Randy Moss is a first ballot Hall of Famer becoming Raiders 26th enshrinee

In a bit of a surprising move, Randy Moss will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot. He becomes the first wide receiver to get in on the first ballot since another former Raiders wide receiver; Jerry Rice.

Rice was a no-brainer first ballot Hall of Famer. While many wondered if Moss might have to wait while they gave Terrell Owens the nod. After all, Owens is arguably more deserving and he was not inducted on his first ballot.

Usually the Hall of Fame voters tend to put just one wide receiver in at a time. But both Moss and Owens got in.

Moss spent his first seven seasons in Minnesota at which point his talent was not enough to override the headaches he caused. Mostly he was criticized for not giving full effort when he got frustrated or if he wasn’t getting the ball on that play. And blocking? HA!

In 2005 the Vikings shipped him to Oakland for a first round pick. Moss played through 2006, amassing 1558 yards and 11 touchdowns before becoming disgruntled and the team traded him to New England for a 4th round pick. He would put up nearly as many yards in his first season alone with the Patriots (1493) and more than twice as many touchdowns (23) as he did in two seasons in Oakland.

Many Raiders fans don’t claim Randy Moss as a Raider. I get that. He wore a Raiders uniform for two seasons, and actually put any effort into playing football for them for one season. But regardless, he was a member of the Raiders, and for that reason the organization will take credit for one of their own getting in the Hall of Fame.

As such, Moss becomes the 26th Raider player to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the fifth wide receiver, joining Rice, Fred Biletnikoff, Tim Brown, and James Lofton. Few disagree that Cliff Branch should be on this list as well, but that’s another conversation.

Here is the full list of 2018 enshrinees:

Randy Moss
Terrell Owens
Brian Dawkins
Ray Lewis
Brian Urlacher
Jerry Kramer
Robert Brazile
Bobby Beathard