Imperfect Moss exemplifies perfect Patriots’ plan

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Randy Moss best defines the New England Patriots and, before you ask, there doesn't appear anything in the water here that produces ludicrous statements.

Think about it. The perfect team might have the perfect quarterback and a brilliant coach but has separated itself by blending diverse parts into a unified group. If the cause is so much darn winning, the effect is how a player whose self-serving career has been a highlight film of individual triumphs finally accepts a more collective purpose. There is no second option within the Patriots locker room. You either conform or leave.

Moss is responsible for his own baggage, and there is enough to fill numerous trunks. But if 18-0 has done anything for the wide receiver whose talent always has been eclipsed by his tendency to find trouble, it has forced him to toe a line of solidarity.

"When I was younger, I approached the game with anger," Moss told a Super Bowl XLII media day gathering Tuesday. "I still carry a chip on my shoulder, but I understand more things.

"When things are going well, everyone is happy. But how does one respond when things are going badly? I think a lot of people saw me in a way before that I wasn't into the game of football or responsible about it."

Many probably still do, and it's not as if Moss hasn't over 10 seasons provided sufficient data that warrants him being viewed a me-first player whose skill hasn't always balanced those times he found himself in trouble with the law or at odds with a quarterback not throwing his way.

There is a reason 20 picks passed before Minnesota selected Moss in the 1998 NFL Draft, a foundation for why things didn't ultimately work out with the Vikings, then the Raiders.

But even now, days before New England plays the Giants and tries to conclude its season unbeaten, no controversy surrounding its record-breaking wideout can apparently disrupt the Patriots' pursuit.

It was announced this week a temporary restraining order against Moss would be extended until late March in relation to an alleged battery incident against a female acquaintance. Over 60 minutes Tuesday, the player received one question about it.

"Haven't been thinking about that, man," Moss said. "I'm here for the Super Bowl, for the biggest game of my professional life. I'm not thinking about anything negative."

And so disappeared any hint of a storm.

And so go the Patriots.

It's not easily explained, or 31 NFL teams would be a whole lot closer to New England, but the Patriots have mastered the knack for extracting the highest level of production from players thought too old or too selfish or both.

It is a culture that refuses media leaks and rejects the idea of supplying opponents bulletin board challenges. It's as boring as it is businesslike, and maybe that's the point.

The Patriots don't just resurrect careers -- they trade for a disgruntled receiver who is probably a few years from retirement and watch Moss break Jerry Rice's single-season record for touchdown catches with 23.

They make us rethink our opinion about a player whose reputation was built on a decade's worth of amazing plays and questionable decisions. They take him into their world of superior expectations and dare him to be part of something great, whether he is making all the important plays or catching just two balls over the team's first two playoff wins this year.

"The first historical moment I remember was actually a tragedy, back in elementary school when the space shuttle (exploded) with (schoolteacher) Christa McAuliffe on it and how that affected people," said Moss, who has every chance of re-signing with the team and finishing his career in New England. "But we're on the verge of making a different, more positive kind of history. To go 19-0 would be beyond special.

"I don't have an answer for why things are the way they are with (New England). I can't explain the chemistry, how everything fits together so well. I still am who I am. I still say what I want to say and do what I want to do. But man, I still love football. I still live and die football."

He, more than anyone else, defines the Patriots. Not what they're about, mind you. But what they are capable of.

Ed Graney's column is published Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@ reviewjournal.com.