BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Two days before Randy Moss was to participate in his first minicamp with the Vikings, he sprained an ankle playing in a pickup basketball game. Here’s a sure bet. Football fans in Minnesota didn’t sleep well last night and they may not get any Zs tonight.
Their star receiver will continue his flirtations with a pro basketball career tonight when he suits up for the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the U.S. Basketball League.
“I’ve known Randy has a great love for the game of basketball and is a tremendous talent,” Vikings coach and GM Dennis Green said in a statement. “Randy’s No. 1 commitment is to the NFL and the Minnesota Vikings. His playing basketball this year is a continuation of what he started last year.”
Last year, Moss played in Magic Johnson’s summer league. No sprained ankles. No ACL injury. No matter if his contract, which oddly allows Moss to hoop it up, calls for him to earn $3.5 million in the final year of a four-year deal.
The best wide receiver in pro football has basketball in his blood. So he’ll take the court tonight against the Long Island Surf, who, it is believed, don’t have any cornerbacks who can cover Moss. Then again, neither do most NFL teams.
“With his athleticism, he’ll be a good scorer, I would think,” predicted ValleyDawgs spokesman Joe Heyer. “And a slam dunker.”
The ValleyDawgs are owned by one of the most flamboyant personalities pro basketball has ever known. Now that former Nets player Darryl Dawkins is back from his visit to Planet Lovetron and isn’t driving a pink Cadillac, he’s found a way to bring the curious and the basketball fan here.
Heyer said he usually assigns fewer than 10 media credentials for a home game. The Post will have credential number 143 and, ‘You’ll be sitting in the end zone,’ ” said Heyer, meaning behind the basket.
The end zone is usually where Moss resides. He’s caught 43 touchdown passes in three seasons. He’s been to the Pro Bowl after each season. Tonight he’s a ValleyDawg not a Viking. Tonight football fans in Minnesota will toss and turn in their beds.
