Best career moments from 2018 Hall of Fame class

In the argument for greatest rookie season in NFL history, Randy Moss served notice throughout 1998 that he was a breed of receiver the league had never encountered. The Marshall-developed superstar best showcased his talents in a Thanksgiving Day masterpiece. He caught just three passes but turned them into 163 yards and three touchdowns, torching a Cowboys team he hoped would draft him. The Vikings rode the Offensive Rookie of the Year to a 15-1 season, a then-NFL-record 556 points and came within one errant field goal of Super Bowl XXXIII. 

Moss played for better teams than the 2000 Vikings, but his day against the Saints in a divisional playoff game illustrates his unparalleled gifts perfectly. Daunte Culpepper found Moss just twice that day, and that's all the NFL's deep-threat kingpin needed to change the game. Moss turned both short grabs into catch-and-run TDs, scoring on a slant from 53 yards out and then taking a screen 68 yards to pay dirt. Post the Moss barrage, the Saints were down 24-3 and soon saw their season end.

Moss's rookie run and his virtuoso work with the 2007 Patriots represent his most memorable seasons, but in 2003, the 6-foot-4 phenom delivered his most complete campaign. Moss broke his own Vikings receiving-yardage record by nearly 200 yards, compiling a 1,632-yard season — by far his career high. No non-Moss Viking has come within 250 yards of that total in a season. Oh, and Moss added 17 touchdowns. He posted three seasons with at least 17 TD receptions, most in NFL history. 

Before Al Davis traded Moss to the Patriots for a fourth-round pick, Tom Brady had never thrown more than 28 TDs in a season. Brady was previously a well-regarded quarterback who played on great teams, but with Moss, he delivered an all-time season. While Brady predictably earned NFL MVP honors, Moss maybe should have. The Pats' new toy ignited the offense and broke Jerry Rice's 20-year-old record by catching 23 touchdown passes — the last of which came from 65 yards out to erase a Giants lead in Week 17 and lift the Patriots to 16-0. 

Posterized is an overused term generally confined to basketball sequences, but Moss delivered an NFL equivalent in September 2010. This wasn't a typical "Moss'd" sequence, since it didn't require any leaping, but the end result may have been better than his usual go-to end-zone maneuver. The 33-year-old wideout blazed to the shores of Revis Island and pulled down a Tom Brady pass with one hand for a 34-yard touchdown. This may have been Randy's final great moment, with his 13th season — spent with three teams — ending with his first retirement. 

Dwight Clark's iconic catch in the 1981 NFC Championship Game set the 49ers on a dynastic course. They remained an elite operation for the next 17 years. This run's last hurrah came in a 1998 wild card game, and it established Terrell Owens as the NFL's next great wide receiver. Owens endured a drop-prone afternoon against the Packers that Sunday in San Francisco, but he made up for it by hauling in a 25-yard touchdown pass from Steve Young — an all-time dime in between five Green Bay defenders — with three seconds left to seal a 30-27 49ers win.

Rice began to cede his 49ers throne to Owens in 2000, with the latter claiming his first All-Pro spot that season. In Rice's final game as a 49er at Candlestick Park, Owens set an NFL record. No. 81 broke a 50-year-old record by catching 20 passes for a career-high 283 yards and a touchdown in a 49ers' shutout win over the Bears. While T.O.'s mark didn't stand for as long as Tom Fears' did, with Brandon Marshall eclipsing it in 2009, Owens was firmly a household name by now.

T.O. may have been the NFL's diva GOAT, but his end zone routines remain unparalleled. Chad Johnson, Steve Smith and other successors couldn't match Owens, who delivered his best work on a Monday night in Seattle in October 2002. After already scoring a touchdown in the first quarter, Owens snared a 37-yard pass from Jeff Garcia midway through the fourth. That turned out to be the game-winner in a 28-21 49ers victory, but Owens' Sharpie routine provided the lasting memory from that night. Even John Madden enjoyed it.

The Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX, but this game is remembered as much for Owens' dominance. The Eagles' hired gun broke his leg and tore an ankle ligament in Week 15. Philadelphia navigated through the NFC bracket without its top weapon, but Owens returned at far less than 100 percent to play in the Super Bowl. He caught nine passes for 122 yards in the Eagles' 24-21 loss. Though T.O. criticized Donovan McNabb's performance in that game to help lead him out of Philly, his on-field work that night cannot be minimized. 

T.O.'s final season as an elite wide receiver crested on a November Sunday in Dallas. In his second year with the Cowboys, Owens caught a career-high four TD passes and scored all of Dallas' non-PAT points in a 28-23 win over the Redskins in 2007. This helped the Cowboys secure their first No. 1 seed since their 1995 Super Bowl slate and powered Owens to a historic feat: a First-Team All-Pro appearance with a third franchise. This was Owens' fifth and final All-Pro honor, and his 15 TDs in his age-34 season are an NFL record. 

The 2000 Ravens reside in the conversation for best defensive team ever. They pitched four shutouts but hit another gear in the playoffs, yielding just 23 points in four games. Ray Lewis' battle victory over Eddie George in a fourth-quarter tussle stymied Baltimore's top threat. The Steve McNair-led Titans (the AFC's top seed) attempted a game-tying drive, but Lewis intervened with one of the more deflating pick-sixes in NFL history, ripping the ball from George's grasp and giving the Ravens a two-score lead. Lewis' 50-yard touchdown sprint kind of put the other contenders on notice. 

The Ravens left no doubt about who deserved the Vince Lombardi Trophy most that season. Beating the Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV, Baltimore became the second team in Super Bowl history not to allow an offensive touchdown. The Defensive Player of the Year, Lewis made 11 tackles and tipped a Kerry Collins pass that was soon intercepted. This earned the Baltimore middle linebacker Super Bowl MVP honors. 

Six defenders have received Defensive Player of the Year acclaim more than once. For his work in the 2003 season, Lewis became the fifth. Recovering from a shoulder injury that shelved him for 10 games in 2002, Lewis rebounded to record a career-high 120 solo tackles, force two fumbles and intercept a career-best six passes. He led a Ravens team still without a viable quarterback back to the playoffs.

The 2009 Chargers earned a bye in the AFC playoffs, and the nine-win Ravens squeaked into the postseason. Lewis played a key role in making the latter happen. Protecting a five-point lead in the final minute of a Week 2 game in San Diego, the Ravens thwarted a Chargers fourth-down play and escaped with a vital victory. Five-foot-six Darren Sproles absorbed one of the iconic linebacker's most ferocious hits, with Lewis reading the play and invading the backfield unimpeded to stop the running back in his tracks. His case likely aided by this hit, Lewis earned the last of his seven First-Team All-Pro distinctions. 

Somehow surmounting a torn triceps muscle in less than three months, Lewis announced before the playoffs this was going to be "the general's last ride." This undoubtedly galvanized a Ravens team that didn't display many championship qualities during the regular season. While past his prime, Lewis played throughout Super Bowl XLVII and was on the field during its pivotal four plays. The Ravens finished off the 49ers with a goal-line stand in a 34-31 win and sent the franchise's greatest player out with a second Super Bowl ring.

An All-American safety at New Mexico, Brian Urlacher began his Bears tenure in 2000 as an outside linebacker. Soon seeing a poor fit, the Bears shuttled their first-round pick to the middle. Urlacher, who became a starter following a Barry Minter injury early in his rookie season, remained there for 13 seasons. He finished his initial NFL slate with a career-high eight sacks and earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.

Mostly dormant since the Walter Payton/Mike Ditka/46 Defense era, the Bears resurfaced in 2005. Just as they did during their mid-1980s apex, the Bears led the NFL in scoring defense. Not coincidentally, a middle linebacker was again the driving force. Urlacher will join Mike Singletary in Canton, and he followed his Windy City mate by attaining Defensive Player of the Year acclaim. Singletary (the 1985 and '88 DPOY) and Urlacher, who adjusted to a new scheme under Lovie Smith a year earlier, are the only Bears to receive this honor. 

The late Dennis Green's postgame blowup lives on from this October 2006 night, but this was one of the modern Bears' finest hours. Trailing the Cardinals by 20 points late in the third quarter during a game in which Rex Grossman threw four interceptions, the Bears stormed back behind two defensive touchdowns. Urlacher helped the cause by ripping the ball out of Edgerrin James' hands, and Charles Tillman sauntered in for a score. That preceded Devin Hester's game-winning punt return in a 24-23 classic in Arizona.

The Bears returned to the Super Bowl for the first time since their majestic 1985 season, but the less celebrated 2006 defense may have had a higher degree of difficulty. No Walter Payton or Jim McMahon presence resided on Chicago's '06 offense, leaving Urlacher, Charles Tillman, Lance Briggs and Co. tougher tasks. But the Bears beat the Seahawks and Saints at Soldier Field, celebrating an NFC title in the snow like the '85 team did. Urlacher earned his fourth and final First-Team All-Pro spot that season.

The 2007 Packers matched the 2006 Bears' 13-3 record, but they ran into trouble against a non-playoff team. Chicago struggled to defend its NFC title, going 7-9 in 2007, but the Bears swept the Packers nonetheless. Brett Favre thrived in his final Green Bay season, but that year included an Urlacher interception in Chicago. Corralling the pick on juggle No. 3, Urlacher sprinted 85 yards for a touchdown in a 35-7 romp. Urlacher finished with a career-best five INTs in 2007. 

During one of the best seasons in Eagles history, Brian Dawkins delivered a historically versatile effort. The Hall of Fame safety became the first player in NFL history to intercept a pass, force a fumble, recover a fumble, record a sack and catch a touchdown pass in a game. (The TD reception, and only catch of Dawkins' career, came on a fake-punt pass from Brian Mitchell.) Dawkins' work against the then-expansion Texans in September 2002 helped set the tone for a regular season that ended with the Eagles' first No. 1 playoff seed since the NFL adopted the home-field advantage format. 

Better known for the Donovan McNabb-to-Freddie Mitchell connection that converted a fourth-and-26 on the Eagles' final regulation drive, the Packers' divisional-round trip to Philadelphia turned sour early in overtime. Favre floated a pass that sailed into Dawkins' arms on Green Bay's first OT drive. While it was a gift INT, Dawkins scampered 35 yards — the second-longest OT interception return ever — to the Packers' 34-yard line to set up David Akers' game-winning field goal. That booked the Eagles a trip to their third straight conference title game.

En route to Super Bowl XXXIX, the 2004 Philadelphia defense neutralized both Randy Moss and Michael Vick in the playoffs. Dawkins was the defense's unquestioned emotional leader. Philly's fiery back-line presence, "Weapon X" showcased his All-Pro form by delivering a vicious hit on Falcons tight end Alge Crumpler in an NFC title game the Eagles won 27-10. In a postgame interview with Fox's Terry Bradshaw, Dawkins ignited a frigid crowd by demanding the NFL-following world respect Philadelphia's defense. It wasn't quite, "Can't wait!" But it was close. 

The Eagles walloped the Cowboys 44-6 in a win-or-go-home Week 17 game in 2008 — a springboard to their fifth NFC championship contest of the 2000s. Dawkins notched two of his 36 (!) career forced fumbles; both led to return TDs for the Eagles. Dawkins' strip-sack of Tony Romo represents one of his signature moments, and it helped set up "Silver Linings Playbook" — the 2012 film heavily involving the 2008 Eagles. While director David O. Russell may have found a workaround if the Eagles had failed to make the '08 playoffs, perhaps Jennifer Lawrence's second Oscar doesn't happen without Philly's Hall of Fame safety. 

How's this for longevity? Dawkins entered the Eagles' starting lineup as a rookie in 1996, when the Steve Young-quarterbacked 49ers ousted the Birds in a wild card game. Fifteen years later, Dawkins was an impact starter for the unlikely Tim Tebow-fueled Broncos ride. Dawkins made two Pro Bowls during his three-year Denver stay, but at age 38 in 2011, he was named a Pro Bowl starter. By helping a Denver defense keep Tebow comebacks in play, Dawkins became the only defensive back in NFL history to be voted a Pro Bowl starter at 38. Unfortunately, a neck injury prevented him from playing in the playoffs or the Pro Bowl. 

Known mostly for his blocking, Jerry Kramer's side gig provided an interesting chapter in his Hall of Fame story. Packers halfback/kicker Paul Hornung suffered an injury in 1962, and Vince Lombardi tabbed his top guard to replace him on special teams. Kramer made 9-of-11 field goals that year. Three of those came in a storied performance. With NFL championship games played at team sites, Kramer had to kick in approximately 40-mph winds at Yankee Stadium. He made three field goals — from 26, 29 and 30 yards out — and an extra point to help the Packers topple the Giants 16-7.  

Supplying perhaps the most famous block in NFL history, Kramer paved the way for Bart Starr to score on his famous quarterback sneak that gave the Packers the 1967 NFL title in the Ice Bowl. Starr didn't tell his teammates he was going to keep the ball and not hand it off, and he lunged over the goal line behind his right guard. This play — 31 Wedge, which Kramer suggested would work that week — came on third-and-goal with 16 seconds left and the Packers out of timeouts. The bold call gave the Packers a 21-17 win over the Cowboys and booked them into Super Bowl II. 

Vince Lombardi's reconstruction of the Packers included Kramer, despite the Idaho alumnus being selected in the fourth round by the previous regime in 1958. Lombardi took over in 1959 and installed Kramer as his right guard. Debuting as a full-time starter under Lombardi in '59, Kramer went on to start at that spot throughout the Green Bay dynasty. The Packers advanced to six NFL Championship Games (1960, '61, '62, '65, '66, '67), winning five, and won the first two Super Bowls. 

Terrell Owens is steamed he waited three years for Hall of Fame induction. Kramer retired after the 1968 season and was bypassed during his run on the original ballot. This is especially interesting because the Montana native was a five-time First-Team All-Pro (tied for 13th among guards), was named to the 1960s All-Decade team and was the guard on the NFL's 50th Anniversary roster unveiled in 1969. (Only one player was represented at each offensive line position.)

Jackson State football accomplished something special in the mid-1970s. The then-Division II program saw two alumni — Walter Payton and Robert Brazile — selected in the top six of the 1975 Draft. However, while Payton ended up enjoying a legendary career, his college teammate beat him to the awards punch. Payton lost out to Washington running back Mike Thomas for 1975's Offensive Rookie of the Year, but Brazile — a day one linebacker starter for the Houston Oilers — won the top defensive honor given to first-year players. 

Perhaps the key ingredient to the Oilers' new-age 3-4 scheme, Brazile flourished as an outside linebacker. Rushing quarterbacks from a two-point stance, he paved the way for higher-profile outside linebackers of the future. Revered Oilers coach Bum Phillips referred to the superbly skilled Brazile as "Lawrence Taylor before Lawrence Taylor." Sacks, however, not being an official stat until late in Brazile's career limited his notoriety compared to future pass-rushing linebackers. 

In the late 1970s, the Oilers became the top impediment to the Steelers. Earl Campbell was Houston's centerpiece, but Hall of Famers Brazile and Elvin Bethea anchored the "Luv Ya Blue"-era defense. Brazile said he would have been enshrined already had Houston pulled off an upset in either the 1978 or '79 AFC Championship Games. The Steelers routed the Oilers in '78, but a controversial call benefited them a year later. The Oilers qualified for the 1980 playoffs but then began a downward trend. They didn't advance to a conference title game again until morphing into the Titans.

Given the menacing Dr. Doom nickname early in his career, Brazile did not lack for praise during his era. Despite playing just five seasons in the 1970s, the 240-pound linebacker joined Hall of Famers Bobby Bell, Dick Butkus, Jack Ham, Ted Hendricks and Jack Lambert on the All-Decade Team. Brazile, who never missed a game in 10 seasons, made seven consecutive Pro Bowls (1976-82) and was one of the all-time great Oilers. 

One of Don Shula's right-hand men in the 1970s, Bobby Beathard became a general manager candidate by running the Dolphins' scouting operation for six years. With Miami during both of its Super Bowl seasons (1972 and '73), Beathard — who began his NFL career with the Chiefs in the 1960s — continued his odyssey that would produce some of the most uniquely dominant teams in NFL history.

Washington won three Super Bowls in 10 seasons, doing so with three different starting quarterbacks: Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien. Beathard picked up Williams as a free agent, and though the GM had moved on by the time Washington won Super Bowl XXVI, one of his sixth-round picks (Rypien) led the way. Beathard added Hall of Famer Darrell Green, formed the Hogs offensive line (two Hall of Famers), the Posse receiving corps (one of which, Art Monk, is in Canton) and brought in Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs in constructing an NFL power.

1987's players' strike presented a rare challenge for GMs. The NFL decided to use replacement players while the regulars were away, and Washington's were the best of the bunch. Highlighted by replacement receiver Anthony Allen's team-record 255-yard receiving day against the Cardinals and the scabs' 13-7 win over a Cowboys team that had mostly crossed the picket line — the basis for 2000's "The Replacements" — Beathard's emergency fill-ins went 3-0 during the strike. That helped the Washington regulars on course for a Super Bowl XXII conquest.

Beathard took over as Chargers GM in 1990. The franchise hadn't made the playoffs since 1982, but its top decision-maker helped bring an end to the drought. Even that was historic. The 1992 Chargers became the only team to start 0-4 and make the playoffs, and the '94 squad — featuring sixth-round quarterback Stan Humphries (whom Beathard's Redskins selected in 1988) — won the franchise's first AFC title. Beathard's San Diego stay didn't produce the results Washington's did, but it triggered a brief Bolts renaissance.