Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News
E-mail: cludwig@daytondailynews.com
Vote: Definitely Yes (9/10)
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Dayton Daily News
January 30, 2005
At least one former Bengal will get a ring
Chick Ludwig
Time to vote: As a member of the 39-man Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee, I honestly can say the only lock for election this year is Dan Marino. I also like – among others – Harry Carson, Art Monk, Claude Humphrey and senior nominees Fritz Pollard and Benny Friedman.
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81 Reasons to Induct Art Monk
1) 12,721 Receiving Yards (#9 all time, eight years after retirement)
2) 940 Receptions ( was #1, is now #5 eight years after retiring)
3) 68 Receiving Touchdowns (still in top 30, all time)
4) 224 Games played
5) Caught at least one pass in 183 consecutive games (once a record)
6) Helped Washington to three SB victories in four appearances.
7) Three consecutive Pro Bowl Selections
8) “Art was Jerry Rice before Jerry Rice was” – Joe Theismann
9) Record of 106 receptions in 1984 stood for eight years.
10) “Quiet about his work, very loud with his results” – Mark Rypien
11) First to record 106 receptions in one season
12) First to catch at least one pass in 164 consecutive games
13) First to catch more than 900 passes.
14) Caught 58 passes as a rookie, unanimous All-Rookie Selection
15) Redskins 1984 MVP
16) 50 or more reception in a season 9 times
17) 1,000 or more yards receiving in a season 5 times
18) Master of the medium route over the middle, aka “No Man’s Land”
19) First Redskin to produce 3 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons
20) Prototype for the modern receiver
21) 3-time 1st or 2nd team All-NFC Team selection
22) In ’85, named to the Pro Football Weekly All-Pro Team
23) In ’85, named to the Associated Press All-Pro Team
24) In ’85, named to the UPI All-NFL Team
25) In ’86, named to the UPI All-NFC Team
26) Founded the Good Samaritan Foundation, with teammates.
27) 1, 062 Playoff yards
28) Largent, Lofton and Stallworth are already in.
29) The consummate pro; made the big catch, went back to the huddle.
30) Not a “Hot Dog”; let his play on the field do all the talking.
31) Nicknamed “Money” by teammates, “Artist” by the fans
32) Founded the Student Training Opportunity Program, with teammates
33) Started the Art Monk Football Camp” in 1983, and it’s still going.
34) 16-year career, 0 arrests.
35) Named to TSN’s “100 Greatest Football Players” list
36) Never once disappointed the team or the fans, on the field or off.
37) A first round draft pick that played like a first round draft pick.
38) Has more career catches than anyone currently in the Hall.
39) Putting loud jerks in over Monk sends the wrong message to kids.
40) Art does not lobby to get himself inducted
41) First down machine on 3rd and long
42) Still holds the club record for catches in a season (106)
43) Still holds the club record for passes caught in a game (13, twice)
44) Honored as one of the “Washingtonians of the Year” in 1992
45) Focuses on the forgotten “high school aged” youth in DC.
46) “I don’t know about the criteria, but whatever it is, I believe Art has achieved it” –Joe Theismann
47) “He was big, he was strong, and he was intelligent. He had everything”-Joe Gibbs, HOF inductee
48) “Art Monk was an example for Jerry Rice. That’s what Jerry always told me.”- Ronnie Lott, HOF inductee
49) “There’s nothing negative to say. He has the numbers, the catches, the championships.” –Lott
50) “Spend a day with Art Monk, and your life will improve by 10%”- Theismann
51) “You have a Hall of Fame for all it represents. I know he represents all that it’s about. Integrity, love and passion for the game, community, what he gave back. Look how he conducted himself. Nobody I know deserves it more.” –Lott
52) If he doesn’t get in, they might as well close the Hall.
53) “There was never a classier player in this franchise’s history, or in league history, than Art Monk. You always knew the team would be getting Art Monk’s best effort day in and day out.” –Charlie Casserly
54) “Monk is headed to Canton downhill on roller skates”- Bill Parcells, 1995
55) Only one other player, linebacker Monte Coleman, has been on the field for the Redskins more than Monk.
56) Art Monk is almost as proud of his relative anonymity as he is the record-setting numbers he compiled over a 16-year NFL career.
57) When Monk spoke, it was usually with tough catches in the clutch moments of big games.
58) Nothing came naturally for Monk, who spent countless hours on the practice field and many more behind the projector.
59) I never saw Monk drop a pass. Period.
60) Monk’s 40-yard catch with eight minutes left in the first quarter of SBXXII was Doug Williams’ first completion of what would be a record setting game.
61) Named in a 1992 poll during the team’s 50th Anniversary Season as the most popular Redskin of all time.
62) Participates in a “Kid’s Fishing Day” for underprivileged kids
63) Has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, reciting children’s fairy tales with musical accompaniment.
64) “He’s more than just his receptions. Few players have been able to achieve what he’s achieved.” –Richie Petitbon
65) “He is a gifted athlete who takes great care of himself. He’s a guy who works at his craft, and responds to any challenge. However, he does it so quietly that his accomplishments are sometimes overlooked.”- Joe Gibbs
66) Selected to the 1989 All-Madden Team
67) Early in his career, Art arranged and scheduled charity basketball games for the Redskins.
68) “I can’t see how a receiver could be more valuable to a team.” –Gibbs
69) Fame is often hard earned. Character is often elusive to define. A man of great character himself, Art Monk encompasses what it means to be a candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
70) Monk wasn’t a “SportsCenter” type of receiver — more like a “Masterpiece Theatre” type.
71) You wouldn’t see Monk pull out a Sharpie to sign a ball after scoring a touchdown.
72) “He embodied the old school, and for that alone he should be enshrined so that when a father takes his son through the Hall of Fame, he can say, “Son, here is a man who once caught 106 passes in a season when no one was catching 100 passes. Here was a man who caught a pass in 183 straight games. And not once did he ever pull a cell phone out to make a call after any of those catches.” –Thomas Loverro, Washington Times
73) Football is a game of first downs and Monk was the receiver who would move the chains.
74) He has since been passed in this pass-crazy era, but in the context of when he played, Art Monk was a Hall of Fame receiver.
75) He did this while never playing with a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback.
76) Critics will say Monk benefited from playing in Joe Gibbs’ system. What might be the case is that the Gibbs system benefited from having Monk.
77) “I believe he’s a Hall of Famer. I was a pro scout when he was playing, so it was my job to know who those guys were. I would put Art in that category, but apparently there are a lot of Hall of Fame voters who don’t feel Art Monk was in that category. It’s hard for me to believe they ever saw him play.” –Bill Polian, President Indianapolis Colts
78) He was the anti-Terrell Owens.
79) He was the standard-bearer, the mold-maker and the receiver every team of his era wished they’d had.
80) He’s already a Hall Of Famer off the field.
81) It’s time.
Comment by Mark Barnette — January 10, 2007 @ 10:26 pm
I know this article is two years old, but thank you!!!
Comment by Jerry Wilhelm — February 10, 2007 @ 2:30 pm
In considering Monk vs. Cris Carter, Tim Brown and Andre Reed, it should be noted that Monk’s personal playoff stats are the best of the bunch. His yards per game, catches per game, and yards per catch numbers beat out those of Carter, Brown, and Reed. Carter and Reed have Very Small advantages in TDs per game, while Monk beats out Brown even in this category. Playoff TD numbers are close, even though all of these other guys played in passing-first offenses, while Monk’s Redskins teams were power running teams at heart. If you compare each of these guys’ numbers in NFC/AFC Championship games, Monk sweeps ALL categories, outgaining the next best candidate by nearly 40 YARDS a game!
Not only this, but Monk and the Redskins faced Much better competition in their playoff games. If you compare these candidates based on the number of Super Bowl winners and losers they played during their post season exploits, you’ll find that Monk and the ‘Skins come out WAY on top.
Consider these purely anectdotal facts: Carter and the Vikings lost their two NFC Championship game appearances to the Chris Chandler-led Atlanta Falcons and the Kerry Collins-led NY Giants. Monk and the ‘Skins NEVER lost a playoff game to a team that was more than 2 years removed from a Super Bowl championship. I’ve created a statistic to compare the greatness of playoff opponents called the POGQ (playoff opponent greatness quotient) which I will not trouble you with here. Suffice to say, Monk and the ‘Skins win out in that comparison. Not only that, the teams who Monk and the ‘Skins faced in the playoffs actually had a higher regular season winning percentage than those faced by Carter, Brown or Reed.
So Monk put up better personal playoff numbers, while his team was winning a higher percentage of their playoff games, against stronger playoff competition, and bringing home Super Bowl rings.
All those pro bowls these other guys went to must look pretty insignificant.
I have prepared a powerpoint presentation on this subject. If the person running this site would like a copy, please e-mail me and let me know where I can send it as an attachment.
Comment by remember the redskins — September 28, 2007 @ 10:06 am