Hagstrum Says:
After scouring the vast depths of sports history, I came to the conclusion that although there have been numerous great values for franchises, nonequite stands up to the three times Randy Moss was … the best money ever spent.
In the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss was the best wide receiver available and one of the most successful college players of his class. His attitude wasn't though, and that caused him to slip from a top pick to No. 21 and incur substantial drop in salary.
More than the deal the Vikings got for arguably the most prolific wide receiver ever or even the spectacular catches and touchdowns he racked up, Moss was an entertainer. Against the St. Louis Rams in the 1999 Divisional Playoffs, Moss caught 9 balls for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and he still found time to squirt a sideline official with a water bottle.
He bumped a traffic control officer with his car in 2002. But he saved his best for last.
After fake-mooning the Lambeau faithful in the 2005 NFC wildcard game following a touchdown, Moss was fined $10,000.
During an interview about the fine, he was asked whether he would write a check. Moss responded, "When you're rich you don't write checks." He preferred to pay "straight cash, homey." Because really, according to Moss, $10,000 "ain't shit."
Following his stop in Minnesota, Moss went to Oakland. Although he whined on the sidelines with injuries more than he actually played, he represented the better end of a deal that the Vikings parlayed into drafting the uncatchable wonder, Troy Williamson. (Uncatchable because Williamson can't even catch passes that fall into his lap.)
The New England Patriots became the third team to cash in, er, save big bucks on the big-time receiver. In the exchange, New England sent Oakland what amounted to a laundry hamper and a pack of Skittles. While those are both useful in their own right, they don't score touchdowns, squirt or moon people or are anything remotely close to … the best money ever spent.
Point: Moss.
Voekel Says:
They say money can’t buy what it used to. The days of being able to buy anything for a dollar are long gone, and now the focus is on spending wisely.
Over the long history of sports business transactions, quite a spectrum of deals have been made. There have been terrible deals made — think signing Grant Hill, who was then barely able to sniff hardwood without breaking his foot — and there have been great signings — the Patriots getting Tom Brady with their sixth-round pick.
But as good as that Brady signing is, it pales in comparison to the best money spent on a sports deal ever.
For that, you have to get in Doc Brown’s DeLorean and go back to 1919 — to a time when booze was outlawed and World War I had just wrapped up. It was then that the New York Yankees made the best money decision in sports history, paying a paltry $100,000 for the rights to Babe Ruth.
If you look past the initial irony of the Yankees actually getting a bargain buy in a time when Steinbrenner and Co. throw around money like Pacman Jones entering a strip club, the Yankees really got a great deal: Arguably the best player in baseball history for about one-third of what a NFL rookie gets paid nowadays.
The best part of the deal is that it was fair. The owners of the Red Sox used the money to finance the musical "No, No Nanette," which ended up scoring four Tony awards.
While the signing of Randy Moss by the Patriots might seem like a great deal after one week, just wait until he has a bad game and sounds off at Brady. It won’t seem like such a great deal then.
Bambino. Count it!
