In his first NFL start, Bears safety Todd Johnson made a name for himself.
At least he did with Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss, who branded Johnson “a dirty player” for Johnson’s “cheap shot” on Vikings receiver Nate Burleson.
Johnson drew an unnecessary-roughness penalty early in the fourth quarter for a hit that was deemed late and against a player in a defenseless position.
Moss immediately went after Johnson and started a melee that required several officials to break it up.
Moss was still seething later over what he considered a clear attempt to injure someone.
“We ran a play earlier, and the dude had told me he doesn’t go after the ball,” Moss said. “He told me personally. I mean, I usually mess with guys now and then, and I told him earlier, `If I catch that ball, I’d have dunked on you.’ He said, `Oh, I don’t go for the ball.’
“I said, `So what you’re saying . . . ‘ And he said again, `I don’t go for the ball.’ That let me know he’s coming to spear and not even looking at the ball. He told me that in the third quarter, and then this play happened. I was looking at the play. The ball was already on the ground, and [Johnson] came and lunged at [Burleson]. That meant he was serious about what he said, and I took offense at it.”
Burleson said the hit did not seem particularly big at the time. He was not injured, but he added an insult to Johnson’s possible injury attempt.
“He hit me after the ball was gone,” Burleson said. “I bounced back up and didn’t understand what was going on. He hit me, but it didn’t hurt. He kind of gave me a love hug.”
Burleson appreciated Moss’ instant rally to his defense. It is not the first time Moss has gone to battle to protect a teammate.
“A lot of people give him a hard time about running out of bounds or getting down [to avoid a hit], but he’s as tough as they come,” Burleson said. “If a fight breaks out, he’s one of the first ones there for you.”
Moss has been facing the Bears since his 1998 rookie season.
He doesn’t consider the Bears a dirty team, including cornerback R.W. McQuarters, who was flagged twice for holding and once for grabbing a receiver’s facemask.
“I respect R-Dub,” Moss said. “Since his rookie year he’s been playing against me, and I respect him and everybody who shows up to play.
“I just don’t like the guy who thinks he’s better than you, and he’s playing a backup role. It got to me knowing he wasn’t thinking about the game. If he’d hit Nate straight, I’d have said, `Ooh, he got knocked out,’ and you live with it.
“But this was a cheap shot. Coach [Mike] Tice doesn’t teach our team, no one, to play like that.
“By him telling me he was going to do that and then three or four series later doing it, that shows me he’s a dirty player.”
