Count Him In

Moss is coming out of retirement and
making his return to the NFL.

He's back.

Randy Moss, who abruptly retired last August, has agreed to a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers following his workout with the team on Monday.

It was just hours after he had been catching passes from head coach Jim Harbaugh, that Moss decided San Francisco would become his fifth career NFL team. The 49ers became only the second team to host a tryout for Moss after he announced on his 35th birthday (Feb. 13), that he would in fact be making a return to football.

Last Tuesday, Moss showcased his talent for the New Orleans Saints, but was not offered a contract. However, multiple team sources reported he "looked like the old Randy", leaving us to believe the Niners saw the same thing.

Our last memory of Moss is a horrific 2010 season in which he started as a New England Patriot and ended as a Tennessee Titan with a return to the Minnesota Vikings sandwiched in between.

He finished the year with career-lows in games started (11), yards per game (24.6), receptions (28) and yards (393). But it was his eight games as a Titan that caused many to believe the freak show we all use to marvel had left the theater, catching just six passes and not scoring a touchdown.

Although, it wouldn't be the first time Moss has risen from the ashes.

After two dismal seasons as a member of the Oakland Raiders in which he caught 102 passes for 11 TDs, including one season with a career-low three, Moss was traded to the Patriots on Draft Day 2007 for a fourth-round pick.

In his first season with New England, Moss was a key contributor of a Patriot team that went undefeated until they lost in Super Bowl XLII, catching a league-leading and NFL-record 23 TDs. Moss also led the NFL in touchdowns in 1998 (17), 2000 (15), 2003 (17) and 2009 (13).

And now joins a team that needs him desperately.

San Francisco possessed one of the worst receiving corps in the league last year. They cut Braylon Edwards. Josh Morgan, who played in just five games after breaking his leg, and Ted Ginn Jr. are both free agents and not expected to return.

Michael Crabtree has been inconsistent and yet to emerge as the star he was at Texas Tech since being drafted with No. 10 pick in the 2009 draft.

The Niners ended an eight-year absence from the postseason after finishing the year with a 13-3 record and their 18th NFC West Division title. But after escaping against the Saints, San Francisco lost in the NFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, 20-17.

In that lost, Crabtree was the only wide receiver to catch one of quarterback Alex Smith's 12 completions. Tight end's Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker combined by five more, while running back Frank Gore led the team with six receptions.

Speaking of Smith, San Francisco is in the process of trying to re-sign their still-unproven quarterback - a process that should become easier with the signing of Moss.

Along with his six Pro Bowl selections, Moss has been a member on four All-Pro teams. His 954 receptions and 14,858 yards are ninth and fifth all-time, respectively. Moss' 153 TDs catches are tied for second all-time with Terrell Owens, and trails only Jerry Rice's 197. Twenty-nine of those 153 scores totaled at least 50 yards, also trailing only Rice's 36.

It looks like Moss will be chasing Rice's records in the uniform he help make famous.

Shown the Door

Ward leaping into the end zone after the
Steeler's trick play in Super Bowl XL.

It looks as if the 2012-13 NFL season with be the first in 14 years without Hines Ward in a Pittsburgh Steeler uniform.

According to multiple unnamed sources, the NFL Network has announced the Steelers do not plan on bringing back the veteran wideout for his 15th season. Ward, who is due $4 million in the final year of his contract, has played his entire career in Pittsburgh and epitomized the Steeler's blue-collar culture for the past decade and a half.

Ward has said numerous times he is willing to take a pay cut to remain with the only team he's ever known. But apparently that is not the problem with his productive diminishing each of the last two seasons.

The 35-year-old South Korean lost his starting job this season with the acquisition of Jerricho Cotchery. Ward caught 46 passes this season for 381 yards and two touchdowns, and with the offense heading a different direction, Ward's services may be no longer needed.

It was just two days ago Pittsburgh introduced former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley as their next offensive coordinator. The decision came after Bruce Arians' contract expired and was hired to fill the same position in Indianapolis. A move that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not approve of. So, not only will Roethlisberger be losing his offensive game caller, but his favorite target over the first eight years of his career.

Playing his college ball as a Georgia Bulldog, Ward was selected by the Steelers in the third-round in 1998 NFL Draft, becoming a staple in the Pittsburgh huddle.

Ward's best season came in 2002 when he set career-highs in receptions (112), yards (1,329), yards per game (83.1) and TDs (12). But his biggest accomplishment came in, at the time, the biggest game of his career.

In Super Bowl XL, Ward caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from fellow wide receiver Antwaan Randle El with 6:04 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Steelers a 21-10 lead and sealing the franchise's fifth championship victory, this time over the Seattle Seahawks.

Ward finished the game with five catches for 123 yards and that one score. With that performance, he was named the game's Most Valuable Player, becoming the fifth receiver to do so and only the second in Steeler history. Hall of Famer Lynn Swann was the first, capturing the award in 1976 for his dominance in Super Bowl X.

Not only will Ward go down as one of the greatest blocking receivers in NFL history, but his ability to stay on the field in the world's most physical sport will live in Pittsburgh lore.

Possessed with a certain grit and toughness about him, Ward played in all 16 of the team's regular season games 10 of his 14 years with the organization, and never playing less than 13.

If in fact Ward has played in last game in black and gold then he leaves behind a remarkable legacy. A one point in his career, Ward had a streak of 186 consecutive games with at least one reception. It was broken in 2010.

This past season, Ward became the 19th player in NFL history to tally more than 12,000 receiving yards and only the eighth player to caught 1,000 passes. He apparently finishes his Pittsburgh career with exactly 1,000 receptions, 12,083 yards and 85 TDs. That doesn't include his postseason statistics.

The four-time Pro Bowler played in 18 career postseason games, catching 88 passes for 1,181 yards and 10 TDs. His 88 receptions rank second behind only Jerry Rice's 151.

However, in his most recent playoff game and what could be in final game as a Steeler, Ward was ineffective, being targeted on two plays, but did not record a catch in Pittsburgh's 29-23 overtime lost to the Denver Broncos.

Following that loss it was reported by multiple media outlets that Ward was in fact ready to call it a career, but he set the record straight on his Facebook page.

"Let me set the record straight: I have no plans on retiring right now, Ward wrote. I want to win another Super Bowl. I don't know where the media is getting this info from but rest assured that when I decide to retire , you'll hear it from ME first."

While it may be clear Ward wants to continue playing, the Steelers no longer want him.

Moss To The Sidelines

When motived there's no question Moss was a
cut above the rest.

Thirteen years ago the Minnesota Vikings selected a slender wide receiver out of Marshall University setting the stage for one of the greatest careers in NFL history, now that career has apparently come to a close. Future Hall of Fame wideout Randy Moss made a surprise decision Monday by announcing his retirement from professional football at age thirty-four.

Most forget how great Moss really was as his on and off the field issues overshadowed an eventual trip to Canton career. If in fact this is the end of the line, what a ride it was.

Prior to the 1998 draft many believed that Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones would select Moss with the eight overall pick, instead Jones went in a different direction selecting defensive end Greg Ellis out of North Carolina.

Thirteen picks later Minnesota would take a chance on the former Florida State castoff. In his rookie season in Minneapolis he caught a rookie record 17 touchdowns grabbing the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and leading the Vikings to 15-1 regular season mark.

Although the Vikings would come a field goal kick away from the Super Bowl that season it began one of the most decorated careers the game has ever seen.

As for the Jones and the Cowboys, Moss would torch them every time he stepped onto the gridiron carrying a chip on his shoulder. In his eight career games against America's team he had 40 receptions for 789 yards and 11 touchdowns.

After bursting onto the seen, Moss electrified the Metrodome crowd with his dynamic speed and circus act catches. He spent his first seven seasons in Minnesota leading them to four playoff appearances while appearing in five of his seven Pro Bowls before being ship to Oakland prior to the 2005 season.

Like it has been for many players Oakland was a black hole for Moss in the prime of his career. Many believed his days of torturing defensive corrdinators were over after only tallying 11 touchdowns in two seasons with the Raiders.

Then on draft day of 2007, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots shocked the football world by trading for the disgruntled wide receiver, hoping to catch lighting in bottle. They did just that. Moss caught a single-season record 23 touchdowns from quarterback Tom Brady that season, helping the Patriots cap off an undefeated regular season before losing to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

It was the first time in his career he had played with a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback after years of making mediocre signal callers like Daunte Culpepper, Jeff George, and Brad Johnson look like world beaters.

While the Patriots never got back to the Super Bowl during Moss' tenure in New England they made the playoffs his final three years in Foxborough racking up 27 touchdowns.

Last season he started with Brady and Co., but wore out his welcome by voicing his displeasure with his expiring contract in a post-game press conference, days later he was traded back to where it all began.

The Minnesota experiment last all of four games before then-Vikings head coach Brad Childress decided he wasn't the type of player his team needed and released the thirteen-year veteran. Moss latched on and spent the final eight games of the season with the Tennessee Titans as a non-factor catching a total of 6 passes for 80 yards with no touchdowns.

Moss mooning the Lambeau crowd is only one
of many actions that was frowned upon by
his piers. 

Despite being one of the most colorful and controversial athletes in recent memory, Moss' place among the elite cannot be denied.

His 153 career touchdowns has him tied for second most among wide receivers and third all-time behind only Jerry Rice (207) and Emmitt Smith (175). He is currently 46 receptions shy of 1,000 for his career with 954, good enough for eighth on the all-time list. His ability to lure defenders to sleep has him second in games with 100 receiving yards or more with 64 and fifth all-time with 14,858 receiving yards.

While it's not even up for debate that the greatest receiver in NFL history title belongs to Rice, Moss is the closest thing we have to compare. His freakish ability earned him the nickname "Super Freak" and leave many to wonder what could have been if Moss would have been able to put in all together on a consistence basis.

For thirteen seasons Moss wowed NFL crowds on Sundays with his jaw-dropping receptions and ability to do what other great players dare to dream. A Super Bowl ring is the only piece that eludes his already impressive resume, but nonetheless if this is the end, it was one hell of a show.