Saturday, Dec. 15, 2001

You must choose

Randy Moss or Terry Glenn — whom would you rather have?

By Andy Hanacek, Associate editor

If you were an NFL general manager, owner or coach, and you had to choose between having Randy Moss or Terry Glenn, whom would you pick?

Now, before you jump up and immediately say there’s no question here — that it would be Moss without a doubt — let me tell you why I’d likely take Glenn.

First of all, I’d prefer not to take either, but that’s not the question. I would be the front-office guy who wouldn’t want the distractions caused by these two players. If I were the Vikings or Patriots this year, these guys would have been reprimanded (or even released, in the case of Glenn) a long time ago. I believe in the three-strike policy, in a sense. While I wouldn’t sit there and count the infractions, at some point, enough would be enough.

Both players have great WR talent. Yes, Moss is a better receiver than Glenn, but Glenn is certainly close. You have to wonder, without all his suspensions and injuries over the years, just how much better Glenn would be right now. Moss, of course, has not missed action because of those reasons.

This year, Moss struggled through the first part of the season, posting quite disappointing numbers. The whole Vikings offense struggled as well, and the Vikings are now out of the playoff picture, for all intents and purposes. Moss has bounced back recently, but it’s almost too late.

Glenn, meanwhile, was suspended for the first four games, as well as one game in the middle of the year. The Patriots tried to suspend him for the season, but an arbitrator overturned that suspension and reinstated Glenn. Not that it has mattered much, as Glenn has now played in only two games out of 13. In both those games, Glenn did well, and he was a factor in the first game, catching seven passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.

While Moss is a gamebreaker more than Glenn is, I would take Glenn, and the reason goes beyond the field. The Patriots have done just fine with or without Glenn this year, and the reason for that is the chemistry they have elsewhere. Glenn’s problems don’t faze his teammates because the problems don’t involve them. Glenn doesn’t ruin the team chemistry because he’s more of a loner.

Moss, on the other hand, can ruin team chemistry. Complaining about not getting the ball, yelling at his quarterback on the sideline, barely playing when the ball isn’t coming his way, and sometimes not giving even 75 percent in a game: Those things would kill me as a front-office guy or coach. Maybe Moss hasn’t been to court or seen an arbitrator about being suspended. Maybe Glenn isn’t outspoken and doesn’t get fined for celebrations and/or running his mouth. But I’d rather take Glenn, because whether he has problems or not, it wouldn’t hurt my team as much.

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