Of all the fallout from one of the ugliest incidents in sports history, my favorite story comes from one of the participants.

Jermaine O’Neal was sorry about his complicity in the Detroit-Indiana melee, but no more than when his daughter called him on it. She sees him watching a Pacers game one night while he’s suspended and asks why he isn’t playing.

“Daddy is hurt right now.”

Little girl goes to school. Gets inside information from her classmates and confronts her daddy with the real dope. What do you say when your children catch you in an embarrassing lie?

Of course, that’s assuming you’re capable of being embarrassed. Some have a higher threshold than others, and even a man as wildly talented as Randy Moss couldn’t jump over the bar he’s established.

He’s not Hannibal Lecter. He’s got a wife and kids and bills. No doubt he has charities and causes and a big sloppy dog, too.

And in a world where you can’t always be sure what athletes are like behind the facemasks and cliches, Moss insists on revealing the naked truth.

Frankly, I’m just grateful he didn’t really moon Green Bay fans, not to mention whatever he was acting out with the goalpost.

Turns out he has real possibilities as a mime, if this NFL thing doesn’t work out.

But it is working out. He caught two touchdowns Sunday. He’s one of the most talented receivers ever, at least when he wants to play.

You knew that, though. You knew he was great, and you knew he doesn’t always play as hard as he should, because he told us that three years ago.

Jerry Jones, who could have had this act, once dismissed Moss’ outrageous comments in 2001 as piffle from a 24-year-old superstar too young and too rich to know better.

He’s three years older now. A lot wealthier, too.

And what’s he do in Minnesota’s last regular-season game? Walks off the field in a huff before it’s over. Only two seconds remained, but he knows he shouldn’t have left, as he told Jimmy Johnson, who made the salient point that he might have been called on for one last play.

The moon mime?

“It was more of a fun thing, not a hate thing,” Moss told reporters. “I was just playing and having fun.”

Fox didn’t think it was fun. The network initially refused to air replays. Fortunately, some hold even pro sports to a higher standard than reality TV.

Fan reaction is mixed. Either you consider it another sign of civilization’s end, or you side with a fan who wrote that he acts worse in front of his mother in board games.

But you never saw Michael Jordan have this kind of fun. Or Jerry Rice. Or Magic Johnson.

They had private issues: Jordan’s gambling and Magic’s philandering. But as for their actions on the court, they didn’t spend much time after playoff games answering questions of character.

The greatest rarely do. Most acknowledge a responsibility to their teammates, their fans, their sport. Moral: You may not always conduct your life as you should, but it’s probably a good idea on camera.

Randy Moss? He didn’t slug a nutcase fan, as Jermaine O’Neal did. Only having a little fun or expressing anger or taking the heat, however he continues to explain himself.

But Moss has kids, too. And one day, if there’s any justice and it makes any difference, he’ll have to answer the question every parent dreads.

“Daddy, why’d you do that?”