Art Monk

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Art Monk
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Position(s): Wide receiver	Jersey #(s): 81
Born: December 5, 1957 (1957-12-05) (age 50) White Plains, New York
Career Information
Year(s): 1980–1995
NFL Draft: 1980 / Round: 1 / Pick: 18
College: Syracuse
Professional Teams
Washington Redskins (1980-1993) New York Jets (1994) Philadelphia Eagles (1995)
Career Stats
Receptions	940
Receiving Yards	12,721
Touchdowns	68
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
3x Pro Bowl selection (1984, 1985, 1986) 3x All-Pro selection (1984, 1985, 1986) NFL 1980s All-Decade Team 70 Greatest Redskins Redskins' Ring of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame

James Arthur "Art" Monk (born December 5, 1957 in White Plains, New York) is a Hall of Fame American football wide receiver who formerly played in the National Football League. Nicknamed "Quiet Man" or simply "#81" for his humble and professional demeanor, he played collegiately at Syracuse University as a receiver and running back. The Washington Redskins drafted Monk in the first round of the 1980 NFL Draft and converted him to flanker, a position that he pioneered as a member of Coach Joe Gibbs' innovative offense.

Along with Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders, he was part of a prolific wide receiver trio nicknamed "The Posse," as they became the first trio of wide receivers in NFL history to post 1,000-plus yards in the same season (1989). At the end of his career, he played briefly for the New York Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles before retiring as a Redskin. The NFL honored Monk by naming him to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team.

With the Redskins, Monk played in Super Bowl XVIII, Super Bowl XXII and Super Bowl XXVI. In Super Bowl XXVI, he caught 7 passes for 113 yards. He also won a Super Bowl ring as a member of the team in Super Bowl XVII, but did not play in it due to injury. Monk finished his 16 NFL seasons with 940 receptions for 12,721 yards and 68 touchdowns, along with 332 rushing yards. Monk's most noteworthy NFL accomplishment was his record for career receptions (940), broken by Jerry Rice during the final week of 1995, Monk's last season in the league. Monk also became the first player in the league to record a touchdown reception in 15 consecutive seasons as well as the only player ever to have at least 35 receptions in his first 15 seasons.

[edit] Hall of Fame Controversy

Despite being the first to eclipse 900 receptions, the first to catch a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive seasons,the only player ever to have at least 35 receptions in his first 15 seasons, as well as holding the single season reception record (106) for eight years (1984-1992), and retiring with the most consecutive games with a catch (183), Art Monk was passed over several times for entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On the Hall of Fame Selection Committee, the anti-Monk campaign was spearheaded by Sports Illustrated columnist Paul Zimmerman. Zimmerman's stance was centered around his feelings that only 'deep-ball' receivers (as opposed to possession receivers) belong in the Hall of Fame, although he had stated his support for Cris Carter's entry, who averaged nearly 1.1 yards-per-catch less than Art Monk over his career, and lacks the 3 Super Bowl Rings Monk obtained in his career. However, Carter caught 130 touchdowns in his career compared to Monk's 68 and both played in a similar amount of games.

Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News, a Hall of Fame voter, put it this way concerning Monk being a sure thing for the Hall of Fame, "That's your opinion on Monk, and it's not shared by the voters. Seven times he's been a finalist and seven times he has missed the cut. With the explosion of statistics on offense, I think the voters are taking a longer, harder look at the stats and trying to determine if the player was all about numbers or impact. That's why it's been so hard for wide-outs to get in lately."^[1]

In November of 2006, in response to the mounting pressure on the voters to explain Monk's exclusion, committee member Peter King changed his stance and supported Art Monk for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. ^[2]

On January 15, 2008, Monk was once again selected as one of the 17 finalists for enshirement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was Monk's eighth time as a finalist for the Hall of Fame. On February 2, 2008, Monk was finally elected for enshrinement into the Hall of Fame. ^[3][4] In a conference call with reporters shortly after learning of his inclusion, Monk said "whether I deserved to play in the NFL or deserve even to be in Hall of Fame, I just loved the game, loved to play, loved being out there."

[edit] Community Service

Monk helped found The Good Samaritan Foundation ^[5] with his Washington teammates Charles Mann, Tim Johnson and Earnest Byner. Monk also lends his name to a youth/high school football camp.

[edit] Statistics

Hall of Fame Class of 2008

Seasons among the league's top 10

Receptions: 1984 - 1st, 1985 - 2nd, 1988 - 9th(tied), 1989 - 3rd(tied)

Receiving yards: 1984 - 4th, 1985 - 3rd, 1989 - 10th

Receiving TDs: 1991 - 9th(tied)

Among the league's all-time top 50

Receptions: 7th (940)

Receiving yards: 12th (12,721)

Receiving TDs: 31st(tied) (68)

Consecutive games with at least one reception: 3rd (183)

All-Rookie: 1980

3-time Pro Bowler: 1984, 1985, 1986

3-time All-Pro: 1984, 1985, 1986

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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