The biggest over-reaction in history.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. We are a nation of idiots.

January 13, 2005

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -- Randy Moss was fined $10,000 Thursday by the NFL for pretending to pull down his pants and moon the Green Bay crowd during Minnesota's playoff win last weekend.

Peter Hadhazy, the league's director of game operations, penalized Moss for unsportsmanlike conduct in a letter that the NFL released.

``Your actions were based on poor judgment, did not reflect well on you or the Vikings, and were insulting to many,'' Hadhazy wrote.

``They have resulted in widespread criticism and needlessly detracted from Minnesota's dramatic playoff victory. Fans should look to you and your teammates to see how to compete and win in football. But when you lose your focus on playing and engage in sideshows as you did on Sunday, you forfeit much of this,'' he wrote.

Moss also briefly bumped the goalpost with his back end before hugging teammates in the end zone following his fourth-quarter touchdown catch that clinched the Vikings' 31-17 victory.

League rules mandate discipline for ``obscene gestures or other actions construed as being in poor taste.'' A fine for the first offense under those guidelines is $5,000.

Moss hasn't previously been fined for such an action, but he paid a $25,000 penalty in 1999 for squirting an official with a water bottle.

His agent, Dante DiTrapano, said the fine was unnecessary.

``If you can't have freedom of expression on the football field, come on,'' DiTrapano said.