Art Monk
James Arthur "Art" Monk (born December 5, 1957 in White Plains, New York) is a former American football wide receiver who 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.
Despite being the first to eclipse 900 receptions, as well as retiring with the single season receptions record (106) and the most consecutive games with a catch (183), Art Monk has been passed over several times for entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including 2007, when Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin was the only wide receiver inducted. Monk is currently ranked fifth in all-time receiving (receptions), eight places above Irvin. On the Hall of Fame Selection Committee, the anti-Monk campaign is spearheaded by Cliff Christl and Paul Zimmerman. 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 now supports Art Monk for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [1]
Monk helped found The Good Samaritan Foundation [2] with his Washington teammates Charles Mann, Tim Johnson and Earnest Byner. Monk also lends his name to a youth/high school football camp.
Statistics
Seasons among the league's top 10
Receptions: 1984-1, 1985-2, 1988-9t, 1989-3t
Receiving yards: 1984-4, 1985-3, 1989-10
Receiving TDs: 1991-9t
Among the league's all-time top 50
Receptions: 6
Receiving yards: 11
Receiving TDs: 29t
Yards from scrimmage: 26
Consecutive games with at least one reception: 3(183)
All-Rookie: 1980
3-time Pro Bowler: 1984, 1985, 1986
2-time All-Pro: 1984, 1985
External links
- "The Quiet Hero" by Richard Justice
- "A Hall of Mystery" by Leonard Shapiro
- "'Big Money' Should Be in Pro Football Hall of Fame" by John Wiebusch
- Peter King answers his critics
- Peter King responds to questions from Art Monk supporters
- What His Peers Say
- "Paving A Road To Canton" by Todd Westerfield
- "Monk Has Run Into This Pattern Before," George Solomon's response to King
- "Try Again, Pete," Steve Czaban's response to King (Scroll down to post by "Timber" - 01-26-05, 10:29P.M.)
- "Bettis Backyard No Longer Field of Dreams," Steve Czaban's response to King, Part II
- "In HoF Voting, Monk Deserves Better," Gary Fitzgerald's response to King
- "Hey Canton, Make Some Room for Monk!" by Ben Alamar
- "Note to Self: The true playmaker" by Brian Murphy
- "A View from Across the Pond" by Andrew Williams
- "Silent as a Monk, the HOF Snub Continues" by Steve Czaban
- "Explaining the Obvious to the Dense" by Rich Tandler
- "Immortality on hold" by Ray Ratto
- "Before Moving Ahead, One Final Look Back" by Leonard Shapiro
- "The Chat House" - Michael Wilbon Transcript, February 6, 2006
- "'Good Samaritans Bowl' A Redskins Effort" by Ryan Basen
- Sporting News profile
- "Is Art Monk a Hall of Famer?" by The Redskins Report
- Peter King changes course and endorses Art Monk for the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Art Monk Video
- Art Monk Flash Presentation