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NEW ORLEANS — He has never, ever watched the game and yet he cannot get it out of his mind. The Giants took something from him that night five years ago, and Randy Moss spoke yesterday as if it remains a fresh wound.
“I still think about it,’’ Moss said of the heavily-favored Patriots getting beat 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. “I think about the loss in ’07. It’s just something about ’07, being undefeated, going to a Super Bowl and losing it like that, it was something I’ll never forget that moment. It’s not fun when you’re sweating and you have confetti dropping down and sticking to your face knowing you’re not on the winning side of that confetti.’’
It has been quite a journey for Moss, who looks every bit the 35 years he’s lived and was thought to have left the NFL in his rearview mirror. His brilliant, controversial, prolific and often tumultuous career was finished in 2010 after he had worn out his welcome with three teams in one season, setting a new standard for boorishness by berating a caterer at the Vikings headquarters. With no fanfare, Moss announced he had retired and didn’t play at all in 2011.
One year out of the game convinced Moss he never should have left. He didn’t do much of anything special this season with the 49ers, but he’s on the precipice of achieving the one goal that has eluded him.
“By me taking a year off, to come back and be in the Super Bowl one year later, it’s just like a dream,’’ Moss said yesterday as he attracted a crowd during Media Day. “I really didn’t expect this. Having a Super Bowl ring, I think my career would be complete.’’
That’s no preview of a Moss farewell if the 49ers beat the Ravens, because he wants to play another year. There’s not much talk about him as a big factor in Super Bowl XLVII — he’s far-removed from his heyday. Moss began his interview session by stating, “I don’t know how many questions I’m going to give you all’’ and then for a full hour, the often hard-to-pin-down Moss participated in some of the most reflective self-analysis he’s ever shared.
Such as:
“I think I’m the greatest receiver ever.’’
In NFL circles this is akin to blasphemy, as Jerry Rice has been anointed with best-ever status. Rice is the NFL all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
“I think back when Jerry was playing and no disrespect to Jerry Rice, because he’s arguably the greatest,’’ Moss said. “But for me to be able to go out here and change and revolutionize the game from a single safety to a Cover-2 safety, dropping three guys deep, dropping four guys deep and still be able to make it happen? I really hang my hat on that, that I am the greatest receiver to ever play this game.’’
Moss once famously — or infamously — declared, “I play when I want to play.’’ For so long, those seven words defined Randy Moss. He was a terror except when he didn’t appear to give his maximum effort. He once squirted a referee with a water bottle during a game. He once bumped a traffic cop in downtown Minneapolis. With the 49ers, he caught only 24 passes for 434 yards and three touchdowns.
“I don’t like my role, I really don’t,’’ he said.
But he hasn’t complained. Moss by all accounts has relished his elder-statesman status.
“It’s funny when you are at practice and you catch a ball over somebody and they say, ‘You got Moss-ed,’ ’’ receiver Michael Crabtree said. “And Moss is sitting right there next to you.”
Years ago, a coach selecting Moss to council teammates how to approach Super Bowl week would have been a punch-line, but that’s what Jim Harbaugh did, with Moss relaying the message.
“He has brought so much to our team,’’ linebacker Patrick Willis said. “He brought leadership. He’s brought wisdom. He just brought the charisma that he has within himself. He comes to work every day. He has a sense of humor. When it’s time to work he works, but at the same time you can go and talk to him. If this is his last season, I want to make sure he goes out with a bang.”
paul.schwartz@nypost.com