Randy Moss Sneaks 'Black Lives Matter' Message on His Tie at Hall of Fame Induction
Randy Moss is, without question, one of the best receivers to ever play professional football.
The fact that he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer is proof positive of that.
But for all the football talent in the world, nobody will ever mistake Moss for a mature role model. There was the incident where he simulated mooning Green Bay Packers fans. There was the incident where he squirted a water bottle at a referee over a disagreement. And let’s not forget the complete and utter lack of effort he gave for pretty much his entire tenure with the Oakland Raiders.
Now retired at the age of 41, perhaps Moss is finally trying to be the role model he never was as a player.
The only problem is that he’s going about it in as divisive a manner as possible.
Moss’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony came on Saturday night. He received his Hall of Fame bust and sported the goldenrod jacket that all Pro Football Hall of Fame entrants receive.
But eagle-eyed viewers noticed that underneath that jacket, Moss had something scribbled on his black tie.
It was, in essence, a shout-out to the “Black Lives Matter” movement, as Moss had on his tie the names of black men, women and children who had been killed by a police officer or died while in custody.
Randy Moss' tie he wore tonight pic.twitter.com/RreQNkkNmZ
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 5, 2018
“What I wanted to be able to express with my tie is to let these families know that they’re not alone,” Moss said on NFL Network. “I’m not here voicing, but by these names on my tie and a big platform as the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there’s a lot of stuff going on in our country. And I just wanted to let these family members know they’re not alone.”
The issue is that Moss is most definitely “voicing.” He’s voicing a divisive narrative that many will interpret as an attack on police. As any far-left narrative tends to do, it tries to paint a complicated issue as a black and white one, no pun intended.
Can criminal justice reform be improved? I’m certainly not qualified to answer that question. But, frankly, neither is Moss.
By promoting just the black people who were killed by police, Moss is glossing over so many other issues when it comes to criminal justice reform.
First and foremost, being a police officer is an inherently stressful and dangerous job that requires those serving to sometimes make a life-and-death decision in a matter of seconds. Can that be improved? I doubt it, but I wouldn’t say I have any sort of definitive answer.
Just as importantly, neither does Moss.
And that illustrates a second major sticking point in Moss’ narrative. What are the solutions? To outright dissolve police departments is a laughable fantasy. You can’t just magically make police officers “perfect” in the line of duty, as far as decision-making goes.
Moss has fallen into the same trap that so many in the “Black Lives Matter” movement often do.
It’s easy to point the finger. It’s much more difficult to present concrete solutions.
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