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Former University of Maine receiver Montigo Moss was invited to Vikings rookie mini-camp. His father, Randy, started his Hall of Fame career in Minnesota. Abbie Parr/Associated Press

Montigo Moss is trying to pull off a magic trick of sorts: Follow in his famous father’s footsteps, while at the same time stay out of Randy Moss’ long shadow.

Coming off a strong senior season as a wide receiver at the University of Maine, Moss earned an invitation to the Minnesota Vikings rookie minicamp last weekend. His Hall of Fame father was ever present. Randy Moss played the first seven seasons of his career with the Vikings, plus four more games in 2010 when his career was winding down. Montigo walked past pictures of his father throughout the Vikings’ training complex.

Moss left the minicamp without an invitation to the team’s full training camp this summer. Still, he saw the experience as a good one, a first step in what he hopes evolves into a pro football career.

“It was special, just being able to put on the uniform my dad shared was cool. Seeing him on the wall like that was cool. Knowing what he’s done there, it was just a cool moment, something that I can almost speak about for the rest of my life, whether I keep going in football or not. That’s a moment in my life I’ll never forget,” Moss said Wednesday afternoon from his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It was a great opportunity to set a standard, to see if I can or can’t do it or make it. I think there’s stuff I can improve on, take the coaching on what I didn’t do too well and really focus on those. Get faster and focus on route details. But I think I did show what I can do.”

The Vikings were the only NFL team to reach out to Moss after the draft. Moss said his father gave him simple and succinct advice.

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“His advice going into it was consider it a job interview, and he’s right by saying that. Carry myself in a professional manner,” Moss said.

In hindsight, Moss wishes he had done that throughout his college days with the Black Bears. He doesn’t think he gave slack effort, but Moss thinks he could’ve worked even harder. It would’ve helped him as he enters this phase of his football life. Guys from Football Championship Subdivision programs already face a steeper climb than their peers from Football Bowl Subdivision schools. An edge in work ethic couldn’t hurt.

Moss recalled minor surgery to repair cartilage in the spring of 2022. He was off the field for a month, nothing major, but while unable to participate in the team’s spring practices, Moss put on a little weight.

Wide receiver Montigo Moss made a habit of highlight reel catches at the University of Maine. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

“I was able to lose that in a couple months, but if I had carried that mindset into every season of every year of my college career, I think the sky would have been the limit. I think I was working on too much of what I was good at and not enough of my downfalls,” Moss said. “I don’t think I was complacent, but I think there’s so much more I could’ve done.”

The 2024 season was Moss’ best with the Black Bears. His 61 catches for 722 yards and seven touchdowns were the most by a Maine wideout since 2019, when Jaquan Blair (65 catches, 839 yards, 8 TDs) and Earnest Edwards (49 catches, 1,097 yards, 11 TDs) each put up huge numbers as a deep threat duo. Moss’ time at Maine is peppered with one-handed touchdown grabs and fancy footwork to stay inbounds in the end zone. He even completed a pass for a 2-point conversion in a win at Albany on a play reminiscent of one his father made for the Vikings 22 years earlier.

Moss earned Coastal Athletic Association third team honors for his efforts last fall. Yes, he thinks he could’ve been better, but that’s how many players would feel looking back at a career that’s now complete. Maine was the first school to heavily recruit Moss out of Fork Union Military Academy. It was and still is the right choice for him.

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“I loved the fans, the coaches. The grittiness of the weather, how it can be up there, made me a better person, a better football player,” Moss said.

No matter what he does in football, Moss knows his father’s name will always come up. That’s part of being the son of one of the all-time greats, and he accepts that. Carving his own path started at Maine, and continued for a brief stint in the same uniform his dad wore in the NFL. Now, he trains and stays ready. Wide receivers are always getting hurt, or an NFL team could realize a guy isn’t the right fit. There are other professional options, too, but Moss has those on the back burner for now.

“I would go play CFL or another league if that comes up, but focusing on the NFL now is best, maintaining that mindset for playing in the highest league in the world,” he said.

His father’s shadow is long, and his last name may pique interest among coaches and general managers around the league, but that’s just opening a door. Moss knows going through it is all on him.

Travis Lazarczyk has covered sports for the Portland Press Herald since 2021. A Vermont native, he graduated from the University of Maine in 1995 with a BA in English. After a few years working as a sports...

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