In a month when football teams throughout the country celebrate their annual homecoming festivities, an NFL team is staging a pretty significant -- and unexpected -- homecoming celebration.
Receiver Randy Moss is heading back to Minnesota, five-plus years after leaving. According to Peter King of SI.com, Moss had a simple message for coach Brad Childress: “Coach, I’m just glad to be coming home.”
Per King, Moss will join practice on Thursday and play on Monday night against the Jets.
“We’ll get him up to speed, and he’ll be in there,” Childress said. “I know he’s a bright football player.’'
Childress also said that the move occurred without lobbying from Brett Favre. (Then again, Childress also instructed his assistant coaches in August to lie about the whereabouts of the three players who lobbied Brett to play again this year.)
“None,’' Childress said of the lobbying from Favre. “No, no, no. When we told him, pretty late in the process, that we were investigating doing this, he was surprised. He raised an eyebrow to me when I told him. How would he even have known Randy was there for the taking? I don’t think anyone knew.’'
Childress told King that Moss is “approximately the same player’’ he was in past years.
“I’ve watched a lot of him,’' Childress said, “and he’s still a huge vertical threat. He still attracts coverage. You’ve got to account for the guy.’'
Meanwhile, the Vikings already have reconfigured their website to welcome Moss back to town. It’s obvious that, after two years of wearing No. 18 and three-plus as the “other 81,” Moss will be back in No. 84.
