Lessons Learned from Randy Moss

For people familiar with the NFL, Randy Moss is an entirely familiar name. He is a deep threat receiver who gives nightmares to cornerbacks and safeties whenever he is on the field. As a player for the Patriots, he was a favorite target for quarterback Tom Brady. The Patriots had great success with Moss on their team.

In October of 2010, in what came as a surprise move to many, the Patriots traded Moss to the Minnesota Vikings (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2010/10/patriots-finalize-trade-of-randy-moss-to-vikings/1). Moss was considered by many to be the Patriots best receiver. Why on Earth would he be traded? Well, the Patriots wouldn't extend his contract, and Moss--feeling a little underappreciated as a result--asked to be traded after Week 1. Also, it was more beneficial to the Patriots to trade him while they could still get something in return rather than letting him become a free agent at the end of the season.

This all makes sense, I suppose, but the really confusing turn of events was when, after just 4 GAMES with the Vikings, Moss was traded again. The NFL isn't like European Soccer where players get sent on loan to other teams on a somewhat regular basis. Players like Moss don't get traded very often at all, but to be traded after a mere quarter of the regular season--after a team made a sacrifice to acquire him, no less--was mind-boggling.

I look at the trade of Randy Moss as a merger-acquisition arrangement. Well, it's more like an acquisition than a merger, but the point still holds true. Randy Moss certainly had the skills to fit in with the Vikings (and provide Hall-of-Fame-lock QB Brett Favre with a deep threat), he was a hard worker, and had just as strong of a desire to win as the Vikings. What was the problem? Minnesota couldn't absorb or control Randy Moss' ego. It was the purest of style/culture misfits. Under Bill Belichek's system of winning-is-everything-and-we-work-hard-or-die-and-we-are-a-one-unit-team, Moss was controlled by the iron gaze of Hoodie Bill and the demands of paired up with an equally talented team. In Minnesota, for whatever reason, the system was a little different, and Moss' huge ego inflated unchecked. Deciding he couldn't handle it any more, the head coach of the Vikings had Moss traded after a glorious 4 weeks in which the Vikings were 0-4.

Get the right people on the bus, kick the wrong people off. Make sure that cultures will align in a merger or acquisition.

What is Moss saying now, from Tennessee? He wants to be back in New England.