Washington Redskins’ rookie tight end Thaddeus Moss intends on forging his own path, and making his own name in the NFL separate from that of his father, Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss, according to ESPN’s Jeff Klein.
Moss, who went undrafted out of LSU, is motivated to do what it takes to be an effective and productive pass catcher, but wants to do so without being weighed down by the expectations that may be associated with his father’s name.
“I’m just tired of the comparisons,” Moss said. “Everybody keeps mentioning my father, mentioning his last name, but just the identity I want to make is my own identity. I look forward to making a name for myself.”
Moss is also motivated to prove it was a mistake for no team to draft him in the 2020 NFL Draft, saying that going undrafted is “a slap in the face to me.”
“Having picked kickers and punters, special-teams guys getting picked over me, I definitely felt some type of way over it,” Moss said. “It’s no difference. I’ve always had to prove myself my whole life, having the last name I have. I always had to prove everybody wrong or just prove myself right my whole life.”
Moss hauled in 47 passes for 570 yards and four touchdowns for LSU during the 2019 season, and despite undergoing foot surgery a week following the draft, he is hopeful that he will be ready to play whenever the Redskins can take the field again.
Moss reflected on his conversation with his father when he was realizing that he would go undrafted.
“He was sitting there, not knowing what to say to me,” Moss said. “I said, look, this is no different than what I had to do my whole life. The last name Moss, people have always had their eyes on me and always doubted me. They wanted to see what I can do. They always have expectations. This is no different.
“Having the last name that I have, people think I was handed a lot of things, but it’s the opposite. People ask me what are pros and cons, and that’s definitely a con to it. But I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work for everything, and whatever my NFL career is, you’ll have to respect it because I worked for everything. I wasn’t given anything.”
Randy now works as an NFL analyst for ESPN, but Thaddeus says that any criticism won’t be worth the critique he got at home and in the car with his father.
“The critique I get on television is not gonna be worth the critique that I got with him being at the house or being in the car together,” Thaddeus Moss said. “I would hear it from him. So nah, he can only say so much on TV. I’m not worried about that.”
__
To have a productive NFL career, you need a combination of skill and health. And health can be tricky, especially if you need attention for a pilonidal cyst. While pilonidal cysts may not be the most well known health issue, they still deserve your attention and the care of a specialist who can help you get back to being 100%.
