NFL Superstar Randy Moss Re-joins the Vikings after 5 Years

Following a trade this week, U.S. National Football League star Randy Moss will play consecutive Monday night games, but for two different teams. On October 4, he played for the New England Patriots, but this Monday night, October 11, the popular wide receiver will play for the Minnesota Vikings - the team that first drafted him more than 12 years ago.

Wide receiver Randy Moss began his National Football League career in 1998 with the Minnesota Vikings and stayed with the team for seven years until he left in 2005. After two lackluster seasons with the Oakland Raiders, Moss rejuvenated his career in 2007 as a member of the New England Patriots.

But four weeks into the 2010 NFL season, the Patriots traded Moss to the Minnesota Vikings. The move appeared to surprise the seven-time all-star even though he recently said he no longer felt welcome in New England, and then recanted the remarks.

New England head coach Bill Belichick said the Moss trade was amicable for both sides, and he had no issues with his former star receiver. "There was never any incident or discipline problem with Randy. There never has been one with me in four years, and it certainly wasn't about contract and money," he said.

Moss said he is thankful for his more than three years at New England. But the 33-year-old athlete said he also is excited about returning to Minnesota, where he will team up for the first time in his career with legendary quarterback Brett Favre. "You know, being able to come from a place such as New England, having a great Hall of Fame quarterback in Tom Brady, a Hall of Fame coach in Bill Belichick, and then be able to come to a (future) Hall of Fame quarterback in Brett [Favre], I mean, what else can you ask for," he said.

The Vikings enter Monday night's road game against the New York Jets with only one victory in three games this season. Favre is in his second year with Minnesota, following a stellar 16-year career with the Green Bay Packers. The NFL great says he welcomes having Moss as his new teammate. "How could you not want to play with this guy? He can't do anything but make us better, and make the guys around us better," he said.

The Vikings' next home game is not until Sunday, October 17. It will be the first time in five years that Moss will wear his number-84 on a Vikings uniform in Minnesota. And he is predicting a thrilling match-up with the Dallas Cowboys. "To all the Viking fans that's coming to that Metrodome (stadium), pull your 84 jerseys out, man, I think this is going to be a fun ride," he said.

At the end of October, Moss will return to Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts to face his former New England teammates for the first time since his trade to the Minnesota Vikings.