As you already know, Ravens rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith had quite the debut on Sunday against the Rams. Smith got his first career start and lit the world on fire scoring three touchdowns on his first three receptions in the first 15 minutes of the game.
It was a debut that got the entire country talking. Hell, even Bill Barnwell of Grantland.com, who called the Ravens lucky for their week one win over the Steelers, gave Smith credit in his column on Monday.
But one national writer, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, compared Torrey Smith’s debut to Randy Moss’. “It was a debut that conjured memories of Randy Moss, who torched the Cowboys with three catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns on Thanksgiving in 1998,” Florio wrote. He points out that Moss’ debut was in front of a national audience while Smith’s performance wasn’t even on during the primetime slot. “If it had happened on national television and/or in prime time, Torrey Smith would have been the toast of the league this week.”
We’ll show him love in Baltimore though.
Uh, that wasn’t Moss’ debut. His debut was at the BEGINNING of the season, not have way through the year. Here is his actual debut.
“In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number one-ranked offense, scoring a then-NFL record 556 points.
The Vikings opened the season with a 31–7 rout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moss’ first NFL game would also be his first multi-touchdown game as he recorded 4 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. His first NFL reception came on the third play of the game on an 11 yard pass from Brad Johnson. His first touchdown was a 48 yard acrobatic grab over defensive back Floyd Young late in the first quarter, in which Moss juggled the ball 3 times before securing it for the score. He added a 31 yard touchdown reception on the Vikings first possession of the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21–0 lead.”
—-Wikipedia
So, Moss had a great debut, but it wasn’t as great as Smith’s.