He’s one of the greatest players to play in the National Football League including seven-plus great years with the Vikings. Randy Moss is in the Twin Cities this week but for this trip, it’s not about football.
Moss is hosting a fishing tournament at Lord Fletcher's on Lake Minnetonka on Wednesday, and he joined Chad Hartman to talk about what the tournament is all about, and who is benefitting. Many former Viking players are involved in helping too.
“You know, for guys to be able to come back and show their appreciation and share some stories and then also raise some money for this foundation, DYRK1A,” Moss told Hartman. “I'm glad to be a part of it. And like I said, just being able to just come back to Minnesota, see some familiar faces, do some fishing, see some teammates. We're just there on Lake Minnetonka, being able to raise some money for the DYRK1A Foundation.”
DYRK1A syndrome is an intellectual disability including impaired speech development, autism spectrum disorder including anxious and/or stereotypic behavior problems, and microcephaly (a birth defect).
Hartman’s son, Quintin was diagnosed a few years ago with this particular genetic syndrome. Less than 500 children and young adults across the country have been diagnosed with it, making it an extremely rare syndrome. Hartman talked about some of the challenges they face.
"Children who have DYRK1A, where they have autism, they have seizures, they have intellectual delays, they have many issues, and if we can raise the profile, we can raise the money, that is just great,” Hartman explained.
Moss, who is now part of ESPN’s Sunday and Monday NFL coverage, told Chad that part of what drives him to give back is his relationship with Chad’s father, Sid Hartman, who passed away last October at the age of 100. Moss and Sid had a very close personal relationship during his year’s covering Moss with the Vikings.
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“You know when it comes back to me and your father's relationship, I think that the love that I have for him, I think that he could see through all the nonsense, just being a genuine standup guy and just the love I have for others,” Moss said about Sid Hartman. “So I think that's why me and your dad hit it off in the relationship that we were able to have still to this day. It’s just a blessing to be able to come back, spending some time with the fellas and then also giving back to this great foundation.”
Moss also talked about how special fishing has been in his life, going back to his childhood in West Virginia.
“I'm coming off the water right now. I'm trying to get me some pre-fishing, but I started out just fishing the banks of West Virginia down on the canal river. And when I got up to the Vikings, up to Minnesota, I remember Cris Carter coming through the locker room asked me to fish. And I said, yeah. So we went up to the lake up there and you know, I had a hell of a day being able to catch 20 bass my first day. I've had some great experiences up in Minnesota. You know, you've got 10,000 plus lakes up there. So Lake Minnetonka was the one we picked.”
For more information or to donate, go to www.dyrk1a.org.
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