at defensive coordinator
Bob Slowik for not devising a more imaginative plan to stop
the Vikings. Neither will I continue to pile on blame on the
other players for not stopping this offensive onslaught by
the Vikings. From what I saw, they did their best and failed.
They just got overpowered by a superior opponent – that
day.
Give them a break. Allow them to recover from their bruised
and battered bodies without recrimination, guilt or angry
insults. Believe me, they feel even worse than you and I for
having failed to deliver a much-desired victory.
And I certainly am not about to vent my anger at Coach and
General Manager Mike Sherman. I won’t jump on the bandwagon
of those who are demanding that he be at least demoted from
one of his two jobs – if not fired. He is a decent human
being and a good coach who deserves at least another year.
Last year, fans screamed for bloody murder after the 4th and
26 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. So that forced the Packers
brass to get rid of a fairly good defensive coordinator, Ed
Donatell, and hire Slowik. And the defense got worse. So we
here in northeast Wisconsin should let a few weeks pass to
get over our frustration with the loss before deciding on
the future of any of these individuals.
In the meantime, I have had enough of Moss bad attitude and
his bad behaviors, which include squirting a water bottle
at an NFL official and nearly running over a Minneapolis traffic
officer with his vehicle.
Even his much-vaunted reputation as one of the best wide receivers
ever to play the position is tarnished by comments he made
once, saying "I play when I want to play." This
is not the way the sport of football should be played. This
is not the example we want to hold up for our kids as a "talented
athlete." These are not the actions anyone should want
to emulate.
If Moss persists with his immature behavior, the NFL will
have to step in and impose some more severe sanctions on him,
like suspending him for one or more games. Or expulsion if
he truly messes up. Vikings Coach Mike Tice is not inclined
to do so nor are the team owners. And I doubt if fines alone
would curb Moss’ erratic behavior. |
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