First and foremost, which was validated by the actual events that occurred, there was absolutely NO way that Martin Mayhew was going to put in a claim for the troubled wide receiver. I'm tired of all the "Clubhouse Cancer" diatribes getting bandied about in most conversations about Moss; I understand the concept, but think it gets more credit than it deserves. I don't think Mayhew wanted Moss because it would disrupt the flow the offense is currently developing. Injecting Moss means that he would immediately become the Number 2 option in a pretty crowded corp, he would have to learn his third playbook of the season, and if the Lions were to lose more games closely, how would his craziness manifest? Would he demand Number 1-type attention?
Sure, he is somewhat familiar with OC Scott Linehan's offense, and I'm sure Nate Burleson would defer to Moss due to their prior relationship. Outside of that though, I don't know how much the other members of the offense would accept someone with a stigma like Randy, especially if he starts to disrupt the flow they have worked so hard to establish (aka Being the Highest Scoring Team in the NFC).
Then I got to thinking about Moss' history in the NFL. Whenever I think about the dude I'm always led back to that infamous moment when someone in the Lions front office decided that it would be better to appease Barry Sanders by drafting a diminutive cornerback who returns kicks (even though they had Glyn Milbyrn returning kicks. 'Member Glyn? He was good at special teams. Good at returning kicks.) at 2oth overall in the '98 draft. Moss went 21st. Consider the repercussions of this move: Moss comes into Minnesota and blows the doors off the NFL. Terry Fair comes to Detroit, returns two kicks, and is a mediocre corner at best. Barry Sanders, unable to stomach the utter mediocrity of the Detroit Lions one moment longer, retires after the '98 season.
This is where you need to allow yourself one moment to think about this - any more and you may want to kill yourself. Okay, ready?
How much longer would Barry had played if Randy Moss had impacted the Lions offense in even half as drastic a fashion as he did the Vikings? BLERRRRRGGGG! That starts the whole "what if" game, and this slope is slippery and vicious. Would Detroit have become a desirable place for quality free agents to play? How many more seasons would Emmitt Smith have had to play to even come close to the rushing record Barry would have established? How much longer would Herman Moore have been a top receiver in the league? .....okay, I have to stop now, it's making me feel nauceous. Ugh.
I love these pictures. They're reflective of my feelings towards the above hypotheticals.
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