Randy Moss Reveals He Has Cancer After Multiple Surgeries, Says He’s A ‘Survivor’

Randy Moss opens up about his cancer diagnosis for the first time.

On Friday, Dec. 13, the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver turned ESPN analyst, 47, shared a Instagram Filmed live on his sofa that he was operated on and had been hospitalized for almost a week. He addressed his supporters from his home, using a cane to assist as he walked.

The NFL commentator says he noticed his urine was discolored and sought medical attention. That’s when his doctors made the cancer diagnosis.

“So I had cancer,” he revealed. “They found it in the bile duct right between the pancreas and the liver, and that the cancer was just outside the bile duct.”

During Live, Moss explained that he underwent the first of several surgeries on Thanksgiving Day to insert a stent into his liver.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer shared that he underwent another six-hour surgery on Saturday, Dec. 7, and just returned home after six days. Moss shared he had one Whipple procedure — a surgery that treats tumors and other conditions of the pancreas, small intestine and bile ducts, according to the Mayo Clinic — and that the cancer was just outside his bile duct.

Randy Moss plays for the Vikings in 2003.

Albert Dickson/Sporting News via Getty


“It’s been a trying week, a trying time. So once again I thank you all,” he said, mentioning a few of the doctors and nurses who treated him in Charlotte, NC. and get me back here with my family.”

Moss says he will follow up the surgery with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. He encouraged his followers, especially other black men, to undergo regular cancer screenings.

“By the grace of God, my liver started working up,” he said, adding elsewhere in the stream, “I didn’t think I’d ever be in a position like this, as healthy as I thought I was.”

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Moss previously shared that he was taking an extended leave of absence from his hosting duties at ESPN.

“For nearly a decade, Randy has been an invaluable member of the team, consistently elevating Countdown with his insight and passion. He has ESPN’s full support and we look forward to welcoming him back when he is ready,” the network said in a statement on 6 Dec.

“My goal is to get back on that television with my team,” Moss added during his Instagram Live, saying he will launch a new line of “Let’s Moss Cancer” t-shirts along with a collectionof which part of the profit will benefit cancer research.

Prior to Friday, Moss had not disclosed the specifics of his condition. Earlier this week, his son Thaddeus blasted fellow sportswriter Larry Fitzgerald Sr. to tweet about his father’s diagnosis.

Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018 after playing 14 seasons in the NFL, including stints with the Vikings, Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots, per Associated Press. He holds a number of league records, including the second most touchdown catches with 156 during his career, and broke a record in 2007 when he made 23 touchdown receptions for the Patriots.