Moss Likes the Position He's In

Back Among the Elite Receivers, Patriot Eyes Elusive Title

GLENDALE, Ariz., Jan. 29 -- Randy Moss stepped to his assigned podium for Super Bowl media day, scanned the scene in front of him and laughed.

"What's happening?" he asked rows of reporters surrounding him on the field at University of Phoenix Stadium, where the sport's dominant wide receiver and his New England Patriots will try to complete an unbeaten season Sunday by winning Super Bowl XLII.

Moss finally has reached football's biggest stage, and even his two one-catch games in the AFC playoffs and his ongoing legal troubles in Florida couldn't diminish his grin Tuesday. He was in a bubbly mood as he spent an hour talking about a 10-year career in which he has gone from being an unstoppable but admittedly angry young player with the Minnesota Vikings to a frustrated and unproductive member of the Oakland Raiders to a contented key cog on a team poised to make football history.

"Before I retired, I wanted to have a chance to play on this stage, not for all the publicity and everything but just playing in the Super Bowl," Moss said. "I mean, you hear about a lot of greats and a lot of guys making their name as Super Bowl MVPs and being able to win the big game. So that's what I wanted. I wanted to be on this stage to play the big game, the last game of the season."

Moss was asked if he was laughing at the Vikings and Raiders, the two franchises that gave up on him in the apparent belief that he was too much of a football diva to get them this far.

"I'm not that type, man," Moss said. "I don't really get back at people like that. I think that whatever the past is or whatever happened in the past, I want to leave that there, and the reason why is because I'm on a high pedestal just as far as being in the Super Bowl, the team coming into this game undefeated and just everything that's been happening that's been positive this year. I don't want to reflect on anything negative, and I've never been that type."

Moss has managed to make the Patriots look smarter than everyone else in the league. His two seasons of injuries and apparent indifference in Oakland diminished his value so much that the Patriots were able to get him in a draft-weekend trade with the Raiders for a fourth-round pick.

Conventional NFL wisdom was that Moss's days as a Pro Bowl player were behind him, and he would create locker room problems wherever he went. Patriots Coach Bill Belichick thought differently and persuaded team owner Robert Kraft to approve the trade.

"Bill and I had a discussion, and he told me how he felt, and I told him I wanted to have an opportunity to meet with [Moss] and talk with him, and I did," Kraft said Tuesday. "I spoke with him for an hour the morning of the trade before we signed the contract. We had a good heart to heart, and I found him to be someone who looked me straight in the eye. He is very intelligent, in my opinion. He told me he just wanted to come in and win and that it is not about the money. It is about respect.

"In his case, he came to us and wanted to be part of a team that could win and he said to me: 'Mr. Kraft, I have made a lot of money, more money probably than I need. This is about winning.' He lived up to every commitment that he has made, and he also treats people very well in the organization. Everything that I've seen, he has conducted himself very well."

Now there's nothing but praise for Moss from all corners of the Patriots' locker room.

"Randy is a great teammate," fellow wideout Wes Welker said. "He's been nothing but a great teammate for all of us. He's led by example, and he's been great to be around."