Randy Moss explains on 'Manning Cast' what went wrong on his Tennessee recruiting visit
Had Peyton Manning been in town, maybe the outcome would have been different. Maybe Randy Moss would have picked Tennessee over Notre Dame and the Vols would have been part of his hall of fame career.
But Manning wasn’t in town. And apparently that changed everything.
Moss was a guest on ESPN’s ‘Manning Cast’ during Monday Night Football’s game between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday. They looked back at the time Moss visited Tennessee and, ultimately, was left wondering where Peyton Manning was.
“You know what was crazy was that my initial visit to Tennessee wasn’t as crazy,” Moss said. “My first visit to Notre Dame was special, because that’s where my heart was.”
Moss, who grew up in West Virginia as a Notre Dame fan along with his brother, signed a National Letter of Intent to Notre Dame. He never enrolled, though, after a fight at his high school led to him serving jail time.
Peyton Manning on Randy Moss: ‘I gave him my best pitch’
But back to that Tennessee visit.
“So when I went to Tennessee,” Moss continued, “all I heard was Peyton Manning is in Virginia at a family member’s house. He’s trying to drive back here just to recruit you. And I was like, well, if he’s driving here just to recruit me, why isn’t he here right now to get me?
“So it was kind of like Peyton being late. He wasn’t punctual. So that was the reason I didn’t become a Volunteer.”
Peyton Manning had his chance to respond.
“That hurts,” Manning said. “That hurts. I was seeing my girlfriend, now wife, at Virginia. I got up at three in the morning, drove all the way back, said Randy we’re going to throw it every play here. Three years, you’ll be coming out to the NFL.
“He was not hearing it. He was headed for Notre Dame. I gave him my best pitch, though. My best pitch.”
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Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson, Orange Bowl, Dec. 30, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Moss later landed at Marshall, where in 1997 he had jaw-dropping numbers, catching 96 passes for 1,820 yards and 26 touchdowns. He would go on to become the 21st overall pick in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft.
Manning in 1997 threw for a career-best 3,819 yards and 36 touchdowns over 12 games, completing 60.2 percent of his passes. He threw for 11,201 yards and 89 touchdowns over his four years with the Vols.
One can only wonder what the numbers would’ve been like had Manning and Moss teamed up at Tennessee in 1997. In December of that year, both players were Heisman Trophy finalists in New York, alongside Michigan’s Charles Woodson and Washington State’s Ryan Leaf.
Woodson edged out Manning for the trophy, with 1,815 votes to Manning’s 1,543. Leaf was third, with 861 votes and Moss was fourth, with 241.
“Randy, if you would’ve come to Tennessee, we could have shared it together,” Manning said on Monday night. “We could’ve won the Heisman together. Tennessee would have had their first winner if you had come. History could’ve been changed.”
