Randy Moss spent part of the 2010 season with Kenny Britt and the Titans.(Photo: Steve Mitchell, USA TODAY Sports)
Randy Moss admitted he wasn’t always squeaky clean as a young football player.
Off-field issues prevented him from blossoming at a college powerhouse and tainted his early NFL career. He eventually settled down and, 14 seasons later, is considered one of the best wide receivers of all time.
Moss, who spent half of the 2010 season with the Tennessee Titans, said he thinks Kenny Britt still has a chance to become of the league’s best wideouts — if he can stay focused.
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“I can’t really speak about it because I have been into trouble off the field myself,” Moss said during Super Bowl XLVII week in New Orleans. “But from what I have seen Kenny Britt do, man, if he gets his mind right, Kenny Britt can get up in elite class very quickly. I am a big fan of his.
“Kenny Britt is a young receiver who can get in that A.J. Green, Julio Jones mix if he wants to and does the things to make it happen. But his is more mental than it is physical. I hope it works out for him because he is quite a talent. That guy could be special.”
Moss, who played for the San Francisco 49ers this season, has remained in touch with Britt the past couple of years. They play video games such as Call of Duty on a regular basis, Moss said.
A first-round pick in 2009, Britt is headed into the final year of his contract. He’s scheduled to make $1.34 million in 2013.
Once again this offseason, however, he has been in the news for the wrong reasons.
New Jersey police said last week that they want to talk to Britt a second time about a stabbing on Jan. 13. The victim, who was not seriously injured, was a close friend of Britt. Police recently arrested a man in connection with the incident.
Police said they have contacted Britt’s attorney and hope Britt can provide additional information relating to the case.
“We are waiting for him,” Jersey City police captain Edgar Martinez said. “We have some more questions for him.”
Titans coach Mike Munchak said that he hasn’t talked with Britt, but that the team’s security officials have looked into the incident and “as far as we know, he’s not being accused of anything. As of now, everything is fine as far as his involvement.”
Last week in Nashville, Britt appeared at a judicial settlement hearing related to a lawsuit filed against him and two other parties in 2011.
A Nashville man’s civil suit seeks $150,000 in connection with a scuffle at Karma Lounge in 2010. Police questioned Britt at the time but did not charge him. The case is expected to go to trial by summer.
Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was Britt’s teammate at Rutgers, said the same issues that dogged the talented wide receiver in college continue to slow him down in the NFL.
Since the Titans drafted him, Britt has been part of at least nine incidents involving police. Half occurred in his home state of New Jersey.
“He is a talent like no other,” Rice said. “If he ever puts it all together — and that’s not football — if he ever gets the right people around him to guide him, to support him, then he can be one of the top five receivers in this league, hands down.
“Whenever I see him I tell him how much I care about him. I love him. He is always going to be a brother. I have never wanted to be one that ridicules someone. Everybody goes through things in their life, and you have to have that turning point where it’s time for me to change.”
After offseason surgeries on his knees, Britt finished 2012 with a career-best 45 catches for 589 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games, but his 13.1-yard average was the lowest of his career.
In four seasons he has 146 catches for 2,354 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Last month, Munchak hired former Lions assistant Shawn Jefferson as receivers coach when Dave Ragone was moved to quarterbacks coach. Jefferson worked in Detroit with Lions all-pro Calvin Johnson, arguably the top wide receiver in the league.
“Obviously he (Britt) got drafted in the first round, so he has some ability,” Jefferson said. “I don’t like to get into comparing guys, Kenny Britt with a Calvin Johnson. Each guy is different. But just like me, this receiving group, we all have to reinvent ourselves. So that’s my message.”
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Jim Wyatt also writes for The (Nashville) Tennessean, a Gannett property
