Randy Moss - Early Years

Early Years

Moss was born and grew up in Mason, West Virginia. He attended Dupoint High School in West Virginia where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track. On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played defensive back, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the team's kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team in 1995 and in 2009 named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time.

In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993 & 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams.

As a sophomore in 1992, he ran for the track team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.94 and 21.95, respectively. This was the only year he competed on the track team. He also played center field for the baseball team.

On March 23, 1995, Moss backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend. Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss pled guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college. Moss was expelled from DuPont and completed his education at Cabell Alternative School.