From Charlotte to NC State to LSU, Thaddeus Moss has ‘got some real dirtbag to him’
When your last name is “Moss” and you play football, it can take a while to find your footing.
That has been the case for Thaddeus Moss — son of NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss, Charlottean and the starting tight end for LSU in Monday night’s College Football Playoff championship game against Clemson.
Thaddeus Moss’s journey to this game — and a pro career that may start as soon as this summer — has been winding.
Moss attended five high schools in four states — finishing at Mallard Creek in Charlotte, where he helped the Mavericks win a state championship in 2015, his senior year.
Moss then enrolled at N.C. State, quickly grew disillusioned and transferred to LSU, where he has had a huge season in 2019 that includes a 62-yard touchdown pass he caught in the national semifinal vs. Oklahoma.
When asked why he transferred from N.C. State after only one year, Moss, who spoke to the Observer one-on-one this weekend, said: “There’s a lot of reasons. There’s stuff off the field, there’s stuff on the field. ... What I thought it was going to be is not what it was going to be. I didn’t like the locker room. I didn’t like how I was being used. I didn’t feel a connection with none of the players. The OC (offensive coordinator) that I really wanted to play for, he wasn’t there (Matt Canada, who N.C. State coach Dave Doeren dismissed after the 2015 season). So just what I thought it was going to be in recruitment, it wasn’t that. I didn’t like how I was treated. I didn’t like where my game was at that time. So I felt like a move would be best for me.”
After that disappointing freshman season where he caught only six passes for 49 yards for N.C. State, Moss left for LSU. But he found it slow going there for two years. Moss had to sit out the 2017 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Then he sat out the entire 2018 season, too, due to a problematic foot injury that required two separate surgeries.
In 2019, though, Moss has found his way into the starting lineup and, occasionally, into the spotlight.
“It’s crazy,” Moss said of the lead-up to the Clemson-LSU title game. “You dream of playing in games like this, games this big, with the whole country watching.”
Randy Moss, parent
Moss said he and his famous father are close, but disputed any notion that Randy Moss has hovered too much over his son’s career.
“If I step out of line, he’ll step in, but he’s never been a helicopter parent,” Moss said of his father. “For me, balancing it, it just is what it is. I grew up with it, so it’s nothing to me. ... It’s my dad.”
Moss has had the best season this year of any tight end in school history, setting records for receptions (42) and receiving yardage (534). He’s also effective as a blocker in LSU’s running game.
Said Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables when I asked him about Moss: “What I love about him as a coach, as a competitor, is his physical toughness — his willingness to block. … He’s got some real dirtbag to him, which is a great compliment. Very tough-minded. He’s willing to get his nose bloody. He wants to hurt people. He’s attacking people with purpose.”
Randy Moss and his family still live in Charlotte, Thaddeus Moss said. But Randy — now an analyst for “Sunday NFL Countdown” — declined an interview request for this story through ESPN.
“It was a long road,” Thaddeus Moss said about his path to this game.
He’s speaking in literal terms about that road. Moss started high school in Kentucky, then transferred to a school in West Virginia, then transferred to a school in Rhode Island, then transferred to Victory Christian in Charlotte as a high school junior and then transferred, finally, to Mallard Creek.
Coach Mike Palmieri played Moss at tight end and defensive end that season and frequently marveled at the athletic ability he displayed.
“We’ve had some great players here,” Palmieri said, “but Thaddeus stands among those at the top. His hand-eye coordination is great. I’m sure he’ll be playing on Sundays, eventually.”
Palmieri said his dealings with Randy Moss were limited throughout that one season. “He was really just a regular parent,” Palmieri said. “He didn’t get involved and trusted us with his one. He was not one of those guys hanging around, trying to dictate things.”
‘You got Mossed!’
LSU has traditionally used the tight end more as a sixth offensive lineman. But this season, the Tigers’ protection has been good enough that Moss (6-foot-3, 249 pounds) has been able to take advantage of his opportunities on the receiving end of throws from Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow. That has occasionally led to shout-outs from his father, whose NFL reign (156 TD catches, second all-time to Jerry Rice) was so dominant that it spawned the catchphrase: “You got Mossed!”
Randy used the phrase in November on ESPN when describing a toe-tapping grab his son made against Alabama at the Crimson Tide 1, saying “Daddy” was proud and proclaiming of the entire Alabama team: “You got Mossed!”
Monday night may be the last game Thaddeus Moss plays for LSU. By Friday, he will have to declare whether he is going to enter the NFL Draft a year early — a decision he said he will make after consultation with his father. Although he didn’t say which way he was leaning during our conversation, I’ll be surprised if he stays.
“Everybody’s goals and aspirations are to play in the NFL. It’s been that (for me) from a little kid from when I first picked up a football,” Moss said. “ … My whole life, I watched my dad in the NFL, so to play in the NFL would be a dream come true.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "From Charlotte to NC State to LSU, Thaddeus Moss has ‘got some real dirtbag to him’."
