Twenty-five years ago, the Billboard Hot 100 was frontloaded with songs by Faith Hill, Santana and Destiny’s Child. Mission: Impossible 2 was the highest-grossing film, and Gladiator won “Best Picture” (and Russell Crowe “Best Actor”) at the Academy Awards. The reality competitive television show Survivor premiered.
A lot has changed in the time since – but a good amount has stayed the same.
In recognition of the quarter century, ESPN last week released its ultimate 53-man roster, stating cases for the most dominant NFL players, by their standards, of the past 25 years. It features four retired Vikings Legends and an active player that’s rewritten history and is well on his way to all-time greatness.
The roster, which includes a head coach and three coordinators, was formulated by ESPN statistic junkies and de facto general managers Aaron Schatz and Seth Walder. They decided on 25 offensive players, 23 defensive players and five special teams players, in addition to filling out a practice squad with guys who just missed the cut. Another important note: Only player production beginning in 2000 was considered.
Without further ado, here’s the lowdown on Minnesota’s representatives.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss and 26-year-old phenom Justin Jefferson make up a third of Schatz’s and Walder’s picks at wide receiver. They’re joined by Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Terrell Owens and Marvin Harrison. Antonio Brown and Andre Johnson were “cut” and reverted to the practice squad.
Schatz wrote the following of Moss, a three-time All-Pro with 12,566 receiving yards and 128 touchdowns from 2000-12. Moss wore the Purple at the inception of his career (1998-2004) and again in 2010:
The greatest receiver of the 21st Century based on the eye test, Moss also dominated in advanced metrics. He set the NFL record with 23 receiving touchdowns in 2007, a season that ranks third all-time in FTN’s DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) metric. Moss ranked No. 1 in receiving DYAR three times: 2000, 2003 and 2007. In each of those seasons, he had at least 1,400 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. He is also the leader in total receiving value by DYAR whether you add together a player’s top five seasons or top 10 seasons since 2000. Plus, he’s a legend of the podium interview.
Jefferson, of course, lacks the longevity of his peers, but his performance rivals any single one of them.