randy moss

Report: 49ers sign Randy Moss to one-year deal

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the San Francisco 49ers have signed free agent wide receiver Randy Moss to a one-year deal.

With Moss, the 49ers have finally landed a true number one receiver, which will hopefully help a guy like Michael Crabtree develop as well.

The 49ers are still trying to re-sign Josh Morgan before he’s able to hit the open market.

If the 49ers are able to go into next season with Moss, Crabtree and Morgan, they’ll have a pretty good-looking set of receivers.  Oh, and don’t forget about tight end Vernon Davis.

Update: Moss’ deal is worth $2.5 million with another $1.5 million available in incentives, per Matt Maiocco.

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KTVN Channel 2 – Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video – Drexel women fall to No. 7 Delaware 59-43

By DAVID GINSBURGAP Sports Writer

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) – After sticking with no. 7 Delaware for the opening 20 minutes, Drexel appeared capable of pulling off a huge upset in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament championship game.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, the cold shooting they displayed before halftime carried into the second half.

Not so for Delaware.

Elena Delle Donne had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and the Blue Hens used a strong second half to earn a 59-43 victory Sunday and its first CAA title.

Despite making only seven field goals in the first half, Drexel trailed only 20-16. Drexel hounded Delle Donne in the lane and forced her into 4-for-12 shooting.

The second half, however, was entirely different.

“Sadly, we remained cold,” Drexel coach Denise Dillon said. “They took advantage. They got some quick buckets and we weren't knocking down all the shots we needed to stay in it.”

The first half resembled last month's game between the teams that Delaware won 40-39. But the Blue Hens (30-1) got their transition game going after halftime and ended up cruising to their third win against the Dragons (18-13) this season.

“Defensively, we got some rebounds and got out and ran,” Delaware coach Tina Martin said. “Once we can run, we get in our comfort zone and our offense just kind of rolls after that.”

Kamile Nacickaite led Drexel with 16 points. the Dragons shot 30 percent, went 6 for 23 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 43-23.

“We just got beat by a great team,” Dillon said.

A great team with a very special player.

“Elena's tremendous,” Dillon said. “You can't take anything away from what she's capable of doing. she makes everyone around her great.”

Dillon took consolation in a late-season run that enabled Drexel to earn a first-round bye in the tournament before reaching the finals.

“I'm more than proud of our girls, of what they accomplished,” she said. “About three weeks ago they set a goal to control our own destiny and get into the top-four spot (in the standings). We came up with those wins. We came into the tournament with a goal of facing Delaware again. We did what was necessary.”

Until the second half.

After missing 21 of 30 shots from the field in the first half, Delaware began the second half with a 12-5 run to go up 32-21. Delle Donne hit a 14-footer and a 3-pointer to fuel the surge.

It was 36-27 before Blue Hens guard Lauren Carra connected from beyond the arc and Delle Donne made a layup for a 14-point lead. After Tyler Hale made two foul shots for Drexel, Delle Donne and Carra each made two at the line to make it 45-29 with 8:13 remaining.

At that point, the only remaining suspense was which net the Blue Hens would begin cutting down to celebrate their coveted first CAA title.

“This is just everything we've been working for,” Delle Donne said.

Delle Donne hit the court more times than she connected from it during a rugged first half in which the teams combined for only 16 field goals. Delle Donne was often knocked off her feet vying for position underneath the Blue Hens' basket.

Although Drexel held Delle Donne without a shot in the opening 5 minutes, the Blue Hens got points from three players in bolting to an 8-2 lead. the Dragons then found their shooting touch and used a 9-2 run to move in front for the first time.

A 3-pointer by Drexel's Fiona Flanagan made it 14-12 with 10:19 left in the half, but the Dragons didn't score again until Nacickaite hit a jumper as the shot clock expired with 1:17 remaining. despite the dry spell, Drexel kept it close with a defense that jammed the lane and paid close attention to Delle Donne.

Copyright 2012 the Associated Press. all rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Randy Moss signs with 49ers

after working out with the 49ers Monday, wide receiver Randy Moss has reportedly signed a one-year deal with the club. (HANS DERYK/Reuters file photo)

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Wide receiver Randy Moss has a agreed to a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers.

“we are pleased to add a player with Randy’s wealth of experience to our receiving corps,” said 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke. “Randy’s productivity over the course of his career speaks for itself. we look forward to integrating him into our system.”

Terms of the deal were not immediately known.

Moss had worked out with the 49ers during the day on Monday, with head coach and former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh throwing passes to Moss.

The 35-year-old Moss, who has been named to the Pro Bowl six times, sat out last season after catching 28 passes for 393 yards and five touchdowns in 2010, when he played for new England, Tennessee and Minnesota. but in 2009, Moss had 83 catches for 1,264 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The 49ers need help at wide receiver. they parted ways with Baylon Edwards in December, and Joshua Morgan missed the season after having surgery in October to repair a broken bone in his foot. Michael Crabtree was the team’s leading receiver in 2011 with 72 receptions for 874 yards.

Moss spent much of Monday in the Bay Area with 49ers officials before agreeing to the deal.

Moss arrived in the Bay Area Sunday night, had a physical Monday morning and was at the 49ers practice facility by 10:40 a.m., according to CSNBayArea.com. Moss stretched and ran pass patterns for about 15 minutes.

Offensive coordinator Greg Roman and receivers coach John Morton witnessed the workout along with Harbaugh.

Apparently Harbaugh and 49ers officials saw enough to think Moss could help them next season.

“He looked good,” San Francisco running back Anthony Dixon told CSNBayArea.com.

Dixon said Moss ran a variety of routes, including slants, outs and curls.

“Jim and (GM) Trent (Baalke) want to see if he can play,” 49ers CEO Jed York told CSNBayArea.com. “we need to add somebody who can stretch the field, and it’s up to those guys to see if he’s a fit.”

Moss and San Francisco team representatives met after the workout.

When asked if he would like to see Moss on the team, Dixon said yes.

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Dixon said. “That’s Randy. You got to account for him when he’s on the field.”

Also, San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith says he’s happy with the three-year deal the 49ers offered, and never demanded a five-year deal.

Smith told CBS 5 of San Francisco on Sunday that reports of a demand for a five-year deal are “completely false.”

Smith and San Francisco hope to reach a new contract before he becomes a free agent Tuesday.

“It’s going,” Smith told CBS 5. “they know I want to be back. I think they want me back. It’s just a matter of working out the details…I’m just waiting for it to get done.”

After being maligned at the start of his career, Smith had his best season last year. San Francisco went 13-3 and he threw for 3,144 yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions

Report: Saints looking at Randy Moss

WWLTV.comEmail: webteam@wwltv.com | Twitter: @WWLTV

NEW ORLEANS — the New Orleans Saints could be losing their top wide receiver in Marques Colston to free agency, but according to WWL Radio, the team may be looking at a high-profile replacement: Randy Moss.

CBSSports.com’s Larry Holder said the Saints will work out Moss and former Packers quarterback Brian Brohm on Tuesday. FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer said Brohm will be throwing to Moss.

Moss retired after a disastrous 2010 season in which he was traded twice during disappointing stints with the Patriots, Titans and Vikings. He didn’t appear in a game in 2011, but has since announced his plans to return to football.

The Saints have not confirmed any potential meetings with free agents.

Mashup: Polian says Moss ‘reached the end’

Former Colts president bill Polian weighed in on the Randy Moss situation, and his analysis makes it appear that Moss will have a tough time finding a team willing to give him a shot to return to the NFL.

Speaking on Sirius XM NFL Radio, Polian said Moss looked done when he was with the Titans in 2010, following his trade from the Patriots and subsequent release by the Vikings the same season.

“it was pretty clear he had lost a fair amount of speed and flexibility,” Polian said. “He was not the same player he was three or four years earlier during his heyday in new England. since his repertoire of routes was always limited — he was essentially a deep receiver his entire career — losing a step can really hurt your effectiveness.”

Added Polian: “I just view it as a guy who was a great player, who obviously had some baggage throughout his career but had a nice run at new England, who sort of reached the end as every player does. nobody, no matter how great they are, defeats Father Time. I just felt like Randy was in that category.

“for his sake, I hope he makes it back. but to me, he didn’t look like a top-echelon player in Tennessee.”

Meanwhile, Moss returned to Ustream on Wednesday to chat with fans, and he said he wants to be on a team "where I can come in and do some damage." He also offered his opinions on Jeremy Lin, Tim Tebow, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and more, and he said he still talks to Tom Brady "any chance I get."

Read more about that story and others, plus check out videos, trivia and more, at Thursday’s Morning Mashup.

Oddsmakers say Patriots, Chicago Bears most likely to sign Randy Moss – Rockford, IL – Rockford Register Star

I get regular emails on NFL odds, from a publicist for Bovada. The one today listed the odds of Randy Moss signing with the Chicago Bears are 7/2. That's second only to the 5/2 line for the Patriots. The Redskins and 49ers were next at 5/1.

That's ridiculous. there is no way in the world that the button-down Bears would ever take a chance on Randy Moss, even if it were a chance that carried basically no risk. Moss has way too much baggage, didn't play at all this year and looked horrible when he did play two years ago. And even when Moss was at his amazing best, he was viewed as Public Enemy No. 1 in Chicago.

former Vikings teammate Cris Carter said Randy Moss might be a good fit for the Bears in several recent radio interviews. Carter also said Moss had "more quit in him" than any great player that he'd ever seen, and the Bears would have to address that.

The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs, a terrific beat reporter, writes in the link above that few coaches have worked better with Randy Moss than Mike Tice, whom the Bears recently promoted to offensive coordinator. That's one of the few times I've disagreed with Biggs. Mike Tice made a horrible mess of Moss with his so-called "Randy Ratio."

Tice told everyone in his first season as head coach that the Vikings would throw 40 percent of their passes to Randy Moss. he caught 106 passes, but Tice turned the NFL's greatest downfield threat into a possession receiver and he wound up with a then career-low 7 touchdowns. it didn't help his quarterback either; Daunte Culpepper wound up leading the NFL in turnovers.

full disclosure here: I basically stopped being an NFL fan the day the Vikings traded Randy Moss. I tried to root for the Bears for a while, but gave up on them during the 2005 season the week Lovie Smith insisted he would not bench the NFL's dead-last ranked passer no matter what, barring injury. I made the mistake of beleiving Smith. The very next week, he benched Kyle Orton, who was overmatched as a rookie but since turned out to be an average quarterback, at halftime against Atlanta even though Chicago held a 3-0 lead.

I've always liked Randy Moss, even though I'm not blind to the fact that he can be a tool. But usually that's because he's been used wrong. for instance, he never wanted any part of the "Randy Ratio." when Tice announced he was scrapping the plan before the next year began, Randy Moss was quoted in Associated Press story saying:

“I didn’t really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up. I just wanted to win.” ~Randy Moss

I don't think any team has used Moss correctly since Cris Carter retired. I have never seen any receiver in my life open more deep and ignored than Moss during Mike Tice's tenure as Vikings coach. My most indelible memory in my last several years as a Vikings fan was not the playoff win in Green Bay, but rather a game at the Metrodome where the Bears took the lead in the last minute. The Vikings got the ball back at about their own 30 or so and threw four short, incomplete passes. not a single one of them, if caught, would have even produced a first down, much less the touchdown Minnesota needed. And none of them was thrown to Randy Moss. how does a quarterback as strong-armed as Daunte Culpepper not at least try to throw a 70-yard Hail Mary into the end zone to one of the NFL's tallest and most-athletic receivers? Heck, the Patriots took two such shots in the final seconds from about the 50 in this year's Super Bowl, and came somewhat close to connecting on both of them. Cris Carter says Moss, even at age 35, is one of the best in the NFL at outjumping defensive backs for jump balls.

Truth is, Randy Moss would be a great fit in Chicago. The thing he has always done worst — double moves, stutter steps, head fakes or any sort of deception in his pass routes — is something the Bears have done as rarely as any team in the NFL for 20 years. The three things he does best — run deep routes, catch anything that hits his hands and outjump defenders — are three of the things that the Bears need most now that they finally have a strong-armed and talented quarterback in Jay Cutler.

if the Bears gave Moss a chance to gain 800 or 900 yards receiving and used him as a downfield threat, I don't think he would quit on them.

But it would only work out if the Bears used him to stretch the field and were willing to throw at least six or seven passes to him a game.

I think it would be a great move if the Bears signed Moss and a sure-fire No. 1 receiver to pair him with, say a lineup of Marques Colston, Earl Bennett and Randy Moss next year. But they could only do that if the other receiver was a sure-thing solid citizen like Colston. if the Bears gambled on Moss, they couldn't gamble on Vincent Jackson or DeSean Jackson. you can risk one possible headache, especially at a low cost, but not two, and not when the others would cost far more to add than Randy Moss.

none of this matters, because the Bears, despite their obvious need for a downfield receiver, are all things being equal the very last team in the NFL that would take a chance on Randy Moss.

And that's OK. I can't remember any year where there have been more good wide receivers on the market. The Bears need to sign two good ones. Need is a strong word, but it's the correct one if the Bears are ever going to see Jay Cutler deliver on his true potential.

Ex-Raider Randy Moss says he wants to play again

Randy Moss once said, “I play when I want to play.”

Six months after retiring, the former Raiders’ wide receiver wants to play again.

Moss announced on a webchat Monday – his 35th birthday – that he’s planning a comeback.

His agent, Joel Segal, wouldn’t go into his client’s available options.

“Randy and I have discussed it,” Segal said of Moss coming out of retirement. “He still has his fire and he’s looking forward to playing football. He’s excited.”

Moss posted on his Twitter page: “Now back to biz!! There’s good an bad an u have to b ready for both! its in gods hand now.”

Moss retired in August with 14,858 receiving yards and 153 touchdowns in 13 seasons.

He last played in 2010, getting traded by the New England Patriots to the Minnesota Vikings before finishing the season with Tennessee. That year he had career lows of 28 catches for 393 yards.

Moss’ 23 TD catches in 2007 that helped the Patriots reach the Super Bowl are a single-season NFL record.

He spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons with the Raiders, catching 102 passes for 1,558 yards and 11 touchdowns.

His 10 seasons of at least 1,000 yards are second only to Jerry Rice’s 14. He’s tied with Terrell Owens for second on the career TD receptions list, well behind Rice’s 197.

There were questions when Moss retired whether it would last.

Then came Monday’s announcement.

“It didn’t surprise me when he retired, and it doesn’t surprise me he wants to come back,” said Bob Pruett, Moss’ college coach at Marshall. “I think he can be a great player for whoever picks him up.”

It’s now up to NFL teams to decide whether they want to take a chance on the six-time Pro Bowler. A prospective employer would not only get one of the top deep threats in NFL history, but one with a history of controversy.

While with the Vikings, Moss bumped a traffic cop in downtown Minneapolis, squirted a referee with a water bottle during a game, left the field early in a game against Washington and berated a caterer at team headquarters.

Trouble off the field in high school prevented Moss from attending Notre Dame or Florida State. he landed with father-figure Pruett at Marshall, where he scored 54 touchdowns in two seasons.

“Randy’s a team guy,” Pruett said. “Sometimes he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He’s also a great player.”

Moss’ personal assistant, Donnie Jones, said Moss is “ready to rock ‘n’ roll.”