EAGAN, Minn. -- On a memorable night in December 2024, two members of the Minnesota Vikings' legendary "3 Deep" receiver trio walked to midfield to accompany the team's captains for the opening kickoff of a game against the Chicago Bears.
Cris Carter and Jake Reed carried the jersey of their former teammate, Randy Moss, who at the time was battling bile duct cancer.
Although he didn't know it at the time, Reed had cancer, too.
Doctors had found a spot on his lungs earlier that year during an MRI to investigate shoulder pain. In the summer of 2025, Reed had surgery to remove it. The mass tested positive for cancer.
"I remember that night coming out for the coin toss was really emotional," said Reed, who is in Minnesota this weekend to support a raffle Moss is hosting to raise money for cancer research. "I'm holding that jersey and I'm thinking, I've got a spot and, no matter what it is, no growth is a good growth."
Reed, now 59, hadn't been suffering from any symptoms, and the shoulder pain was unrelated, his doctors told him. Further testing on his lymph nodes revealed the cancer had not spread elsewhere.
The life episode has brought new meaning to Reed's friendship with Moss, who has completed treatment for Stage 2 bile duct cancer and remains a fixture on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown."
Moss is donating the custom-built iKon LXE21 boat he has used in his Chasing10 YouTube fishing series, worth $160,000, for the raffle to benefit Children's Cancer Research Fund. The boat will be on display outside U.S. Bank Stadium prior the Vikings' game Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
Reed and Carter were guests on the first episode of Chasing10.
"We have a different connection," Reed said, "so we were talking about some of everything." With a laugh, he added: "And the night before we talked about some stuff at dinner that couldn't make the show."
Reed was a third-round pick of the Vikings in 1991 and produced 1,000-yard seasons in four consecutive years while playing alongside Carter from 1994-97. Moss joined them in 1998. Reed's final season with the Vikings was in 2001, and he retired with 450 catches for 6,999 yards and 36 touchdowns.