Randy Moss a soccer player: April Fool's joke or new athletic endeavor?
Randy Moss, the goalkeeper?
The former Vikings great is always up to something, but this latest endeavor is bold even for the brash and always-confident Moss. He is now a member of the Charlotte Independence, pending approval from the United Soccer League and U.S. Soccer. The Independence are the USL affiliate of the Colorado Rapids.
We’re looking for signs of an April Fool’s Day joke here, but if it is one, the team has done a lot to make it look real.
Moss, an NFL analyst for EPSN, lives in Charlotte, N.C., where he has run a fitness bootcamp and is a regular at one of the Crossfit facilities in the city.
“Renewing my career is something that I’ve thought about for a long time,” Moss, 40, told the team’s website. “I’m excited to get started with the Charlotte Independence and show the world that I can be a two-sport athlete.”
Moss, dressed in his blue kit with the No. 84 on the back and donning bright yellow gloves, was introduced by Independence head coach Mike Jeffries to the team as its newest goalkeeper.
“I don’t know too much about y’all sport,” Moss quipped to his new teammates. “Y’all see I got these gloves in my hand. Y’all kick it too hard, it’s going to get blocked.”
The room erupted in laughter. We’ll see if this is just a big joke or if the long, speedy, freakish receiver we saw on the football field is truly attempting to translate those skills as an athletic old guy onto the soccer pitch.
Real or not, it’s fun.
By the way, the Independence open its season Saturday against the Charleston Battery. And now they have some good publicity. The whole stunt was Moss’ idea.
April Fool’s!