06/05/26 05:01:00
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06/05 17:00 CDT Randy Moss is cancer-free and angling for the next big catch in
pursuit of his bass fishing passion
Randy Moss is cancer-free and angling for the next big catch in pursuit of his
bass fishing passion
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Pro Football Writer
Randy Moss is still making big catches, long after he finished playing football.
The Hall of Fame wide receiver with the second-most touchdown receptions in NFL
history has found his off-the-field calling on the boat, fishing for freshwater
bass.
"That's my passion right now. That's my hobby. That's my getaway. That's my
therapy," Moss said.
Mostly confined to his home for about nine months while he underwent
chemotherapy and radiation to beat cancer, Moss developed a deeper appreciation
for being in nature. Since his treatment was completed last fall and his rare
form of the disease --- in the bile duct between the pancreas and the liver ---
was deemed to be in remission, Moss has often had a rod and reel in his hands.
This lifelong hobby for Moss has become a third career of sorts, following his
work as an NFL analyst for ESPN that he resumed with the 2025 season.
"I'm just excited to be able to showcase my talent and go out there and show
people that I have something else other than football that I love," Moss said.
Moss was hired by World Bass Enterprises to serve as an ambassador for " The
Champions " tournament this fall in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an inaugural
five-day event just across the river from Nashville designed to determine a
true title in a sport divided by two competing tours. WBE was founded earlier
this year by Brian Bird, a Texas businessman and amateur angler who has become
a fishing buddy to Moss.
In the meantime, Moss and his business partner, Andrew Grein, have been busy
filming a documentary series, " Chasing 10," that features Moss fishing with
celebrity guests in pursuit of the elusive 10-pound largemouth bass while
offering tips and trading stories. He's auctioning off a custom-made boat for
each season to benefit the Children's Cancer Research Fund in Minnesota.
"I had to take a year off to be able to get myself back right, but my health is
great," Moss said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "I still
have my quarterly checkups every four months, my scans, but I just think that
now that I'm back outside, this is one of the things that I couldn't wait to
see. I have the bass waiting on me, so I'm just a kid in the candy store having
fun, man."
The Champions event, which is carrying a total prize purse of $3.25 million for
the largest in the history of the sport, will pay $1.25 million to the winner
from a field of 50 anglers --- the top 25 from each of the two biggest
organizations in competitive bass fishing.
The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society --- known as B.A.S.S. --- runs the
Bassmaster Elite Series. Major League Fishing has the newer Bass Pro Tour. For
the past seven years, a bit like the PGA and LIV factions in golf, the best
anglers in the world have been split between two groups. Moss is on board with
Bird to try to help unite the sport and take it further into the mainstream.
"We both are trying to bring something that's really positive to the sport of
bass fishing," said Bird, who sold his electrical construction services company
three years ago and has invested his own money into the launch of the
tournament. "It's a good way for a family to spend time out in nature."
The first batch of Chasing 10 episodes posted to YouTube this week included a
spirited outing with the Kelce brothers and a reunion of fellow receivers from
the Minnesota Vikings with Cris Carter and Jake Reed. While he was out on
another show with Bird on a Texas lake, Moss giddily reeled in the hallowed
10-pounder, comparing the anxiety he felt during the process to the moments
before a football play when he knew the pass was coming his way.
Moss first learned how to cast a line while growing up in West Virginia with
his older half-brother, Eric Moss, who died in 2019. Soon after Moss started
his NFL career in Minnesota in 1998, he was introduced to a professional
angler, the late John Laub, who taught him the sport on the St. Croix River
along the Wisconsin border.
"My first actual bass experience, I caught 20!" Moss said. "John, he was
glowing. That's the man who showed me bass fishing, and I haven't looked back
since."
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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