Former NASCAR team owner, NFL Hall of Famer reveals cancer diagnosis

NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss announced last week that he would be stepping away from his ESPN analyst role for an extended period of time to focus on a personal health challenge, though he did not reveal specifics of the health issue at that time.

The 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee simply asked fans for prayers for himself and for his family.

Now the 47-year-old Rand, West Virginia native revealed that he is battling cancer. He announced that he is being treated and is currently recovering from major surgery to remove the cancer, and he thanked fans for their prayers up to this point – and urged fans to continue praying.

He said that a cancerous mass was found in his bile duct, between his pancreas and his liver. According to ESPN, "he had surgery to put a stent in his liver on Thanksgiving and then underwent a six-hour procedure about a week ago to remove the cancer. He said he was hospitalized for six days and released Friday."

Moss, who introduced himself as a cancer survivor when making the announcement on Instagram Live, plans to undergo radiation and chemotherapy.

Randy Moss plans to "Moss" cancer

While most know Moss as a legendary NFL wide receiver, whose 15,292 receiving yards and 156 receiving touchdowns are fourth most and second most in NFL history, respectively, the former Minnesota Viking, Oakland Raider, New England Patriot, Tennessee Titan, and San Francisco 49er also owned a NASCAR team for a few years during his football career.

Randy Moss Motorsports was owned by Moss, along with David Dollar and Rob Morgan. Moss was part of the ownership group from 2008 to 2011. The team had previously been known as Morgan-Dollar Motorsports.

Most notably, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson competed in just one Truck Series race during his legendary NASCAR career, and that race came with Moss' team in 2008. Johnson qualified ninth at Bristol Motor Speedway and crashed out roughly halfway into the race.

Mike Skinner earned the team all three of their victories in 2009. Their other drivers during those four seasons included Willie Allen, Landon Cassill, Marc Davis, Donny Lia, Tayler Malsam, David Starr, and Travis Kvapil.

During Moss' playing career, the term "Moss" was created and effectively turned into a verb. Fans used it to describe when a more athletic wideout made an insane catch over a defender (i.e. a defender getting "Mossed"), and the term is still used to this day.

Now Moss' goal is simple: it's time to "Moss" cancer.

Though his stint in NASCAR only lasted a few years, Moss continues to be in the thoughts and prayers of those in the NASCAR community as he aims to tackle the biggest challenge he has faced. Hopefully this too is a one-on-one matchup he can dominate.