Randy Moss

A few games into the 2002 season, Tice had already heralded what he termed the "Randy Ratio"—a vow that forty percent of the team's passes were to be caught by Moss. The receiver seemed to have settled down and showed far more leadership promise than in past seasons, but at the end of September, Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper screamed at Moss on sidelines for failing to go after a pass with both hands. Two days later, Moss spent a night in jail after disobeying a traffic control officer in downtown Minneapolis. The officer, on foot, attempted to stop Moss in his Lexus sedan from making an illegal turn, and he was said to have nudged her with the car until she fell over. Authorities found marijuana in the car, and Moss was charged with misdemeanor drug possession.

Moss remains one of the Vikings' most talented players, though skeptics note he has not yet lived up to the promise of his athletic prowess. He claims to have learned to speak more carefully, as he told Sports Illustrated's Silver. "I guess that I'm a bad guy, which I'm not," he says. "I know I have a reputation to protect, and it's not just me—I'm also representing a multimillion-dollar franchise and my family. So if sometimes I say things I regret, I've got to pay for it."