During offseason workouts, Moss arrived “not in the best of shape,” Brady said, suggesting that Moss had spent several years in Oakland where he wasn’t fully engaged. This context helped explain why New England initially doubted how much Moss could contribute.
Moss’s stint with the Patriots is widely remembered as a triumph because his production was extraordinary. The team went 16-0 in the regular season, Brady threw 50 touchdown passes, and Moss caught 23 of them, setting an NFL single-season record.
Before the season began, the Patriots made a bold move, trading for Moss from the Raiders for a fourth-round pick. At the time, some outlets described Moss as a fading star, coming off a 2006 season with 42 receptions for 553 yards and three touchdowns — all career lows up to that point.
Brady noted that Moss’s early work in OTAs didn’t immediately dispel the questions about his form. He described Moss as being guarded by players in drills who shouldn’t have warranted such attention, and Brady found himself wondering when Moss would truly turn it on.
The perception shifted when training camp began. In conditioning tests, Moss looked lean and in peak shape, moving with the speed and confidence the team hoped to see. That glimpse suggested Moss still had the burst and field-stretching threat that made him a game-changing talent.
However, a harrowing moment nearly derailed that optimism. In the second week of training camp, the team executed a flea-flicker intended for Moss. Brady threw as far as he could, and Moss pulled up with a hamstring issue, causing him to miss the remainder of camp. The Patriots faced a potential setback, unsure of how this would affect their plans.
Week 1 of the regular season brought a definitive answer. Moss’s debut against the Jets featured nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown, while Brady completed 22 of 28 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns. The performance demonstrated Moss’s ability to alter a game and reshape an offense’s trajectory.
From that point, the 2007 season unfolded as a historic chapter. Moss finished with 98 receptions for 1,493 yards and 23 touchdowns, setting an NFL single-season record for touchdown catches and establishing a Patriots single-season receiving yardage mark.
The path to that breakout year was not a straightforward plug-and-play. The Patriots faced an OTA slow start, a flash of potential in training camp, an early hamstring injury, and some uncertainty entering Week 1. Yet when Moss finally took the field, he validated the gamble and became a defining piece of one of the franchise’s most remarkable seasons.
