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Moss' return to Minnesota frustrating
Oakland Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss pulls in a pass from Aaron Brooks out of bounds as Minnesota Vikings' Dovonte Edwards, right, brings him down in second quarter of a preseason football game Monday, Aug. 14, 2006 in Minneapolis.
Randy Moss wanted so badly to make a triumphant return to Minnesota. He wanted to put on a show for the fans who supported him so steadfastly during his seven years here, and greeted him so warmly Monday in his first game at the Metrodome since the Vikings traded him to Oakland before last season.
[LEFT]Instead, Moss endured a frustrating night and voiced his displeasure with both coach Art Shell for the way he benched the receiver and the Vikings organization that shipped him away.
Moss had one catch for 16 yards and Aaron Brooks looked ragged again in the Raiders' 16-13 preseason victory.
"I just wanted to come in and see the fans and give them something really to scream about because I've had my fun here in this Metrodome and they've had theirs, too," Moss said. "That's one thing I really just wanted to come back and just give back to the fans. The organization? To hell with them."
Moss, who lit up the Metrodome in the first seven years of his career, started the night with a feet-stomping tantrum after Brooks didn't see him wide open in the end zone. He said he was angry because Brooks got flushed to the right while Moss was on the left and didn't fault the quarterback for not getting him the ball.
After making his only catch against second-team cornerback Dovonte Edwards in the second quarter, Moss was pulled. Moss stormed off the field and threw his helmet in disgust, stewing on the bench for the rest of the game.
"I was just more ticked because I've never in my career been taken out of a game, preseason, during a drive," Moss said with a puzzled tone. "It's funny to me. I don't call the shots. I guess I just go back to the drawing board."
That's a good plan for the entire Raiders offense.
Brooks finished 1-for-6 for 16 yards and was sacked twice by the new-look defense, which held the Raiders to no first downs and just 15 yards in one quarter of work.
Brad Childress made his debut as Vikings coach, and the West Coast offense he brought from Philadelphia is the antithesis of what Minnesota fans saw when Moss was in purple. Those teams lived off the big play, while the new Vikings will rely on short passes and a ball-control running game.
Brad Johnson was 5-of-6 for 32 yards for the Vikings, who scored their only TD in the first quarter on new fullback Tony Richardson's 3-yard run. Ryan Longwell added two field goals, but missed a 55-yarder that would have tied it in the fourth period.
Fourth-string quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan drove the Vikings to the Oakland 22 in the closing seconds and Childress elected to go for the win. Hiram Eugene intercepted O'Sullivan's desperation heave into the end zone to clinch Oakland's victory.
"I've gotten nervous before every game I've ever coached, and this was no different," said Childress, who has never been a head coach at any level. "It's nice to look out at that panorama, but you have to get right back on task."
The night was all about Moss, who made the Vikings one of the most dangerous offensive teams from the minute he arrived in 1998. Those Vikings were defined by the deep pass to Moss, which helped them reach an unprecedented level of popularity in the state.
His tenure was hardly perfect. He left the field with 2 seconds left in a regular-season loss to Washington two years ago; got in a minor scrape with a traffic enforcement officer in 2002; and verbally abused corporate sponsors on a team bus in 2001.
Not to mention his infamous "I play when I want to play" comment.
Nevertheless, plenty of fans wore his purple No. 84 jersey on Monday night, and still more donned his black No. 18.
"It makes me feel good to know that I'm still loved here, no matter what the bad blood that kind of built when I left," Moss said. "I think that they, the people in the stands with the 84s on and whatnot, I think they understand now that I'm a Raider and there's no coming back, and I don't really want to come back."
New Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin brought his version of the cover-2 defense from Tampa Bay, a scheme specifically geared toward stopping Moss' specialty, the big play.
Brooks, still looking uncomfortable in silver and black, took one shot downfield to Moss in the first quarter, but Moss caught the ball out of bounds.
Signed as a free agent from New Orleans, Brooks is just 2-for-9 for 28 yards, one TD and one interception in Oakland's first two preseason games.
"Obviously we'd like to have some more productivity out on the field, but it's still preseason, and it's a new system for pretty much all of us," Brooks said. "It's going to take time. I have patience."
Sebastian Janikowski's three field goals, including a 55-yarder in the first quarter, helped the Raiders overcome nine penalties.
The Raiders finally got into the end zone midway through the second quarter in Moss-like fashion. Andrew Walter hooked up with Johnnie Morant on a 67-yard touchdown pass for a 13-7 lead. Walter (10-for-19 for 148 yards and two interceptions) hit Morant in stride with a perfect pass down the left sideline.
Notes: Morant had five catches for 108 yards and the touchdown. ... Raiders WR Jerry Porter, who missed the opener with a calf injury, came out for warmups, but didn't feel ready to go.
Source: AP
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