Mike Florio ,
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Of the many great Thanksgiving Day performances, one still stands out twenty-seven years later.
The Vikings faced the Cowboys. Rookie receiver Randy Moss had made good on his vow to “rip up” the NFL, helping the Vikings take a 10-1 record to Texas for the traditional late-afternoon game.
Moss believed the Cowboys had told him they’d draft him earlier that year. With the eighth overall pick, the Cowboys passed. Thirteen spots later, the Vikings pounced.
And when Moss got the chance to make the Cowboys regret it, he did.
Three catches for 163 yards. Three touchdowns . Fifty-one yards. Fifty-six yards. Fifty-six yards. Two were bombs, the first via flea flicker on the opening drive. The third was a short pass followed by a broken tackle and the activation of booster rockets for a sprint to the end zone.
Watch the play . Defensive back Terry Billups thinks he has an angle. A full-speed shoulder-dipping stutter step from Moss throws Billups off, and Moss keeps on going.
Here’s the entire game . It’s a thing of beauty, with all-time greats Pat Summerall and John Madden on the call.
Football games always looked different in Texas Stadium. The sun from the hole in the roof and the lighting made the helmets glow and the shitty green cement look almost lush. (Also, the Minnesota uniforms were FAR superior to the more recent Nikefied iterations.)
Later today, Cowboys receiver George Pickens has a chance to do some of the things Moss did. The skillsets are similar. Pickens’s talent, suppressed for most of his three years in Pittsburgh, is undeniable.
Who knows? Maybe we’ll see another 3-163-3 stat line today. If that happens, Vikings fans everywhere (many of whom should be currently re-examining their purpled-colored glasses allegiance anyway) may need to consider a pivot to the team that was supposed to be drafting Randy Moss in the first place.
If nothing else, they’ll shift to the winning side of the Hail Mary play . Even if it was OPI.
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