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Christian Yelich homered for the NL Central-leading Brewers. Jhoulys Chacin (6-3) allow
The ball was flying down the field often for Minnesota during that drizzly night in Green Bay Seahawks Game Jerseys , and Randy Moss kept going over and past the defense to get it.
Five games into his NFL career, Moss was a star. He was a revolutionary, too. There was no moment that better defined his arrival as the league's premier deep threat than that breakout prime-time performance against the two-time reigning NFC champion and bitter rival Packers.
"Seeing Randall Cunningham smile, seeing him energetic," Moss said, reflecting on his five-catch, 190-yard, two-touchdown connection with Cunningham that carried the Vikings to a 37-24 victory. "It was just a great feeling."
When the Vikings landed in Minnesota, his half-brother, Eric Moss, who was briefly his teammate, wondered about the celebrating the big win.
"I said, 'Going out? No, I want to go home,'" Moss said.
Then defensive tackle John Randle tapped him on the shoulder.
"Man, we're going to party tonight!" Moss said, recalling Randle's pronouncement to the rookie. "That's when I finally understood what it really meant to the guys for us to go into Lambeau and win."
Twenty years later, with Moss set to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend after being elected in his first year of eligibility, the swift, sleek and sometimes-sassy wide receiver has finally understood the depth of his impact on the game and the privilege of opportunity to serve as a celebrant of the sport.
"I came into the league with Authentic Calvin Ridley Jersey , I guess, my head not really screwed on my shoulders properly," Moss said recently on a conference call with reporters.
Over time, the "homebody-type guy" from tiny Rand, West Virginia, who ranks second in NFL history in touchdown receptions (156) and fourth in receiving yards (15,292), learned how to soften some of the edges he's carried since he was a kid.
"I've been able to open myself up and meet more people, be able to travel the world," said Moss, who's in his third season as an ESPN analyst. "Football here in America is a very powerful sport, and just being in that gold jacket, hopefully I can just be able to continue to reach people and continue to do great things."
Moss will become the 14th inductee from the Vikings, joining former teammates Cris Carter, Chris Doleman, Randall McDaniel and Randle. He'll be the 27th wide receiver enshrined at the museum in Canton, Ohio. That's a three-hour drive from his hometown, but it's sure a long way from poverty-ridden Rand where Moss and his sports-loving friends played football as frequently as they could in the heart of coal country next to the Allegheny Mountains just south of the capital city, Charleston.
"It was something that just felt good. I loved to compete. I just loved going out there just doing what kids do, just getting dirty Authentic Harold Landry Jersey ," Moss said.
He landed at Marshall University after some off-the-field trouble kept him out of Florida State and Notre Dame, and he took the Thundering Herd to what was then the NCAA Division I-AA national championship in 1996. Several NFL teams remained wary of his past, but Vikings head coach Dennis Green didn't flinch when Moss was still on the board in the 1998 draft with the 21st overall pick. Moss never forgot the teams that passed on him, with especially punishing performances against Dallas, Detroit and Green Bay.
"I just carried a certain chip on my shoulder because the way I grew up playing was just basically having a tough mentality," Moss said. "Crying, hurting, in pain? So what? Get up, and let's go."
The Vikings finished 15-1 in 1998, infamously missing the Super Bowl by a field goal. The next draft, the Packers took cornerbacks with their first three picks.
Moss never escaped his reputation as a moody player whose behavior and effort were often questioned. That led to his first departure from Minnesota, via trade to Oakland in 2005.
The Raiders dealt him to New England in 2007, when the Patriots became the first 16-0 team before losing in the Super Bowl, to the New York Giants.
After a rocky 2010 for Moss, including being traded by the Patriots and released by the Vikings, he took a year off. He returned in 2012 to reach one more Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers.
Moss was not a particularly physical player, but for his lanky frame he had plenty of strength. His combination of height and speed was exceptional, and his instincts for the game were too.
Carter taught him how to watch the video board at the Metrodome to find the ball in the air, and he had a knack for keeping his hands close enough to his body that if the defensive back in coverage had his back to the quarterback he couldn't tell when the ball was about to arrive.
In an NFL Films clip that captured a sideline conversation between him and Cunningham during one game, Moss yelled Authentic Riley Sutter Jersey , "Throw it up above his head! They can't jump with me! Golly!"
For Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, who has lived his entire life in Minnesota, was a sports-loving 8-year-old in 1998 when Moss helped lead the Vikings to what was then the NFL season scoring record with 556 points. The first team to break it was New England in 2007 with, again, Moss as the premier pass-catcher who set the all-time record that year with 23 touchdown catches.
"It's fun to look back at his career and watch his old film. I love when that stuff pops up on Instagram, to be able to watch some of those old Randy plays that made me want to play this game," Thielen said. "I try to emulate him as much as I can." Justin Turner hit Los Angeles‘ seventh home run of the game, a go-ahead drive in the 11th inning that lifted the Dodgers over the New York Mets 8-7 on Sunday.
Cody Bellinger and Kike Hernandez each homered twice as the Dodgers beat the Mets for the 12th straight time dating to 2016. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson also connected for Los Angeles. Hernandez and Muncy led off the game with back-to-back shots.
The Mets matched a team record for the most homers allowed in a game, and lost their sixth in a row overall.
Turner, a former Met, homered off Chris Flexen (0-1) with two outs to put the Dodgers up for good. Los Angeles had squandered a 7-4 lead in the eighth when Kevin Plawecki hit a tying three-run shot.
Daniel Hudson (2-2) picked up the victory with two scoreless innings.
INDIANS 12, TIGERS 2
CLEVELAND (AP) – Edwin Encarnacion hit an eighth-inning grand slam, helping the Indians to their season-high seventh straight win.
Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis also connected for Cleveland, which outscored Detroit 26-3 in the three-game sweep. Ramirez finished with three hits, extending his streak of reaching base to 31 consecutive games.
Adam Plutko (4-1) pitched six innings of two-run ball, becoming the second rookie starter to beat the Tigers in the series. Shane Bieber pitched seven innings in Friday night’s 12-0 win.
Tigers starter Matthew Boyd (4-6) allowed a season-high six runs in three-plus innings in his shortest outing of the season.
Detroit has lost five straight overall and is 3-10 against Cleveland this season.
RED SOX 5, MARINERS 0
BOSTON (AP) – Chris Sale struck out 13 over seven dazzling innings and Mitch Moreland hit a two-run homer, leading Boston to the victory.
Sale (7-4) gave up four hits and walked one. Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes each pitched an inning to complete the four-hitter.
Jackie Bradley Jr. had three singles and Rafael Devers added an RBI double for Boston, which struggled offensively in a 7-2 loss Saturday night after putting up 14 runs and 20 hits in the series opener.
The Mariners fell to 1-5 on their 10-game East Coast trip. Marco Gonzales (7-5) gave up five runs in six innings.
CINCINNATI (AP) – Pitcher Michael Lorenzen and Jesse Winker connected for pinch-hit homers in Cincinnati’s seven-run seventh inning, sending the Reds to their seventh straight victory.
Lorenzen’s homer was the third of his career and second in two games by a Reds pitcher. Anthony DeSclafani hit a grand slam on Saturday – the first by a Reds pitcher since 1959.
Jackson Stephens (1-0) got the win as the Reds completed a four-game sweep of the Cubs for the first time in 25 years. Raisel Iglesias worked the ninth for his 13th save.
Anthony Rizzo and Albert Almora Jr. homered for Chicago, and Pedro Strop (3-1) got the loss.
RAYS 7, YANKEES 6, 12 INNINGS
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Rookie Jake Bauers led off the 12th inning with a home run, finishing off Tampa Bay’s three-game sweep.
The Yankees also lost catcher Gary Sanchez when he pulled up while running out a double-play grounder in the 10th. Manager Aaron Boone said Sanchez hurt his right groin/hip abductor and is probably headed for the disabled list.
Giancarlo Stanton homered while going 5 for 5 for New York. The Yankees had been the only team in the majors that hadn’t lost three in a row this year.
Bauers connected on the first pitch from Chasen Shreve (2-2). Ryan Yarbrough (7-3) pitched an inning for the win.
BRAVES 7, ORIOLES 3
ATLANTA (AP) – Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single in the first, pinch-hitter Dansby Swanson belted a two-run homer in the eighth and the Braves earned their first win over the Orioles in six years.
Baltimore won the first two games of the series and swept the last set between the teams in 2015. Atlanta ended a stretch of seven straight losses to the Orioles since 2012.
Mark Trumbo and Trey Mancini homered for Baltimore. David Hess (2-4) gave up five runs in four innings.
Braves right-hander Brandon McCarthy (6-3) yielded three runs in five innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PIRATES 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Clay Buchholz pitched five solid innings before leaving with an injury, and the Diamondbacks completed a four-game sweep of the Pirates.
Buchholz (2-1) retired his first 11 batters before Starling Marte doubled down the right-field line with two out in the fourth inning. Despite throwing just 53 pitches, he was pulled after experiencing tightness in his left side.
The injury occurred on a swing in the fifth. Buchholz called the early exit ”more precautionary.”
David Peralta hit a two-run homer for Arizona, and John Ryan Murphy also went deep. Brad Boxberger worked the ninth for his 17th save.
Pirates right-hander Trevor Williams (6-5) allowed three runs in six innings.
CARDINALS 8, BREWERS 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Luke Weaver won for the first time in eight starts and Jose Martinez hit a three-run homer for St. Louis.
Weaver (4-6) allowed two runs, both in the first, and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out a season-high nine in his first victory since May 11.
Martinez’s 11th homer capped a five-run fourth that made it 6-2 Cardinals.
Christian Yelich homered for the NL Central-leading Brewers. Jhoulys Chacin (6-3) allowed a season-high eight runs in 4 1/3 innings.
TWINS 2, RANGERS 0
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Jose Berrios struck out a career-best 12 in seven innings, and the Twins beat Bartolo Colon and the Rangers.
Eddie Rosario had two hits for Minnesota, which snapped a three-game losing st.