NEW YORK (June 8, 2005) -- Randy Moss' new Oakland Raiders jersey is the best selling shirt in the NFL, and the Philadelphia Eagles lead the league in merchandising sales after reaching the Super Bowl for the first time in 25 seasons.
Moss, traded by the Minnesota Vikings to Oakland, led individual sales -- not unusual for a high-profile player who joins a new team and has his number changed (84 to 18). That his new team is the Raiders, a traditionally strong seller, adds to the appeal.
As usual, several first-round draft choices were among the top 25, led by Tampa Bay running back Carnell Williams, who was eighth. Alex Smith, the first pick in the draft by San Francisco, was 12th; Cleveland's Braylon Edwards was 13th; Miami's Ronnie Brown was 15th and Chicago's Cedric Benson was 23rd.
At the same time last year, the New York Giants' jersey of Eli Manning -- the first pick in the 2004 draft - was seventh, even though he hadn't taken a snap in the NFL. His brother Peyton, the league's co-MVP for 2003, was 20th. Neither Manning is in the top 25 this year.
The No. 2 jersey belongs to Atlanta's Michael Vick for the second straight year. The other top 10 players, in order: Tom Brady of New England; Donovan McNabb of Philadelphia; Ben Roethlisberger of Pittsburgh; LaDainian Tomlinson of San Diego; Byron Leftwich of Jacksonville; Tampa Bay's Williams; and Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber of the Giants.
In team sales, the Eagles were followed by Super Bowl champion New England, runner-up for the second straight year. The rest of the top ten: Pittsburgh, Oakland, Green Bay, Dallas, Denver, Chicago, the Giants and Kansas City.
