Former Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss shared some memories of former Vikings coach Dennis Green Friday on ESPN’s NFL Live, and Moss remembered one Monday Night Football game during his rookie season for which Green was especially wound up.
“It was a big game, and I remember Coach Green saying throughout the week that he was going to unleash something on the Packers,” Moss said. “Before the game, some of us were playing some beats on the lockers. Now, everybody knew Coach Green liked to play the drums. He played some beats on the lockers, too, but after a minute he started playing the same beat [the players were], not his own. Everybody was geeked up, riled up and ready to go play the Packers.
“He would always say, ‘There’s only one ball. You have to play to one beat.’”
The Vikings won that game, 37-24. Moss had five catches for 190 yards and two touchdowns.
Green died Friday at age 67. He coached the Vikings for 11 seasons, eight of them playoff seasons, and later was head coach of the Cardinals.
Moss was just officially hired by ESPN. He was a rookie in 1998, when the Vikings went 15-1 and Moss caught 17 touchdowns for what was the highest-scoring offense in league history to that point.
“Coach Green gave me a chance,” Moss said. “I remember him on draft day calling and asking if I was ready to become a Viking. The answer was yes.
“Today I’ve been reading a lot of the comments and the positive things people are saying about him...and they’re very true. He meant a lot to me and meant a lot to others. His legacy will live on.”
