Randy Moss Cut by Minnesota Vikings! Was He Released for Speaking His Mind?

Randy Moss probably hasn’t unpacked all of his boxes since being traded several weeks ago from the New England Patriots to the Minnesota Vikings.

I hope Moss still has the boxes because, unfortunately, he will need them.

In a surprising move, the Minnesota Vikings waived the outspoken wide receiver today.  Moss had just one catch for eight yards against his former team on Sunday.

In yesterday’s postgame press conference, Moss let the world know he would not talk to the press the rest of the season.  Moss was fined $25,000 by the NFL days ago for not talking to the media when he was scheduled to do so. 

During the press conference, Moss gave praise to the Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick for running a first-rate organization.  Sounds to me like Moss missed being a part of a real team rather than the dysfunctional team that just released him.

Yesterday, Moss stated the following: “Well I am going to go ahead and start this thing off. I am going to go ahead and say this - I said this a couple of weeks ago - but I got fined $25,000 for not talking to you all. 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 … I am not going to answer any more questions for the rest of this year. If it is going to be an interview, I am going to conduct it. So, I will answer my own questions and ask myself the questions and give you the answers. So from here on out, I am not answering any more questions the rest of this season. Enough said about that.”

Moss continued, “Coach Belichick gave me an opportunity to be a part of something special and that is something I really take to heart. I actually salute Coach Belichick and his team for the success that they have had before me, during me and after me. So I am actually stuck for words, just because there are a lot of memories here.”

Obviously, the Vikings organization used the press conference yesterday as the basis for cuttting Moss, but why?

What did he say that warranted him being cut?

Let’s look at the facts here.  Typically, when an African-American athlete speaks his mind in society and sports, he gets silenced.   Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with what Moss said.  Just because he is paid millions of dollars doesn’t mean he has to be a slave to the media and his team.  

I respect Moss for speaking out irrespective of the consequences.  He has already unfairly been labeled an agitator in the mainstream, and that won’t change anytime soon. 

My thing is this: How come Brett Favre is not being hammered in the media the way Moss has been?

How come the 30th-ranked quarterback in the league—who has an NFL investigation hanging over his head—is getting a pass?

How come the 41-year-old Favre is having his butt kissed for poor play because he is the ol' gunslinger?

Here is what ESPN’s Tedy Bruschi had to say about the Vikings recent actions and Favre: “If Brad Childress is using this as a statement to make to his team about the right way of doing things, he lost his opportunity. That opportunity was last week when Brett Favre made the whole week about himself. He should have benched Brett Favre and played Tarvaris Jackson. That was his chance. If he’s trying to send a message, this is the wrong way to do it.”

Favre gets preferential treatment in the media for being a white quarterback in the NFL who is beloved by those who cover him.  He is NFL royalty.  His complexion, along with the mythology around the legend of Favre, will ensure he gets a pass when the going gets tough.

Meanwhile, the likes of Moss are treated unfairly because they are outspoken and don’t bow down to the establishment.

Due to lack of diversity in the media, it is much easier for the mainstream to bash Moss There are few African-Americans in the mainstream media with platforms, and even fewer who use them to denounce inequities in society and sports. 

Facts show that 88 percent of all sports columnists are white; therefore, stories are written based on stereotypes and hype rather than logic and facts.

The few African-American journalists and athletes with platforms will opt to stay silent and not come to Moss’s rescue because they have to keep their master happy.   Select African-American journalists find it easy to bash Tiger Woods, Plaxico Burress and Michael Vick when they are down, yet they fail to scrutinize the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, Lance Armstrong and Brett Favre with a similar level of persistence.

Moss has had some off-the-field issues in the past, but for the past several years, he has been a model citizen on the field and in society.  Meanwhile, Favre continues to get protected by the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings and Brad Childress.

Why?

What is good for the goose is good for the gander.  People in the media are quick to point out Moss only having one catch for eight yards against the Patriots.  They will say he loafs and plays when he wants to play.

Meanwhile, Favre is celebrated as the John Wayne of football.  The same mainstream medium that vilifies African-American athletes like Moss neglects to mention with consistency that Favre stinks this year and is hurting the team.

When African-American athletes speak their mind, they know they stand a good chance of being scrutinized, ridiculed and treated unfairly.  I think if someone from ESPN or another sports outlet had the guts to tell it like it is, then we could have the critical discussion along racial lines that is needed.

Now that Moss has been cut, it sends a message that is loud and clear.  If you are African-American, you can only say so much before you are silenced.  If you speak too much, we will get rid of you.  The white mainstream endorses the latter because they are largely responsible for what we digest on a consistent basis.

I say, stop the labeling and embrace understanding.  No one, African-American or white, should have their right to speak their mind stripped because the power structure doesn’t agree.

It seems like when African-Americans speak out, they are the ones being punished.

Sad but true.

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