A Long Time Coming

Finally! It's been ages in the making but finally the story we've been waiting to hear in the football world has come to pass. Now most people will be thinking I'm talking about New York's stunning upset of the heretofore undefeated New England Patriots, but I'm talking of another story that hasn't made quite as many headlines outside of Washington and that being the fact that Art Monk finally made it into the Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Now for those outside of Washington it's probably not all that big a deal but for a long-time fan like myself, I am immensely proud of the fact that a guy like Art Monk, who had long been snubbed by the Hall of Fame committee members, finally gained admission into the 'club'. People may wonder what the big deal is since Monk hasn't touched a football on the playing field since 1995 and some of his records have long since been broken; well, that's part of the reason that he had a difficult road into the Hall of Fame.

Monk played for the Redskins during the first tenure of Joe Gibbs as head coach. At that time Gibbs wasn't riding the laurels of past Super Bowl wins. He was a coach looking to make a name for himself and what he did with a string of very different quarterbacks was nothing short of amazing. Going to the Super Bowl three times with three different quarterbacks is not only unusual, it can be considered downright amazing. Now granted the league was a different place from then to now, but in order to engineer such a feat, obviously Gibbs needed a strong 'supporting cast' and in that sense, Monk could be considered one of his stars. Monk was one of those wide receivers that played a difficult game but never got the credit for it. In an age when we expect deep passes completed for high yardage gains, Monk was there for the short passes that gained modest yardage but helped move the ball down the field. That was the essence of the Gibbs offense at that time. But it wasn't the fact that Monk wasn't a consitent deep threat for the pass that made him so 'unnoticeable'; rather it was his work ethic.

Monk was reputed to be one of those players that said very little but let his actions speak for themselves. He would celebrate on the field with his team when he made a play to keep their season alive but he was never to be seen on TV making outlandish quotes or claims. He didn't criticize his coaches or his teammates for any mistakes. He was a essentially the 'quiet man' on the field and off of it. It was primarily for this reason that many voters on the Hall of Fame committee (who are sports writers) seemed reluctant to vote Monk into the Hall. People tell of instances where reporters came to Monk to ask him about the game and he modestly deferred to his teammates and spoke on how they played together rather than how he himself may have performed. Many viewed this attitude as stand-off-ish but I don't think it was anything like that, rather I think it was more out of not wanting to draw attention to himself for doing something other than what he thought to be his job.

It's odd for many of us to consider that these days. When you have players like Terrell Owens constantly cribbing that he doesn't get proper playing time or that his quarterback is a weak-armed whiner, it's odd to see someone like Monk who played so well but spoke so little. Though he never shied away from celebrating on the field, it was always a team celebration, not one centered solely on Monk himself. He rarely showboated on the field by high-stepping into the endzone for a touchdown or running to a camera to talk trash on television. He simply did what he had to do and let the hoopla surrounding him die down or pass him by. Others who didn't think him worthy to be included in the Hall of Fame pointed to the fact that Monk's overall yards per pass caught was 'only' around 13.5 yards. True; Monk may have 'only' gained a limited number of yards per pass but he was consistent and he played just as hard each down, not just when it meant an opportunity for him to show off.

I remember watching Art Monk play. Back when the Redskins were a perennial playoff favorite I used to sit with my mom and try to learn as much as I could about the game. In those days I didn't watch as much as I do now but I do remember seeing Monk playing on the field. In those days there weren't as many boisterous and pompous players as there seem to be today. Or maybe they just weren't given the coverage. But still, if Monk were playing today versus then, I'm sure he'd still be the same. Playing and performing on the field rather than off of it. He never made excuses or pointed to his teammates as the reason for his shortcomings on the field; when he knew he wasn't playing well, he would always own up to it and try to improve. Players with less ability but bigger mouths have been inducted for less; isn't it only fair to have let Monk in for those reasons alone? He was the first to have a 100-reception season; it was a record that stood for six years but Monk himself never would have brought it up. I think a lot of the players from today could learn a lot from Monk. His humble nature and his unwillingness to succumb to building his own hype is something to be admired, not puzzled over. Had he been snubbed for his nature off the field, it would have been one of the greatest tragedies in football.