Randy Moss (born 1959 in Hot Springs, Arkansas[1]) is an American sports announcer and reporter who currently covers thoroughbred racing, football and Olympics for NBC Sports, NBC Sports Network and NFL Network.
Early life edit
A native of Hot Springs, Arkansas, Moss attended horse races at Oaklawn Park Race Track during his youth, often sneaking into the track despite being underage. During high school and college he assisted Daily Racing Form columnist Don Grisham on an Oaklawn handicapping column in the Arkansas Gazette. Moss then spent one semester in pharmacy school at the University of Arkansas before Gazette sports editor Orville Henry hired him to work for the paper full time.[1]
Print edit
In 1984, Moss left the Gazette for the Arkansas Democrat after the Democrat offered to double his salary due to his popularity as a handicapper. From 1989 to 1995 he worked for The Dallas Morning News.[1]
Moss left journalism in 1995 and returned home to work as the director of operations for Oaklawn. In 1996, Moss returned to sports writing as a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He left the Star-Telegram in 1999 after he subbed as an ESPN analyst for that year's Preakness Stakes coverage and subsequently was offered a full-time job by the network.[1]
For thirty years, Moss has been part of Andrew Beyer's team that calculates for Daily Racing Form the iconic Beyer Speed Figures, a mathematical index measuring racehorse speed that is widely considered the most popular handicapping tool in thoroughbred racing. He also created the "Moss Pace Figures" published online by Daily Racing Form.
Television edit
In June 1999, Moss became ESPN's primary horse racing analyst.[1] In August 2008, he joined the NFL Network, where for three years he was studio host for "Team Cam" and "Around the League" and now is primarily a remote reporter.[2]
In 2011, Moss began as an analyst for the Triple Crown for NBC and NBC Sports Network and now covers horse racing exclusively for those networks. In addition to his horse racing analyst duties, Moss has handled reporter, host or play-by-play duties for a wide variety of other sports broadcasts on the NBC family of networks including college football, college basketball, golf, show jumping, two Super Bowls and multiple Olympic games (2012, 2014 and 2016, 2022). For Olympic coverage, he has been assigned to equestrian sports, ski jumping, freestyle skiing, water polo, whitewater canoeing and kayaking, synchronized swimming, and race walking.
References edit
- ^ a b c d e "Arkansas Democrat Project Interview with Randy Moss" (PDF). Arkansas Democrat Project. The David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "Randy Moss". NFL. NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved 17 June 2011.