Before and during their Monday Night Football matchup against the division rival Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings honored one of their all-time greatest players with a tribute.
Just days ago, Hall of Famer Randy Moss revealed that he had cancer and that he had undergone surgery to address it.
Before the coin toss, Minnesota football legends Cris Carter and Jake Reed walked out holding up a Moss Vikings jersey as the public address announcer said over the speakers, ‘In honor of Randy Moss, and all those fighting cancer, let’s Moss cancer.’
Moss saw the tribute and responded, ‘LUV U ALL! #letsmosscancer’.
The tribute extended to the game itself, when Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson caught the first touchdown of the game.
The Minnesota Vikings paid tribute to former receiver Randy Moss after his cancer revelation
Jake Reed (L) and Cris Carter (R) brought Moss’ jersey out to the opening coin toss Monday
Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson threw up a heart sign and screamed, ‘We love you Randy!’
Jefferson threw up a heart sign into the camera and screamed, ‘We love you Randy! That’s for you!’
Moss has received an outpouring of support from throughout the football world in the days after his shocking revelation.
Adam Thielen, a wide receiver on the Carolina Panthers who used to play in Minnesota, even wore a Vikings jersey with Moss on the back before a game on Sunday.
Moss was selected 21st overall in the 1998 NFL draft by the Vikings out of Marshall University. After seven seasons in Minnesota, in 2005, he was traded to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for linebacker Napoleon Harris and a first and seventh round pick.
Within two seasons, he was then moved to the New England Patriots for a fourth round pick. It was with the Patriots that Moss formed his most productive QB-WR partnership with Tom Brady and came the closest he ever did to winning a Super Bowl.
He played three full seasons in New England before being traded back to Minnesota partway through the 2010 season. He only played briefly with the Vikings before being waived and claimed by the Tennessee Titans.
Moss initially retired in 2011 before coming back to play one more NFL season with the San Francisco 49ers.
Moss’ heartbreaking cancer news was revealed on Instagram on Friday, when he sat down alongside his sons for a live video to update fans.
Vikings wide receiver Jefferson celebrates catching the first touchdown of the game
Moss is a Minnesota Vikings legend, who was previously inducted into the Ring of Honor
Last month, fans were concerned for Moss as they saw his eyes appearing yellow on TV
In the clip, a frail Moss could be seen hobbling into shot, wearing a ‘Team Moss’ shirt, before revealing: ‘I’ve told y’all over the last couple of weeks about me battling something internally, and ya boy is a cancer survivor.’
Later in the video, he reveals: ‘I did have cancer, they found it in the bile duct, right between the pancreas and the liver, and the cancer was sitting right outside the bile duct.
‘So my doctors went in, I had six hours’ surgery, and for a lot of you guys wondering, you can Google it. I had a Whipple procedure. The best doctor in the United States, Dr [John] Martinie, I am forever grateful.’
Moss later went on to tell his fans that he is ‘nursing his way back’, revealing: ‘It’s going to be a tough road with some chemo and some radiation.’
It is unclear whether Moss is now cancer-free, or whether he is still receiving treatment in a bid to remove the cancerous cells from his body.
In the social media clip, Moss also took time to thank various people for their support, beginning: ‘I just want to give a shout out to a lot of people that really helped me pull through this. I’ve been in the hospital for six days, I just got out today, thank God.
‘So first and foremost I’d just like to thank God for blessing me and my family through this trying time, and me being able to come out of this surgery, and fight and battle the cancer.’
Moss went on to name each of his doctors personally, before adding: ‘The best that Charlotte has to offer man, I appreciate it. Some of the best around the whole country.’