Hall of Famer (OT)

One of my all-time favorite football players was elected to the Hall of Fame yesterday. Number 81, James Arthur "Art" Monk, wide receiver for the Washington Redskins during that team's glory years. I pretty much followed his every catch in 1984, when he was the best receiver in the National Football League. In the late '80s he was one-third of the "Posse," Washington's peerless corps of receivers, with Ricky Sanders (remembered for his breakout performance in Super Bowl XXII) and scrappy, tough Gary Clark. But Monk, second cousin to Thelonious, was the artist. He had the soft hands. I swear I could watch that guy just run routes—he was incredibly graceful, his routes impossibly precise, and you could never tell by the way he went out whether he thought the play was coming to him or not. I would venture to say that James Arthur Monk ran every last route of his life like he was the quarterback's first look.

Monk was one of those players who was better than his numbers, even though his numbers were stellar. He owned a number of NFL records at one time or another, many now eclipsed, and still holds many Redskins team marks. Off the field he radiated dignity—he seldom spoke, almost never gave interviews, yet he could quiet a room with his presence. In Washington, to this day, there is almost no football player who is as deeply admired.

Today, of course, is a bittersweet day for football fans. The culmination of the season, but also the end of the season. (In a cartoon in this week's New Yorker, a couple are sitting in front of a TV watching football. The woman says, "Have you given any thought to what you're going to do with your life after the Super Bowl?") One thing I remember about Monk's career was a bittersweet ending—Jerry Rice surpassed Monk's NFL record for career receptions on the very last weekend Monk wore a uniform.

Art Monk is a natural for the Hall of Fame, in my opinion. It took him a while to reach it, though, which might even be fitting, in a way, because "fame," with its connotations of flashy brilliance, striving, self-promotion and ego, was never what he was all about. He was the consummate athlete, doing his job surpassingly well week in and week out, season after season, with integrity and discipline. Strength and grace, and an intense mental focus that seldom wavered. He was the first player in the League to catch a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive seasons, and went 183 consecutive games with at least one catch, another onetime record. His play was never about records and numbers, though. It was about doing a job well for the sake of doing it well. It was about consistent excellence.

It's nice that he's in the Hall, but of course he's already been in my personal Hall of Fame for years now. He brought an undeniable element of joy to watching the game for me. It was an honor to watch the guy play.

__________________

Mike

Comments

[Mike Allen]

Mike, I like the tone of your post. I'm not a football fan, but I could identify the feeling. I remember sitting in the stands at SafeCo once and having the same feeling about Ichiro, how truly lucky I was to see this person play. With some athletes it isn't about awe, it's about being present at the honouring of their craft.

Mike Allen (Vancouver)

[Ambrose]

Hi Mike,

You've got Art exactly right. He had an amazing quiet dignity. He never or rarely spoke during his career to the press and did all of his talking on the field. He never celebrated after scoring a touchdown and big passes and small passes alike, he would just go back to the huddle. He is what many professional athletes should model themselves after!

Ambrose

[Claire Senft]

I am confused! Did I just read a Sunday sermon?

I too am not a member of the Church of the National Football League.

[Derek Stanton]

Beautiful comments on an underappreciated player and person. It is wonderful to see that he is finally being properly recognized.

In his time, he was also one of my favorite players. And, later, after i also attended Syracuse University, there was an additional bit of pride whenever i heard his name mentioned.

Dignity and elegance. Sadly, these qualities are all but lost.

[Jason]

Being a fan of the defense, it was nice too to see long-time teammate Darrel Green elected as well. I'm sure covering Monk in practice helped :-) but his phenomenal speed (even late in his 20 year career), professionalism, team and community loyalty, and humility were examples of what pro-athlete character should be.

[Bron Janulis]

Nice that his nickname is "Art", as it sounds like that's what he did. If ballet can be art, so can, in sublime moments, athleticism.

[Rob]

Mike said: "Monk was one of those players who was better than his numbers, even though his numbers were stellar."

Ooooh, yeah!! And in case you missed it in Friday's Washington Post (before the HOF announcement), Joe Gibbs said the same with a stonger point:

"I've had a chance to talk to a lot of people involved in the selection process, and what I've told them is that the way we used Art, he really sacrificed his numbers for the good of the team," Gibbs said. "We could have put him on the outside, and he'd have had more yards per catch and things like that, but we used him on the inside, where he did a lot of blocking and a lot of the things that most wide receivers don't want to do. Art sacrificed for the team. When you look at the longevity he had and the leadership and the kind of person he was, I don't know how you could do anything but put him in."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020103532_pf.html

[JChristian]

Long overdue for one of the greatest members of those great Redskins teams. The fact that only John Riggins was in the HOF before now was odd. Also glad that (closer to home for me) Andre Tippett made it in, also overdue.

[Tom]

Monk gets in and Cris Carter doesn't? Bah!

[Walt]

Being a Giants fan I could not stand him and I think that sums up why he made it to the Hall.

[Tom Swoboda]

Monk's induction was long overdue. I was sad to see that Richard Dent still did not receive enough votes to get in.