MINNEAPOLIS — An hour before the Minnesota Vikings kicked off against the Chicago Bears on Monday night, I conducted a test.
Upon walking onto the main concourse at U.S. Bank Stadium, into a sea of Vikings fans filing in to cheer on a team fighting for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, how long would it take for me to spot a No. 84 jersey? Randy Moss has been retired for 12 years. He has not worn purple since an ill-fated second marriage with the Vikings lasted four games in 2010.
And still, the stopwatch on my iPhone made it to just 10.10 seconds before the first sighting. As has been the case for most Vikings home games, there were some Adrian Peterson 28s, some Fran Tarkenton 10s and Cris Carter 80s dotting the crowd. But the one alumni jersey that far outnumbered the rest was Moss’s 84. Dozens and dozens of them, on the backs of some with gray hair atop their heads. Some were too young to have ever seen him play live. They were women and men, boys and girls, Super Freaks, all of them.
When David Wilkey pulled one of more than a half-dozen Moss jerseys out of his closet — yes, he even has Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers editions — the 35-year-old did so with a greater purpose in mind.
The Hall of Fame receiver may not have been on the ESPN set as usual, but he was…
