This was back in training camp, during a quiet moment long before the games were to begin for real and the pressure would be turned up beyond 10 on the volume dial.
Curtis Martin, the quiet star and proven veteran, was talking to Santana Moss, the young bolt of lightning still trying to find his way to NFL stardom.
“I said, ‘Look, what Laveranues [Coles] did last year, you have to do this year,’ ” Martin said to Moss. “He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘All right.’ And he’s been performing. He’s just finally getting a chance to display the talent he truly has. Sometimes that takes some time for it to really click.
“I think he realized the situation he was in and he realized the opportunity that was before him. What impresses me most is, as small as he is [5-9, 181], he’ll go over the middle like he’s as big as Keyshawn [Johnson].”
Only the Rams’ Torry Holt and the Vikings’ Randy Moss have more touchdown receptions (nine) this season than Santana Moss, who’s scored seven times in eight games, including six in the past four games.
Among AFC receivers, no one – not Marvin Harrison (6), Hines Ward (6), Rod Smith (1), Jerry Rice (0), or any of the other elite receivers in the conference – has scored more than Santana Moss.
As the 2-6 Jets ready themselves for a payback weekend in Oakland with a Sunday game against the beleaguered Raiders, Moss has emerged as not only the best receiver on his team, but its best offensive weapon.
With 38 receptions for 580 yards, a 15.3-yard average and those seven TDs, Moss is having a better season than – remember these guys? – Coles (46 catches, 658 yards, 14.3-yard average, 2 TDs) and Johnson (37 catches, 487 yards, 13.2-yard average, 2 TDs).
Santana Moss is on pace for 76 receptions, 1,160 yards and 14 TDs this season. Those are Pro Bowl numbers.
“He’s what everybody expected him to be, and probably then some,” Martin said.
Why is Moss’ star rising so rapidly?
Trace it back to two things:
* Moss is unlike the stereotypical, in-your-face, I-wanna-be-great-right-now Miami Hurricane. Instead of talking about what he was going to do and become after being selected in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft, Moss quietly worked his way up the ladder to this point.
* Though there have been many key moments, one stands out as most prominent: When Herman Edwards named Moss as a starter during the Jets’ bye week earlier this season.
In four games as a starter, Moss caught 24 passes for 344 yards and six TDs. Take those numbers and project them over a 16-game season, and Moss would have 96 catches for 1,376 yards and 24 TDs.
“He is a very prideful young man,” Edwards said yesterday. “[Starting] is very important to him, because he earned it. He has some giddy-up to himself right now. He feels a lot better about himself. He’s going. He’s feeling it. He has got a good sense of where he’s at right now. He’s playing with a lot of confidence.”
Moss transformed himself from an occasional star that would shine every few nights to a constant beam of light. He no longer has a big game one Sunday to whet appetites then disappears the following week. Moss has been making impact plays every Sunday since he became a starter.
Asked if he’s aware of the numbers he’s been putting up, Moss said, “Yes, I’m aware of it, but you can’t just sit on them. I want to get better. I keep striving to be better. I want to be great, but it takes time.”
Reminded of that preseason conversation with Martin, Moss said, “Curtis said, ‘Hey man, it’s your time to shine, and you need to think like that.’ I do think like that. I just keep it to myself.”
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Start of something big
Since replacing Curtis Conway in the Jets’ starting lineup four games ago, Santana Moss has put up numbers efitting a first-round pick expected to be a game-breaker.
Here’s a look at Moss’ roll since he became a starter:
Opponent – Catches – Yards – TDs
Bills – 3 – 16 – 1
Texans – 6 – 111 – 1
Eagles – 5 – 96 – 1
Giants – 10 – 121 – 3
Last four games, 24 catches, 344 yards, 6 TDs
First four games: 14 catches, 236 yards, 1 TD