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January 20, 2008

Moss held to one catch but still going to first Super Bowl

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – Randy Moss had been in the NFL for 10 years and has been one of the best wide receivers in NFL history over that time.
He caught a record-setting 23 touchdowns during the regular season and had 98 catches for 1,493 yards but for the second straight postseason game, Moss only had one catch, this time for 18 yards.

His teammates said yesterday that Jacksonville and San Diego both limited Moss's production by double and triple teaming him and that his sub-par two catches for 32 yards this postseason has nothing to do with his off-the-field distraction – Ft. Lauderdale resident and longtime friend Rachelle Washington accusing him of battery and demanding from him a “six-figure” settlement.

San Diego’s overwhelming coverage on Moss forced Tom Brady to go elsewhere with the football for most of the game.

Teammate Rodney Harrison said that the Chargers needed to double and triple-team Moss because if they didn’t then Moss would have burned them.

“At any point in time Randy Moss can go down there and beat you,” Harrison said. “You have to put two guys on him. If you stick him with one guy, I don’t think there is a corner in the league [that can stop him one-on-one]. You’re proud of a guy like that because he’s 30-years-old and he works extremely hard.”

In addition to his catch, Moss had a 14 yard run on a reverse.

“Seeing him run that got everybody else motivated,” fellow receiver Jabar Gaffney said.

Moss has never been to a Super Bowl. His teammates couldn’t be happier to help him reach the Super Bowl this year.

“I’m real happy for him,” Gaffney said. “He got in this terrible situation and we all have his back. We know what kind of [person he is]. There are always two sides to the story so for him to shake that off and he came out here and got ‘W,’ it’s real good…He’s been focused. He’s been himself all week. He just shut that off.”

“When I walked into this locker room I looked at Randy and just told him how happy and how proud I was for him because he’s worked his butt off,” Harrison said. “He’s gone through a lot of criticism. He’s gone through a lot of scrutiny since he’s gotten here, in a lot of public opinion good, bad, and different, and for him to stand tall week after week to stay focused on what Bill [Belichick] has been preaching, it just shows his maturity as a person, as a player and I’m happy for him.”

“He’s a good person and he’s been a great football player for us,” Harrison added.

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