FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The moment Randy Moss announced to a gang of reporters in the locker room that he planned to speak at the podium, a buzz began to circulate that something wild was about to happen.
Moss didn't disappointment.
During a rambling 5-minute monologue shortly after the Minnesota Vikings' 28-18 loss to his old team, the enigmatic receiver announced he wouldn't answer another question from a reporter this season, implied that coaches didn't heed his game-planning advice and all but begged the New England Patriots to re-sign him in the offseason.
Moss finished with one catch for 8 yards in his first game at Gillette Stadium since the Patriots traded him for a third-round draft pick on Oct. 6. He officially was targeted twice, although Brett Favre simply was throwing the other ball out of the end zone.
The Patriots made sure to limit his impact, playing safety Brandon Meriweather deep over the top on Moss' side of the field on almost every snap. And the ploy worked, not only shutting down Moss but frustrating him enough that he strode to the podium and unleashed the following:
"Well, I'm going to go ahead and start this thing off. I'm going to go ahead and say this. I feel like I said something a couple of weeks ago. Look, I got fined 25,000 dollars for not talking to you all, and me personally, I really don't care. But at the same time, I do ... answer questions throughout the week, and for the league to fine me 25,000 dollars -- I'm not going to answer any more questions for the rest of this year. If it's going to be an interview, I'm going to conduct it. So, I'll answer my own questions, ask myself the questions and then give you all the answers. So, from here on out, I'm not answering any more questions for the rest of this season.
"Enough said of that. Now we get to the game. (deep breath) Trying, trying, trying to ... ah, let me hold it down. All right. I really haven't had a chance to really talk to the guys, so this was no disrespect to the Minnesota Vikings and their organization. The captains -- (Vince) Wilfork, Tommy Boy (Brady), (Jerod) Mayo. Am I forgetting somebody? Kevin Faulk. Man, I miss them guys, man. I miss the team. It was hard for me to come here and play. Been an up-and-down rollercoaster emotionally all week. And then to be able to come in here and see those guys running plays that I know what they're doing, and the success they had on the field, the running game -- so, I kind of know what kind of feeling they have in their locker room, man, and I just want to be able to tell the guys that I miss the hell out of them. Every last helmet in that locker room, man.
"I mean, Deion Branch came up to me after the game, and I've never really had a chance to meet Deion Branch, but it was definitely a pleasure to meet him. Coach(Bill) Belichick, he gave me an opportunity to be a part of something special, and that's something I really take to heart. I actually salute Coach Belichick and his team for the success they've had before me, during me and after me. So, I'm actually stuck for words, just because the fact that -- man, this is just a lot of memories here.
"To the New England Patriots fans, that ovation at the end of the game -- that really felt heartwarming. I think I actually shedded a tear for that. But like I said, man, it's been an emotional rollercoaster this whole week. I tried to prepare. Tried to talk to the players and coaches about how this game was going to be played and a couple tendencies here, couple tendencies here. The bad part about it -- you have six days to prepare for a team, and on the seventh day, that Sunday, meaning today, I guess they come over to me and say, 'Dag, Moss, you was right about a couple plays and a couple schemes they were going to run.' It hurts as a player that you put a lot of hard work in all week, and toward the end of the week, Sunday, when you get on the field, that's when they acknowledge about the hard work you put in throughout the week. That's actually a disappointment.
"I can't really say enough about this team, this organization. I met with Ms. Kraft before the game, because I really didn't have a chance to talk to her before I left, and I just thanked Ms. Kraft for the opportunity to let me be a part of something special. The New England Patriots has always been a special organization and I've always watched from afar, and when I got drafted by Minnesota (in 1998), and I think I said this a couple weeks ago, I felt obligated to try to bring a Super Bowl to Minnesota. And this season's still not over.
"Do I know what next season and the future's going to bring? No, I do not. But all I can say is, man, it's a lot of work that we leave on the field each day. It's a lot of film study that we leave in that room each day. I know how hard these guys work here in New England, and (all) that I really tried to do is take what the best coach in football history has brought upon me, or the knowledge that he's given me about the game of football, and I tried to just sprinkle it off to the guys the best way I know how.
"So, I'm going to go ahead and end this, this interview. I have my family to see. Definitely down that we lost this game, because I didn't really expect for us to lose this game knowing that we had a few things that we had to clean up. But like I said, they played a good game. I wish we could have had that three at the end of the half. Maybe could have been different, maybe not. ...
"I don't know how many more times I'm going to be up here in New England, but I'm going to leave the New England Patriots, Coach Belichick, man, with a salute, man. I love you guys, I miss you, I'm out.