Santana Moss

Santana Terrell Moss (born June 1, 1979) is an American football wide receiver for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Miami, where he earned All-American honors.

Moss was picked by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft and has since been selected All-Pro once. He is the older brother of former NFL player Sinorice Moss.

Early years
Moss was born in Miami, Florida. He attended Miami Carol City Senior High, and played high school football for the Carol City Chiefs. He led the team with 25 receptions for 600 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior, and amassed 450 yards on 12 kickoff returns with one return touchdown that year. Moss earned third-team all-state football honors following his senior season.

College career
Moss attended the University of Miami, and joined the Miami Hurricanes football team in 1997 as a walk-on, before being awarded a scholarship after the season's third game. He went on to break the Hurricanes' record (previously held by Michael Irvin) for most receiving yards (with 2,546 yards). He finished his 2000 senior season with 1,604 all-purpose yards, received first-team All-Big East Conference honors, and was recognized a consensus first-team All-American. Moss also became the first player to earn Big East Offensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year honors in the same season.

He also ran track at the University of Miami, and was named the "Most Outstanding Field Performer" for the 2000 Big East Outdoor Track and Field championships. In 1999, Moss ran the 60-meter dash in 6.83 seconds.

Moss is an important figure in Miami Hurricanes football history, generally considered (along with Irvin) to be one of the most accomplished wide receivers in the university's history. He graduated as the school's all-time leader in receiving yards (2,546), punt return yards (1,196), and all-purpose yards (4,394). Moss was interviewed about his time at the University of Miami for the documentary The U, which premiered December 12, 2009 on ESPN. He was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

2001 NFL Draft
Moss was a first round (16th overall) pick in the 2001 NFL Draft by the New York Jets out of the University of Miami. Moss's agent is fellow University of Miami alumnus Drew Rosenhaus, who is widely considered one of the most aggressive agents currently representing NFL players.

2001 Season–2004 Season
In the 2001 season, Moss made his NFL debut in Week 10 against the Miami Dolphins. Moss made his first career catch in Week 12 against the New England Patriots.

In the 2002 season, Moss made his first career start in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills.

Moss played a total of 51 games with the New York Jets and finished with 3,899 receiving yards, 19 touchdowns, 127 rushing yards, and 1,799 return yards.

2005 Season
Following the 2004 season, Moss was acquired by the Washington Redskins in a trade with the Jets for former Jet Laveranues Coles. Moss signed a six-year contract with the Redskins on May 4, 2005.

Known for his big play potential, Moss started the 2005 season off with a bang in just Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys, where he caught two touchdown passes of 39 and 70 yards from Mark Brunell in the last five minutes to beat the Cowboys 14–13 on Monday Night Football.

His 2005 season with the Redskins was the best in his professional career, with 84 receptions for 1,483 yards(second highest in the NFL that year, behind only Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers), setting a new Redskins single-season receiving record. In 2005, Moss also was selected to his first NFL Pro Bowl. Moss recorded 18 rushing yards and 3 catches for 39 receiving yards at the Pro Bowl.

2006 Season
In the first three games of the 2006 season, he recorded only 13 catches for 188 yards. On October 1, 2006, however, Moss exploded for a season-high 138 yards on 4 catches, hauling in two touchdowns of 55 and 8 yards, as well as a 68-yard game-winning touchdown to give Washington the victory in overtime over the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars 36-30. Due to injuries that kept him inactive much of the year and less than 100% when he did play, Moss finished the 2006 season with 790 yards on 55 receptions.

2007 Season
In the 2007 season, Moss started and played in 14 games and recorded 61 receptions, 808 receiving yards, and three touchdowns.

2008 Season
In the 2008 season, Moss recorded over 1,000 receiving yards for the third time in his career.

2009 Season
Starting in all 16 games, Moss recorded 70 receptions, 902 receiving yards, and three touchdowns in the 2009 season.

2010 Season
In the 2010 season, the last season of his contract with the Redskins, Moss recorded 1,115 receiving yards making this the fourth time in his career that he recorded over 1,000 receiving yards. He also achieved a new career high of 93 receptions as well as recorded six touchdowns.

2011 Season
With his original contract ending, Moss re-signed with the Redskins. On July 26, the Redskins signed him to a three-year, $15 million contract that includes a $5 million signing bonus. He was made an offensive co-captain along with Trent Williams. In Week 7 against the Carolina Panthers, Moss suffered a broken left hand. He made his return to the field in Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 14 against the New England Patriots, Moss caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Banks, the first of Banks' career. Working mostly out of the slot receiver position, Moss played and started 12 games and recorded 46 receptions, 584 receiving yards, and four touchdowns by the end of the 2011 season.

2012 Season
During the preseason, it was reported that Moss lost 15 pounds to prepare for the 2012 season. After seven consecutive seasons of being a starter for the Redskins, his responsibility was reduced to more of a third-down slot receiver due to the team's additions of Pierre Garçon and Josh Morgan, who became the team's new starters. In the Week 5 loss against the Atlanta Falcons, he caught a 77-yard touchdown pass from second-string quarterback, Kirk Cousins. He would later score the only two touchdowns for the Redskins in the Week 7 loss against the New York Giants. In the Week 11 win against the Philadelphia Eagles, Moss caught a 61-yard touchdown pass from Robert Griffin III while under double coverage.

Career statistics
Receiving Stats as of 4/14/2012

Personal
Moss attended Scottlake Elementary and Parkway Middle School, both located in Miami. He majored in liberal arts at the University of Miami. In an interview, Moss said he is not an outgoing person. He is rather quiet, and lets his play do his talking. As a teenager, he was always small and was made fun of when he said he wanted to be a receiver.

Moss is married to high school sweetheart LaTosha Allen-Moss. They have three children, Santana, Jr. (a son) Saniya (a daughter) and Savion (a son) a new addition to the family in July 2009.

He is the older brother of wide receiver Sinorice Moss, who previously played for the NFL's New York Giants and currently plays for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

Performance-enhancing Drugs
In May 2010, The Washington Post reported that Moss allegedly received human growth hormone from doctor Anthony Galea.

Financials
On December 16, 2011, it was reported that Moss owed the IRS $258,017 from 2006 back taxes. On January 25, 2012, his $5.2 million home in Florida went into foreclosure.