Vikings' wideout Moss improves attitude

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) -- The Randy Ratio didn't quite add up for Minnesota.
Coach Mike Tice's cleverly titled plan to make Randy Moss feel wanted, a goal of throwing 40 percent of the team's passes to his superstar wide receiver, was shelved midway through a trying 6-10 season.
With the Vikings already going south in the standings, Moss was arrested for bumping a traffic cop with his car in late September.
Without Cris Carter or any other consistent pass-catching threat around to alleviate the double coverage, Moss had to transform himself into a possession receiver as well as a deep threat. He finished with a career-low seven touchdowns despite 106 receptions and struggled to find a rhythm with quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who led the league with 32 turnovers.
What's more, Moss wasn't all that interested in the plan anyway.
"I didn't really care much about the Randy Ratio when it was brought up," Moss said. "I just wanted to win."
Moss has made as many headlines as anyone since he entered the NFL in 1998. He's as well-known for comments about playing hard when he feels like it and off-the-field ordeals as he is for an amazing ability to separate from the secondary and haul in a 65-yard touchdown pass and leap high above the defense to make a tough catch in traffic.
Something is different this season, though. The Randy Ratio is in the Vikings' rearview mirror, and so are -- it seems -- the other distractions that have accompanied Moss' never-dull first five years in the league.
Instead, everyone's talking about who's going to run the ball while Michael Bennett is injured and whether the defense will be decent enough to keep Minnesota competitive.
"I can see the determination in everybody's eyes, starting with the veterans all the way down to the rookies," Moss said. "We even have our owner fired up."
Yes, Moss is flying under the radar, which is the way the intensely private receiver would like it. He's spoken to the media only once, on the first day of camp, but he sported a smile, not a scowl, as he walked around the Minnesota State campus where the Vikings train. A 7-year-old girl from South Dakota whom Moss befriended as a rookie, Kassi Spier, followed him to lunch just about every day -- with her tiny hand tucked inside his.
"Even last year when I met him, I thought he was very mature," said No. 2 receiver D'Wayne Bates. "This year he's definitely showed a lot of maturity. I think he's been a lot more quiet. Most of the stuff he does is on the field. Off the field, he kind of does his own thing. No one really sees him until practice and meetings."
Makes big impression
Moss made a big impression by faithfully attending the Vikings' offseason strength and conditioning program, adding about five pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame and setting an example along the way as a legitimate leader.
"That just shows he is growing up," Culpepper said. "Moss, he's just realizing he's a leader and he has to do it day-in and day-out. He leads by example, and he's understanding that more and more every day, and I'm glad to be playing with him."