Things understandably got a little emotional as ESPN kicked off its marathon edition of ‘NFL Countdown’ on Sunday morning from New Orleans.
Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss returned to the set for the first time since taking a leave of absence in December to undergo cancer treatment.
Going live to the field, a ‘Welcome back Randy Moss’ graphic was displayed on the screen as ESPN faded in to a shot of Moss wiping his eyes with a tissue.
Calling himself ‘the big crybaby here,’ Moss expressed his gratitude to his ESPN and NFL family for standing by him. ‘Hey y’all, I can’t do it alone,’ Moss said. ‘Guys, it’s been hard, but I’ve got a lotta love and a lotta people believe in me, man.’
Moss, 47, spent nearly a week in the hospital after undergoing surgery to treat cancer that was found outside of his bile duct between his pancreas and liver.
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Last week, Moss appeared virtually on the NFL Honors broadcast in a video to announce Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as the Comeback Player of the Year. Moss said he was looking forward to rejoining his ESPN colleagues but didn’t specifically say when that would be.
‘I’m happy to be here,’ Moss said upon returning. ‘Let’s get this show started. God bless you all, man. God is good.’
The answer came Saturday night when ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter broke the news that Moss would return for the Super Bowl broadcast.