In Honor of #81

[AsburySkinsFan]

Ok, I'm ticked just like everyone else. The Hall passing over Art again, just depresses me especially when they decide to take in Irvin. So out of respect, honor and appreciation for Art I will keep from receiting the same complaints that we already know and I will simply post my favorite Art Monk card. I invite any and all to post their favorite Art Monk cards, autographs, personal photos, game pics; whatever you got that will honor Art Monk put it here. No rants, no complaining, just eye candy. If you can please give a brief description of what you are posting for reference purposes.

I can think of no better way than to start where it all began:

Topps 1981 Art Monk Rookie Card

[BigDFan5]

[JaimeDeCurry]

My signed Art Monk card is in a box right now as I prepare to move, but I can at least share the story of how I got it.

My 5th grade teacher was married to Charley Taylor. At the time, he was the WR Coach (I believe), and Art Monk was playing in one of his last seasons for the 'Skins. One day, my teacher got both of them (#28 came, too, but why he came is a different story) to come into our class, basically hang out for the day, and teach the gym classes. They played football with us at recess, taught gym for each class, and just hung out with our class. I got signed Art Monk and Charley Taylor cards that day.

What's happening with Art is just a total disgrace. I truly hope that one day I can tell my kids that I played catch with three Hall of Fame Redskins...not two Hall of Famers and one who should have been.

[TK]

Click the sig.

And then go thank Diss for putting the footage together.

81 Forever.

[TMK9973]

I'll give my faviorate Art Monk Story

From when I was 9 until 14, I spent every summer going to Art Monk Football Camp.

The camp was ussally at Frostburg Univeristy.

When I was 10, I jumped into my Bed in a dorm around 10pm on the first night. Hit my head on the bed post and cut my head.

My roomate got our floor leader, who took me to a room one floor below. Walk in, the Team doc looked at my head and said "Ok, We can take of that - Just come in a lay on the bed and I'll patch it up".

I walk in (Mind you, I'm in my tighty whities) and lay down. There were two other people in the room. Doc goes - "So - You know - This will be a great story for you. Not every kid gets their head patched up in the pressence of greatness." I was confused but then I looked over. It's Art Monk sitting at the desk smiling.

I start laughing and all nervous (Remember -I was 10). He just smiled, told me to relex, and just started asking me questions about me (School, camp, football, etc..) until the Doc cleaned up the cut, determined it didn't need stiches, stuck a bandaid on it and sent me on the way....

(Of course, not before I got a personlized autograph....)

[DjTj]

Here's an article from the Washington Post on the eve of our last Super Bowl season:

-=-=-=-=-=-

Washington Post

August 30, 1991

At 33, Monk Leads Redskins by the Numbers

Richard Justice

Art Monk went to Coach Joe Gibbs a few months ago and asked a favor. He told Gibbs that several of the Washington Redskins were doing more and more of their conditioning work at George Mason University, where they’d discovered a small mountain perfect for doing the toughest sprint work.

Monk explained that while treadmills and StairMasters were nice, there was nothing like the mountain for a tough workout, and he wanted to know if perhaps the Redskins could have a mountain of their own. Gibbs spoke to strength coach Dan Riley and then to team owner Jack Kent Cooke, and when the team moves to a new Redskin Park next summer, it’ll come complete with a man-made mountain for Monk and friends to climb.

That mountain and what it represents is the perfect analogy as Monk begins his 12th pro season when the Redskins meet the Detroit Lions at 8 p.m. Sunday at RFK Stadium.

Monk has climbed almost all of them, both symbolically and figuratively. He begins this season with numbers that are already certain of opening the doors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and starts with a bit of history riding on every reception.

His 730 catches are the third-highest total ever and put him only 20 behind Charlie Joiner and 89 behind Steve Largent. Having averaged 66 catches per season, he seems certain of passing Joiner this season and should catch Largent in 1992. He also has caught at least one pass in 116 straight games — the fifth-highest total ever.

The numbers are amazing enough and the numbers may someday be how he’s remembered. They tell the story of a guy who was one of the most consistent performers in history, a guy who wasn’t flashy, who didn’t torch opponents. Instead, he was always there, almost never missing a game, almost never dropping a pass.

Someday the Redskins may remember the numbers. But today he’s still the prototype player, the one that Gibbs and Cooke measure all others against. He’s still the hardest worker, the one who most represents grace and dignity and intelligence, the one who is last to the interview room to talk about what he did, but the first to go over the middle and catch a 28-yard pass on third-and-nine in a playoff game at Veterans Stadium.

Monk did sit still for an interview today at Redskin Park. He said the records will mean something someday, but not now. He said he’s excited about this year’s team. He said that at 33, he has to work harder than ever, but that he’s still capable of being productive.

“I’m sure the records will mean a lot to me someday, but the impact of it really hasn’t hit me,” he said. “I don’t think it will until after I leave the game. Right now, I’m just having fun playing the game. I don’t know. I just don’t see it the way everybody else does right now. I’m more interested in playing the game and trying to win, doing what I can to help the team. I’m most proud of the fact that I’m out there every week, that I’m there when they call on me.”

He talked this summer about life in the NFL at 33. He said he has to be more careful about what he eats and more diligent about his conditioning. One of the most incredible moments of this training camp came on the final scrimmage at Carlisle High when Gary Clark and Monk were playing catch. They were talking and laughing and mostly trying to get their bodies ready for one more practice.

But in one instant, Clark threw a high pass, and while still carrying on a conversation, Monk leaped, caught the ball with one hand and pulled it to his chest. It was a dazzling moment and came from a player who is among the first on the practice field and among the last to leave. It’s not unusual for him to go through two hard practices, then go for a one- or two-mile run. During the summer, he lifted weights three times a week at Redskin Park and did some kind of running seven times a week at George Mason.

“Self-motivation is something I’ve always had because I know if you’re going to be good at something, no matter what it is, you have to work for it,” he said. “There’s an old saying I try to remember. It goes: ‘The days that you don’t work, your opponent is working.’ When the time comes that you two meet, he’s going to win because he worked harder. I take that approach. He’s out there working wherever he is, whoever he is. I have to do whatever I can to keep on that same pace.”

And because of that approach, Monk is the one the Redskins turn to when the game is on the line. “The great times are when you reach a point in a ballgame where I know they’re really looking at me to take control of a situation. Once you feel that, you just respond to it. It takes control of you. You get into a groove with the quarterback. He knows what I’m going to do, and I know what he’s going to do. You get a feeling that you can do just about anything you want to do. You can’t really describe it. It’s really hard to relate it to someone who hasn’t been out there and been through it.”

Gibbs seemed exasperated this week when a reporter pressed him on the question of leadership and why the Redskins didn’t have leaders. He meant there weren’t Redskins who gave passionate pregame speeches and who lead cheers or wave towels on the sideline.

Gibbs pointed toward Monk and Don Warren and Monte Coleman and said: “We’re a businesslike team. We play with emotion, but just because you don’t hear from guys doesn’t mean they’re not leaders.”

Gibbs said leadership comes in all forms, and it was Monk who called a players-only team meeting on the eve of the 12th game last season. The Redskins were 6-5 and about to play the Dolphins and Bears at home and they were about to find out if they were a legitimate playoff team or not.

The next day he caught 10 passes and scored twice in a 42-20 victory over Miami. The meetings became a weekly ritual as the Redskins won four of their last five, returned to the playoffs and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC first-round game before losing to the San Francisco 49ers.

This season begins with the Redskins having been picked by many to win the NFC, but having looked terrible in preseason. “We’re a very talented team,” Monk said. “I think we’re a closer team than we were a couple of years ago. With the addition of a couple of new faces, we’ve grown closer together. We’re really excited about having a great season. I think we’ll have it as long as we stay healthy. We’ve got to win the games we’re supposed to win.”

Monk said he hasn’t once wondered what his career numbers would be if he’d played with only one quarterback. He has talked often about the magic relationship he had with Joe Theismann, but since then, there’s been Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams, Mark Rypien, Stan Humphries and Jeff Rutledge.

[str8jacket]

I would just like to thank Art for being a great player and role model. They don't make em like Monk anymore. He made the tough catches, the easy ones, short and long, he blocked and never asked for a thing in return recognition wise. My Art Monk rookie card is still one of my prized possessions. Thanks Art.

[REEGSKINS]

DjTj. wow. that tells it all. absolutely great find. thanks.

[28rdsknsfn28]

Click the sig.

That was awsome but I am madder now than ever before..... "Art Monk has more catches than ANY reciever currently in the HOF??????"

[Yomar The Nifty]

Thomas Boswell

SPORTS

`Tin Man' Has a Heart Of Burgundy and Gold

THOMAS BOSWELL

1204 words

14 December 1994

The Washington Post

FINAL

b01

English

(Copyright 1994)

Art Monk did 18 interviews in Washington yesterday, breaking his record by 17. For one day, he lived the life of his favorite quarterback, Joe Theismann, arising before dawn and talking about himself continuously until after sunset.

"Art talking? We're in a state of shock," said Redskin Monte Coleman, one of six glory-days Redskins who joined Monk for a luncheon. "No, not him."

"This is the most I've ever talked in one day. It's enough to last a lifetime," said the self-effacing Monk who, after catching a pass in his 178th consecutive game Saturday, has almost been hugged to death.

Not once did Monk say "I told you so" to the Redskins brass who gave him the bum's rush out of town after last season. On the other hand, just by graciously accepting praise for his new record and his fine season - on every media outlet in his old town - he was saying, "I told you so" about 18 times.

"I just wanted to thank the Redskins' fans. They're my friends," said Monk. "This is our home. It doesn't feel like I ever left. We will come back."

Monk never gets mad. But, maybe, in his gentlemanly way, he gets even just a little. Job-in-jeopardy GM Charley Casserly has to face the ugly fact that a 2-12 team couldn't juggle the dollars around the salary cap to find a place for the fans' choice as the Greatest Redskin ever.

Yet Monk should soon rack up his 10th 50-catch season, starting every game for the playoff-contending New York Jets. Monk washed up? The Jets' front office wants him back and his young teammates adore him. Stinks, doesn't it?

Could a young team that's lost four games in the final minute have used the poise of the chilliest clutch player in its history? Does Deion dance?

"I haven't really followed or watched the Redskins this season," says Monk. "I tried to put that behind me." However, on the general subject of teams like the Redskins keeping key veterans like Art Monk, he certainly has an opinion.

"Veteran players are especially important to a ballclub in a rebuilding situation. The younger players don't know how to win yet. You need people in a few strategic positions who can help give you cohesion and unity. It's not always about talent, especially when the game is on the line. You need people who know what to expect in those situations. They can help others mature. ...

"I remember in the early '80s, Tom Landry said we weren't very talented, but we played well together. That's what matters. Learning to play together."

Yes, sort of like the 1994 Redskins in the fourth quarter of a close game.

As many would expect, Monk has quickly become a leader by example to the Jets. "The Jets teased Art at first, calling him the Tin Man, saying he needed to come to practice earlier than anybody else because he had to oil up his joints," says Monk's wife,Desiree. "Then they started coming in earlier too."

Wasn't it a Redskins coach who said recently that one of the team's problems was that younger players simply weren't putting in enough hours watching tapes of games?

For Monk, it's probably been an all-around blessing to escape the Redskins. "It has been refreshing," says Desiree. "He was not given an opportunity {in Washington}. In New York, they look at him and see the glass as half full, not half empty."

"I knew I could still play. If given a chance, I could still prove it," says Monk, not talking about the Redskins, of course. "I'm not a Jerry Rice. But I can contribute."

Monk actually assumed he'd be the Jets' third receiver this season and was prepared to accept his reduced role. But the Jets let him compete in training camp. And a fair shot was all he ever asked. "I got a chance to start and I never gave the job up," says Monk, who dropped the first pass thrown to him as a Jet ("just nervous") and has only dropped two more all season. In retrospect, it's doubly hard to imagine the gall of the Redskins telling Monk that he had until 5 p.m. to accept a 60 percent pay cut or even that offer would be withdrawn. It's one thing to boot Mark Rypien or Ricky Sanders. But if Monk isn't in a different category, then who is? Coco?

Monk has never basked in the glow of his accomplishments. But, this time, he's making an exception. He knows this probably will be his last moment of national attention. At least until Rice overtakes him, Monk has custodianship of two huge NFL receiving records - most catches (931) and most consecutive games with a reception - both of which he's wrested from Steve Largent. By a nice coincidence, Monk now has exactly 1,000 career catches, counting playoffs.

A thousand catches! It makes you pause. And several of Monk's old teammates did just that yesterday, roasting him gently.

"I remember watching Art when I was a kid," needled Darrell Green, 34, of the 36-year-old Monk.

"On a serious note," said Coleman, "I'm glad you left, Art. If you'd stayed, I couldn't have broken the {Redskins} record {for most career games}."

On a genuinely serious note, defensive tackle Tim Johnson told Monk, "We appreciate you because you set a standard for us at a time when society shakes our standards. Your professionalism, your work ethic, your community service, your friendship - it should be this way."

Some have suggested that, after Monk retires, he could return to the Redskins for a purely symbolic moment in a Washington uniform at RFK, as Roger Craig did with the 49ers. Monk calls that idea "definitely a possibility," if the Redskins were ever to make such an offer.

On the other hand, Monk also considers it a considerably more distant possibility than most people. "He's not near retirement yet," says Desiree, flatly. Both she and her man have "rediscovered the love of the game" this year. Monk wants to be a Jet "as long as they want me." And both Monks can foresee a season or two at the very end of the road when Monk really does become a No. 3 receiver who catches 30 balls a season on third down and is a quasi-coach.

Could such a thing happen in Washington? Oh, probably not.

"But it would be wonderful, wouldn't it?" says Desiree. "Say hello to my friends in Section 237."

Many in Washington are bitterly stung by the idea of Art Monk setting a major record in a Jets uniform. However, the thought of Monk setting a mark with grace, dignity and his game still in crisp shape - that certainly is appropriate. For the story to end that way, maybe it had to happen with him wearing green.

[Yomar The Nifty]

"I remember in the early '80s, Tom Landry said we weren't very talented, but we played well together. That's what matters. Learning to play together."

Tom Landry wasn't a very good strategist, but he was dapper

The Redskins have two Hall of Famers from those Super Bowl teams, Gibbs and Riggins. Green will probably get in, but who knows if it will be first ballot. Art Monk not being in the Hall of Fame is an indictment on the Hall of Fame, and the media has not inducted one Redskin player that has two Super Bowl rings on his fingers...

[OVCChairman]

[Major Harris]

[Major Harris]

[AsburySkinsFan]

Ummmm, did I miss something?

[Mark The Homer]

A few pics...

[Mark The Homer]

One more...

[Major Harris]

Ummmm, did I miss something?

i'm in lala land.

[IONTOP]

i'm not following you.

that is a pic of dg's goodbye speech.

Hmm... Title says "Re: In Honor of #81" yet reply has #28....

[Major Harris]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txdfxE3lYDM

[Major Harris]

Hmm... Title says "Re: In Honor of #81" yet reply has #28....

wow. i don't know where my brain was at. :doh:

[TK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWgVVVmGkLA

[ZoEd]

My nephew went to the Art Monk football camp. For a little hillbilly from WV it was a huge deal. Hell, the little bugger had never been outside statelines until my Dad, his grandfather paid for and took him to camp. He still has the autographed photos of Art Monk, Joe Washington and Sanders hanging in his house. I remember my nephew beaming about how nice "Mr." Monk was. It was a time in my Nephews life given to him by his late grandfather that he'll never forget.

This snub is a travesty. I was sporting my Skins gear yesterday thinking only I knew why; in honor of Art and to thumb my nose at the snub. I walked in the shoppette here on base and an older gentleman standing behind me said "Sorry Art didn't make it in this year. I'm a Steelers fan and even I know he deserves to be in the HOF." Football fans know, not just Redskin fans but football fans. The older folks that know and love football know that Art was screwed. HTTR!

[Major Harris]

My nephew went to the Art Monk football camp.

a lot of kids around here go to his camp every year. they love it. the qb i coached 2 years ago was beaming last summer, he threw a td pass to monk. they love him.

[Om]

One of my biggest Redskins regrets is that I never followed through on an idea I had way back in the mid-80's to honor this man.

I was going to found The Art Monks.

The vision was to have about a half dozen guys go to home games with a duffle bag (back when you could still bring such things in). In each would be a simple brown monk robe, complete with hood. On the back of each would be an easily identifiable silkscreened work of art (Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's David, Van Gogh's Starry Night...) on the back.

Once per game, at the same time every week, we'd leave our seats and go to an out of the way place to change without being seen or identified. Once be-robed, we'd re-enter the stadium, with hoods pulled low to hide our faces.

We woud then walk, slowly, and in silence, around the entire concourse that separated the lower from the upper sections of the lower bowl. We'd respond to no one, simply walk, in silent and anonymous tribute, once around the stadium. Upon completing the circuit, we'd exit where we'd come in, split up, change back into our regular clothes and blend back into the crowd.

The idea was to do it without calling attention to ourselves, but rather to our message, is as unassuming and subtle a way as we could make such a thing.

I've always regretted not following through.