Advertisement

Randy Moss Thanks Vikings Players for Touchdown Tribute to Him amid Cancer Diagnosis: 'LUV U ALL!'

Minnesota Vikings fans and players showed support for Moss during 'Monday Night Football,' days after his cancer diagnosis

Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated via Getty Randy Moss

Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated via Getty

Randy Moss

Randy Moss felt the love from his former Minneapolis Vikings football team on Monday night, and he gave it right back.

Moss, 47, took to social media to share his appreciation of Minnesota’s fans, players and his ESPN coworkers after the Monday Night Football game between his former Vikings and the Chicago Bears featured multiple tributes to the retired NFL star, four days after he announced he has cancer.

“LUV U ALL!” Moss, who retired from the NFL in 2012 and now works at ESPN as a professional football analyst, posted on X on Monday, Dec. 16.

The NFL commentator’s message came in direct response to a video shared on social media by the Vikings that showed the team carry a Moss No. 84 jersey out to the field with them for the pregame coin toss. During the toss, Vikings fans chanted, “Randy! Randy! Randy!” and many wore the retired wide receiver’s purple and white jersey, or held up posters with messages offering support.

Then, during the first quarter of the game, current Vikings star Justin Jefferson caught a touchdown pass and then found a television camera: “We love you, Randy!” Jefferson screamed on the national broadcast, holding up his hands in the shape of a heart.

Related: Randy Moss Reveals He Has Cancer After Multiple Surgeries, Says He’s a ‘Survivor’

Moss announced his cancer diagnosis last Friday, telling fans on Instagram Live that he recently underwent surgery to insert a stent in his liver and was then hospitalized for nearly a week.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver said he had a Whipple procedure — an operation that treats tumors and other conditions in the pancreas, small intestine and bile ducts, per the Mayo Clinic — and that the cancer was just outside of his bile duct.

Moss added that he currently needs a cane for assistance since his Thanksgiving Day surgery.

"It was a trying week, a trying time. So once again, I thank you all," Moss said. "Thank you and your team nursing me back to health and getting me back here with my family."

Related: Randy Moss' Kids: All About the NFL Legend’s Sons and Daughters — And How They're Following in His Athletic Footsteps

John Biever/Sports Illustrated via Getty Randy Moss

John Biever/Sports Illustrated via Getty

Randy Moss

Now post-surgery, Moss will begin radiation and chemotherapy, he said, and encouraged his followers — particularly fellow Black men — to undergo regular cancer screenings.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

"By the grace of God, my liver started acting up," Moss said. "I didn’t think I would ever be in a position like this, as healthy as I thought I was."

Moss has been absent from his usual ESPN broadcasts since early December, as viewers grew concerned over his health. The former Vikings and New England Patriots star said last week that his “goal is to get back on that television with my team" after defeating cancer.

Read the original article on People