Randy Moss keeps promise, attends graduation of leukemia survivor
Randy Moss kept a long-standing promise, attending the high school graduation of Kassi Spier, a leukemia survivor he befriended as a Viking.
Moss showed up at Pelican Rapids high school in western Minnesota on Friday night to hand Spier her diploma, according to the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. His appearance was low-profile, and nobody was informed he'd be there until shortly before the ceremony started.
The former wide receiver, who was extremely active in communities during his time in Minnesota, befriended Spier when she was a toddler, during his rookie season in 1998. She was diagnosed with leukemia in 2000, at age 4. Spier's father died in a car accident in 2004, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2013. Moss reportedly told her he'd be there for her graduation. He was.
"An Associated Press story in 2003 mentioned that Spier befriended Moss during his rookie season of 1998, when Moss took the NFL by storm with 1,313 receiving yards and 17 touchdown catches.
The story describes how Spier in 2003 followed Moss to lunch nearly every day during the team’s training camp that summer in Mankato, with 'her tiny hand tucked inside his.'"
His brash reputation often grabbed headlines during his playing days, and Moss' work with kids often went unrecognized.
- Jeremy Woo
