Randy Moss didn't see it coming. Speaking in his role as an analyst during the last regular-season weekend on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown," the gridiron great was blindsided with a football from colleagues Samantha Ponder and Tedy Bruschi, as Moss and fellow analyst Alex Smith got the early — and very public — news that he would be entering the College Football Hall of Fame.
 
"Man, I appreciate that," a shocked Moss said. "I want to send a shoutout to, first of all, my wife and my kids. But all of my teammates at Marshall, my coach, Coach (Bob) Pruett…. Marshall University, Go Herd, man! Stand up! College Football Hall of Fame! I appreciate it."
 
A surprise viral moment made sense for Moss' announcement. Because in reality, how else would one be genuinely surprised at the recognition of arguably the game's best wide receiver ever?
 
Moss was that good, taking Marshall from an FCS power to an FBS stalwart, ushering the program to new heights
 
"His play, his ability got national recognition for us, because of ESPN, when we moved up to the MAC, and we started Thursday Night Football, we were the main attraction," said Pruett, who was Moss' head coach at Marshall. "I mean, (Mike) Tirico, (Chris) Fowler, (Kirk) Herbstreit and (Lee) Corso were all in our stadium.
 
"He paved the way. He won the Biletnikoff Award and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy."
 
Those honors came amid a campaign in which Moss had an FBS-record 26 touchdown receptions in 1997, finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. The Thundering Herd went on to have Heisman finalists in 1999 (Chad Pennington) and 2002 (Byron Leftwich).
 
Moss caught 174 passes for 3,529 yards and 54 touchdowns during his two years in Huntington, W.Va. Marshall went 15-0 and won the then-Division I-AA national championship in 1996, before going 10-3 and winning the MAC in its first year back at the Division I-A level in 1997.
 
"One guy couldn't cover him," Pruett said. "They just weren't good enough. So, they'd put two people on him, and we're 10-on-9 on the other side. We had a run-pass combination — that was the Moss version of the RPO."
 
Moss becomes the fifth Marshall player to make the Hall of Fame. Having a Rand native put West Virginia back on the national football map was a huge source of pride for everyone in the Mountain State.
 
Pruett had been the defensive coordinator at Florida before taking over at Marshall, and he had tried recruiting Moss to the Gators. Moss started his career at Florida State and redshirted as a freshman in 1995, leading Pruett to joke that his Gators would not have beaten the Seminoles and reached the national title game that season had Moss been playing for FSU.
 
"When he came to a game, he came to play. He didn't come to mess around," Pruett said. "He'd be dressed and ready to go an hour before he was supposed to go out, just pacing. He showed great leadership."
 
Moss scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games he played for the Herd. He dipped his toes briefly into track and field, and all he did then was win Southern Conference championships in the 55-meters and the 200-meters, earning league freshman of the year honors.
 
His legend may sound apocryphal in nature — until you saw him in action.
"Kids nicknamed him 'The Freak,' not because he hurdled the guy against Navy, it was because he hurdled the guy in practice one day," Pruett said. "One of our short defensive backs. He caught the ball, ran down the field and jumped over him.
 
"I mean, time after time he would do something that was like, How'd he do that? Who in the world could do that? And there's only one. It's Randy."
 
The Vikings drafted Moss 21st overall in 1998, and he flashed from the start, setting the NFL rookie receiving touchdowns record. His 14-year, five-team career landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
 
 
And now he takes his rightful place in the College Football Hall of Fame, too.
 
"It's awesome," Pruett said. "There's nobody in this world more deserving than he is. And he's a great, great player who's done a lot of great things and continues to impress people with what he's doing after playing football."
 
RANDY MOSS: UP CLOSE
 

• Twice named a First Team All-American (consensus in 1996 and unanimous in 1997) as a wide receiver while also earning First Team All-America honors as a kicker returner in 1996.
• Claimed the Biletnikoff Award in 1997, finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
• Caught 174 passes for 3,529 yards and 54 touchdowns while setting national, conference and school records and leading Marshall to a 28-3 record and an FCS national title in 1996.
• Played for head coach Bob Pruett.
• Becomes the fifth Marshall player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.