When Detroit was on the clock with the 20th pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, the tension in our Vikings draft room was more intense than usual. Green Bay had just selected a defensive end we liked in Vonnie Holliday, and we were prepared to take a different defender — likely safety Tebucky Jones — if necessary.
But we had our fingers crossed that an ultra-talented wide receiver from Marshall, a player with top-five talent but character questions at the time, would continue his draft slide and make it past one more team.
When the Lions selected cornerback Terry Fair, an uproar I had never seen or heard in my many years in Viking draft rooms was unleashed. Randy Moss was available.
We did not wait the customary period to field trade calls. After we got Moss on the phone, we immediately submitted our card.
Then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue made the announcement, and so began Moss' 14-year NFL career. It was a career that produced lots of excitement, records and honors. It culminates this weekend with Moss’ enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
LOOK: Randy Moss' HOF career in photos
As general manager of that 1998 Vikings team, I never thought Moss would be available at No. 21. We had him rated as a blue chip player, or a player of Pro Bowl talent. Our draft board usually only included about eight such players.
Moss had been a high school football, basketball and track star in Rand, W.V., with blazing speed and great leaping ability. But he had a scholarship offer from Notre Dame revoked after a high school fight in which he defended a friend who was the target of allegedly racist comments. Florida State then signed Moss but released him after an alleged positive marijuana test.
Moss transferred to then-Division 1-AA Marshall and had a tremendous college career, including 54 touchdown receptions over his two seasons. His measurables such as his height (6-4), speed (4.25 in the 40) and agility were obvious. He also proved himself against major college competition, like his 173-yard performance as a sophomore in the Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss.
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During our pre-draft discussions, we were fortunate to have a scout in Conrad Cardano who knew the Marshall coaches well. They assured him — and he convinced us — that Moss' off-field issues were in the past, and he was never a problem at Marshall. Cardano went to bat for Moss in a way that was unusual of scouts who are often wishy-washy in recommending players.
Our coach at the time, Dennis Green, was more confident than then-VP of player personnel Frank Gilliam and I were about Moss potentially falling to us. The word was the Cowboys would take him at No. 8 if he even got that far in a draft that featured quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf at the top and defensive back Charles Woodson close behind.
Fearing a backlash due to other off-field difficulties at the time, the Cowboys passed on Moss and drafted Greg Ellis.
It wasn’t until the Oilers took the first receiver off the board, Kevin Dyson at No. 16, that I started to think it could really happen.
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Wide receiver was not a position of need for us. Our two starters, perennial Pro Bowler Cris Carter and Jake Reed, both were coming off 1,000-yard seasons. We were thinking defense going into the draft, but in the first round, our philosophy was to pick the highest-rated player regardless of position … unless it was a quarterback if we were set there.
Moss was at the top of our board rating-wise. As Moss fell, we talked about trading up but decided to sit tight and not give up additional picks. So we nervously waited it out. As we got closer to our pick, I wanted one more piece of reassurance. It came with a phone call to Carter.
We asked Carter if he would be willing to mentor Moss early in the latter’s career. Knowing the explosive talent Moss could bring to our three-wide receiver sets on offense, Carter said yes without hesitation.
So the pick was made, and Moss was a Viking.
At rookie minicamp a week later, and again when the veterans showed up for OTAs, all eyes were on Moss. He quickly showed his immense talent as he was learning then-offensive coordinator Brian Billick's offense. Meanwhile, Carter tutored Moss on route-running and NFL ways of life on and off the field.
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Then the heat was on me to get Moss signed to his rookie deal and into training camp on time. I made it clear early that, with a slotted rookie pool amount assigned to him, Moss had to be paid as the No. 21 pick, not as a top-10 player, which his agents initially sought.
I told Moss and his agents: Be a great player, and your second contract will reflect that.
I also negotiated hard for major give-back of signing bonus in the event of a league suspension in addition to the per-game salary loss in such an event. The week before training camp, when Moss signed his four-year, $4.5 million contract that included a $2 million signing bonus, he told me the suspension clause would never go into effect.
He was right.
I have so many great memories of Moss' rookie season. They include his two touchdown receptions in the season-opening win over the Buccaneers. … His phenomenal national TV debut with five catches for 190 yards and two TDs in his Week 5 Monday Night Football debut at Lambeau Field as we crushed the Packers and their 25-game home winning streak. … The coup de gras from Randy's perspective; a 163-yard, three-TD performance in a Thanksgiving Day romp of a Cowboys team against which Moss had a vendetta after they told him he would be their top pick in that '98 draft.
The final tally on Moss' outstanding rookie season: 69 receptions for 1,313 yards, a 19.0-yard average, an NFL rookie-record 17 TD catches, selections to the Pro Bowl, first-team All-Pro and Offensive Rookie of the Year. He helped our record-setting offense lead the way to a league-best 15-1 record before a heartbreaking, overtime loss to Atlanta in the NFC title game.
Moss followed his brilliant rookie season with another nine 1,000-plus-yard seasons (five in Minnesota, one in Oakland and three in New England) and an NFL-record 23 touchdown receptions in 2007 while with the Patriots. He enters the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest deep threats and most feared receivers in league history.
I only spent one season with Moss, as I left for the Titans in 1999. I'll always remember our nice chat on the field before the Titans played the Vikings in 2001.
I also spoke with Moss shortly after he was voted into the Hall of Fame and congratulated him on his great honor. I told him how happy I am for him; how proud of him I am for the phenomenal NFL career and his current success in broadcasting with ESPN.
And I told him I will never forget draft day in 1998 and how excited we were to bring him to Minnesota.
Jeff Diamond is a former president of the Titans and former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He makes speaking appearances to corporate/civic groups and college classes on Negotiation and Sports Business/Sports Management. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
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