Art Monk and the Hall of Fame

[rtandler]

I posted this on CPND, I'm putting it up here in case anyone's interested in helping Art Monk get into the Hall of Fame.

The time to hesitate is through

No time to wallow in the mire

Cuz right now we could only lose

Monk’s mo’ from the Joe Gibbs hire

Alright, Jim Morrison I’m not, but you get the idea.

It’s obvious from Ratty’s post about his response from a Hall of Fame voter that this group needs to be reminded that Art Monk didn’t just catch a lot of passes; he made big catches in big games. Perhaps this account of arguably his greatest game will jolt the appropriate brain cells or educate those who weren’t paying attention at the time.

Gibbs’ return has provided Monk with a jolt of momentum towards election. It’s up to us here in the Skins' online community to push him over the top.

We need to get this game account out to the HOF voters. Copy and paste it into an e-mail, put it into your own words and send it out (it’s probably too late for snail mail), print and fax it, whatever. Just get it out to as many voters on this list as you can as soon as you can.

It’s down to nut cuttin’ time, Redskins fans. Let’s do it.

12/16/84

REDSKINS (11-5) 29, Cardinals (9-7) 27

StL 0 7 10 10 27

Was 6 17 3 3 29

Was Monk 23 pass from Theismann (kick failed)

Was Monk 12 pass from Theismann (Moseley kick)

StL Lomax 1 run (O’Donoghue kick)

Was Riggins 5 run (Moseley kick)

Was FG Moseley 21

StL FG O’Donoghue 30

StL Green 75 pass from Lomax (O’Donoghue kick)

Was FG Moseley 37

StL FG O’Donoghue 34

StL Green 18 pass from Lomax (O’Donoghue kick)

Was FG Moseley 37

RFK Stadium—Mark Moseley’s 37-yard field goal with 1:42 to play lifted the Redskins to a 29-27 win over St Louis and the NFC East division title. The Cardinals, who would have claimed the division crown, had a shot to steal it back at the end, but Neil O’Donoghue missed a 50-yard field goal attempt on the game’s last play. The loss eliminated the Cards from the playoffs.

In an historic sidelight to the contest, Art Monk needed seven catches to break Charley Hennigan’s 20-year old record of 101 in a season, set in the AFL with the Houston Oilers. As one would expect of a player of Monk’s caliber, he broke the record in style and extended it with clutch plays down the stretch; more on that later.

Monk caught a pair of touchdown passes from Joe Theismann to get the Redskins off to a fast start. Then late in the half, the Redskins blocked a punt to set up a 21-yard Moseley field goal and they enjoyed a seemingly comfortable 23-7 lead going into the locker room at halftime. It wasn’t long before Neil Lomax and the Cards would begin to make them sweat.

Lomax directed a drive at the outset of the second half that got the Cards a field goal. About three and a half minutes later, Lomax had his team on the board again, this time in more spectacular fashion with a 75-yard touchdown bomb to Roy Green. At 23-17 the Redskins’ cruise to the division title had run into some choppy waters.

Monk helped to wake up the offense with a 36-yard catch to set up a 37-yard Moseley field goal to make it 26-17. That was catch number 102 on the season, breaking the record. The mark was noted on the RFK Stadium scoreboard and on the PA system, but there was no on-field celebration as there was still work to be done.

Lomax helped see to that. In the fourth quarter, he led one drive to a field goal, another to his second TD toss to Green. That lifted St. Louis into a one-point lead at 27-26 and the 54,299 in attendance stunned, along with the Redskins. Lomax racked up 468 yards passing on the day, with 314 of them coming in the second half.

The Washington offense responded, but the drive was in trouble after end Elois Grooms sacked Theismann to create a third and 19 at the St. Louis 47. With 2:40 remaining, everyone in the stadium knew the ball was going to Monk.

Therefore, Joe Gibbs had to try to find a way to hide Monk, inasmuch as that was possible. He sent in a play and formation that he had just installed that week called Two Divide. It called for Monk to line up at tight end on the right side. He fought his way off the line, found a hole on the right sideline and, Monk said, “The ball was perfect.” It worked for a 20 yards and the first down at the 27. On the day, Monk caught 11 passes for 138 yards.

Three plays later, Moseley came in. “I felt comfortable and positive,” Moseley said after the game. His feelings were justified as his 37-yard kick was perfect with room to spare and Washington was ahead 29-27 with 1:42 left to play.

Lomax and the Cards, though, weren’t done just yet. The quarterback completed four passes in five plays to move his team to the Washington 39 with 32 seconds left. On third and nine from there Lomax flipped the ball to back Danny Pittman, who had just one obstacle to getting a first down and getting out of bounds to stop the clock, linebacker Rich Milot. The defender made a solid open-field tackle at the 33 and Cardinals rushed their field goal team in to attempt a 50-yard game winner.

“I was so worn out by then that I had a hard time working up the energy to be nervous,” said Riggins after the game. He could have been speaking on behalf of most members of both teams.

The snap and hold were good, but Neil O’Donoghue’s 50-yard attempt was a couple of yards short and a little wide to the left. The Redskins as division champs had a week off to prepare for a home playoff game. The Cardinals, out of the playoffs due to wild card tiebreakers, had six months to prepare for next year.

Rich Tandler

Gut Check: The Complete History of

Joe Gibbs' Washington Redskins

www.gutcheckbook.com

[Charlie Murphaaay]

Art Monk was so clutch It didn't make any sense. Maybe he should be considered one of, if not the best 3rd down receiver in NFL history.

His hands were glue and he was open consistently. He may not have burned a lot of guys but he was a big threat who was hard to cover. He was also a good blocker in the run game.

[BillyKilmer]

If Monk had been a Me Me player like Michael Irvin he would been a first rounder. Sad that only the loud ones get thier due.

[rtandler]

Originally posted by BillyKilmer

If Monk had been a Me Me player like Michael Irvin he would been a first rounder. Sad that only the loud ones get thier due.

That's not necessarily true. Most of the players who are in the HOF are classy guys who respected the game on the field and were model citizens off of it.

Still, it's amazing that the HOF voters need to be reminded--or informed--of Monk's deeds. Sad, but true.

[Dan T.]

Peter King carries on a personal crusade against Monk whenever his name gets on the ballot.

King covered the NY Giants for a NY paper during Monk's time, and he recalls the Giants coaching staff as saying they always feared and prepared for Gary Clark rather than Monk. He throws this insipid little anecdote out every time he's asked about his irrational bias against Monk.

Monk retired as the most prolific pass catcher in NFL history. That alone should get him in, even though the record's since been eclipsed. Peter King is flat out wrong on this, and the others on the voting committee should shout down his lame-ass arguments.

[CTaylor42]

I sent e-mails to everybody on the list. I didn't send one to Peter King or Dr. Z. We all know they won't vote for Art anyway.

[SPare]

Funny that it's the New York guys that have the biggest hate on against him.

You know, I heard him on the radio on the drive home, and when he talked about Monk, he rolled out the "Monk was a numbers guy and does not deserve to be in the hall".

Well, I am actually pretty amenable to that argument. I think that far too much is based on numbers, from contracts to recognition, and not enough on the qualitative aspects of the game. I also think that you have to shy away from the arguments that, well, this guy is in the hall, so based on the numbers, that guy should also be there.

The thing is, though, that Monk surpasses the numbers argument. It's kind of like saying that Hank Aaron doesn't deserve to be in the Baseball hall of fame, because though he put up the biggest numbers, he also played in a different era, wasn't the most feared bat in the league, got his numbers through a long career, blah, blah, blah.

Also, I think that you have to look at the comparison with Clark and Sanders from another perspective. I can be sure that the Giants would have been more afraid of the two of them. Look at it this way: they played a ball control, burn the clock, and win with defence. Either of those guys were a threat to burn one off for a TD. Based on the kind of game the Giants played, they couldn't afford the quick 6, so they were rightly more fearful that those guys would take them out of their game plan. Monk was not that kind of deep threat.

What he did do, was be the guy who was your go-to on 3rd down when you needed the reception. And he did a darn good job of it. Not the flashy kind of player, but one who was probably in the top 5 or 6 receivers over a decade.

The funny thing is, King recognizes Cris Carter as one who belongs in the hall eventually, because while never a top receiver, was one who was consistently top 5 or 6 for a decade. Hmmmm...

Oh, and by the way, how may catches did Steve Largent have? How many wins did he mean to HIS team? Is HE in the hall?

The logic just doesn't hold up, as appealing as it might be.

[Dan T.]

Good post SPare. It's hard to quantify a "clutch" receiver. It seems he always could be counted on for that clutch third down catch. I'd like to see how many of Monk's catches were third down catches that got first downs. It would be cool if someone could quantify that and compare it to other top, or HOF, receivers.

[OaktonSkins/BushFan]

Can someone please explain to me why Dr. Z and Peter King, that intellectually lazy biased fat slob, deserve the honor of casting votes for the HOF? For that matter, why do ANY of these sports journalist donkeys hold this honor? These jack asse$ are wrong at least 3/4 of the time across the board on everything.

Um, it seems to be that the folks who are really in a position to vote, by virtue of their successes, are those already in the HOF.

[Jay Master Jay]

King won't give Art a chance and I think it's personal he was saying Art didn't have enough touchdowns. But he was on 3 Super Bowl teams a perfect team player he never complained and did his job like a professional. I bet he would vote Keyshawn or Michael Irvin in when they comes available. Every receiver that has had the all time catches record is in the HOF except Art.

[stratoman]

I sent emails to all on the list who had email adresses pleading the case for Art to be in the HOF. I also sent the link to a few Skins fans I know.

[rtandler]

Thanks for the great response, all. I didn't fully explaing what prompted this, besides the obvious injustice. Rat Boy got a response to an e-mail he wrote to Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News, a HOF voter, about Monk's credentials. Here was the response:

Here's the question that came up in the committee discussion last year -- what was his signature catch? What was the greatest catch of his career? No one could identify it.

Rick Gosselin

Now, if that won't make you wonder about the HOF electors, what will?

[bulldog]

give me a break, most if not all skill players get into the HOF based on numbers :laugh:

does anyone think that James Lofton goes into the Hall for any reason other than his longevity and numbers?

what big games did this guy come up clutch in? his greatest claim to fame is that he was a #2 receiver on Bills teams that got slammed by Dallas in the Super Bowl, 52-17 and 30-13.

Big deal.

What is funny is that EVERY receiver from Ray Berry to Charley Taylor that retired as the catches leader made the Hall EXCEPT Monk.

Even a guy like Charlie Joiner is in the HOF.

Again, what big games did Joiner make memorable or pivotal catches in?

Joiner was most famous for being the #3 receiver in his 30's in the Air Coryell offense in San Diego after years with the Bengals.

[Jay Master Jay]

Art's signature catch is the slant over the middle hanging on to the ball after he punishes the safety coming up to hit him.

[gridironmike]

Here's the question that came up in the committee discussion last year -- what was his signature catch? What was the greatest catch of his career? No one could identify it.

Rick Gosselin

Sooo, Timmy Smith should be in the Hall for his "signature" performance, Super Bowl XXII. I'd say Monk's "signature catch" was repeated over and over, consistently throughout his career. Starting on the left, motion to the right, stutter step at the QB, cut up at the end of the line, make his break, and softly cradle the ball in his hands. MORONS!!

[Dan T.]

God help us, and Art Monk too. Maybe Wilbon and Shapiro can talk some sense into this clown school.

[The Consigliere]

Here's a copy and paste job of my thoughts on Monk (childhood hero, and all time favorite athlete along with Pele and Roberto Clemente) taken from CPND:

His signature moments:

83-Scored on a long winner that opened the flood gates against the Rams in a 51-7 playoff victory. Was such a huge threat down the stretch that the Niners were called for pi twice trying to stop him in the NFC CHampionship game (and the Niners still cry foul about that, ignoring the fact that the redskins had a legit special teams return for a TD negated by a moron ref).

'84-Came up w/key catches that not only broke Hennigans record, but won the Redskins the division against the Cardinals.

'86-Caught a spectacular diving pass against Vikes in the midst of one of the greatest comebacks in NFL History (Redskins were losing 38-17, came back to win 44-38 in OT). Also caught two long TD passes against Chicago 46 D which were the huge favorites in matchup against the Redskins in that Divisional playoff game, having gone 32-3 over the previous 35 games, dethroning the heavy favorite Bears in the process.

'87-Came up w/key 40 yard sideline reception late in first quarter that ignited the offense. It's not a coincidence that the Redskins Would follow that up w/an 80 yard TD pass less than 10 minutes later. Up until that reception that Broncos had completely bottled up the offense.

'90-Scored the only TD of the game for the Redskins against the Niners, early, I believe it tied the score.

'91-Scored TD against Lions in title game. Followed that up, w/100 yard game against Bills in Super Bowl, including leading the initial drive of the game against Bills. TD catch was negated by fallacious replay (Monk was shoved out of bounds, when in fact he would have scored if he had not been shoved).

The fact is, Monk was consistently a deep, and intermediate threat throughout his career, however the arrival of Clark and Sanders, mae him a more consistent intermediate-short threat.

All this being said, signature catches aren't necessary. Name Lofton's signature catch? He doesn't have one. Neither does Largent or Joiner as others have said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My first problem is this. When the Redskins won XXII in January 1988, the Redskins Yearbook not so presciently proclaimed, "Team of the Decade" on the cover, neglecting to realize that the Niners (who'd finished a very impressive 13-2 that year) might have something to say about that. However, Gibbs' Redskins had earned the title for team of the decade up to that point. 3 Super Bowl Appearances, 2 Super Bowl victories, 4 NFC Championship appearences and 3 NFC Championship Titles, as well as 4 NFC East titles to that point, a playoff record of 11-3, and an overall record (including playoffs) of 91-43.

Now what does the Hall of Fame tell us? They tell us that this was accomplished w/a HOF coach, and a HOF Running back (who only played well from '81-84 during the decade), and a bunch of cogs that weren't much special. This is the first point I'd bring up if I was Wilbon, and didn't leave my brain at home (which apparently he does everytime he arrives at the meetings to discuss who should get in and who shouldn't). None of us are going to argue that Joe Washington, or Kelvin Bryant, or George Rogers, or Timmy Smith, or Ricky Sanders, or Curtis Jordan, or Ken Coffey, or Mark Murphy or Rich Milot, or Neil Olkelwitz deserve enshrinement. They don't. But you can't tell me that these great teams, these teams that dominated the eighties like no other save the Niners, had only only a thirtysomething year old borderline HOF running back who was done before more than half the accomplishments were actually made, and a Hall of Fame Coach and nothing else worthy of the Hall.

It's a tribute to Gibbs in a way, and there is a small degree of merit, as Gibbs first year was marked by his ability to maximize the potential and minimize the weaknesses of every single asset he had on the team. Charlie Brown, Gary Clark, Ricky Sanders, Mark Rypien, Doug Williams, Jay Schreoder, John Riggins (to a lesser extent), Tim Johnson, Fred Stokes and the like, did any of these do much of anything elsewhere? Well they sure as hell did a ton with Gibbs! That being said, each of these players experiences were particular, and the majority didn't do much elsewhere due to age rather than lack of skill. Now Gibbs is a brilliant coach, and I appreciate the Hall, probably inadvertantly trying to tell us that he made Champions out of manure but the fact is, even Gibbs isn't that great, and if this argument had merit then Lombardi's Packers would not have so many men in the Hall, because they played like Champions for him, but like Dog Meat for other coaches, almost to a man.

The fact is, Gibbs Redskins of '81-'92 probably have earned at least eight HOF slots. Coach Gibbs, for what he accomplished, John Riggins for his extraordinary accomplishments after being misused by NYJ, Gary Clark, for being one of the three best WR's in Football from 1986-1992, Joe Jacoby, for consistently being one of the two best LT's in football from '81-'88 (and for what he accomplished after moving to accomodate Lachey), Russ Grimm for being the best non-LT on the Hogs, Charles Mann for being the unstoppable bulwark of the DL during it's heyday, Darrell Green, for being our one and only shut down Corner in the Modern Era, and of course Art Monk, for being the best and most consistent WR not named Jerry Rice, or Gary Clark between 1980 and 1991. Even Joe theismann probably deserves some consideration though I probably wouldn't give it to him.

It's absolutely hilarious that the Hall is essentially arguing that Gibbs accomplished what he did w/piss poor players, and or simple cogs, when he was doing so while competing against Parcells Giants, Walshes Niners, Ditka's Bears, Landry's Cowboys, Shula's Dolphins, Levy's Bills and Reeves' Broncos. Those teams and those coaches were virtually impossible to beat, let alone beat w/consistency during the '81-'92 era, and yet Gibbs Redskins did so and did so w/remarkable consistency, particularly in big games. The only coach that came close to having his number was Walsh (who was 4-2 against the Redskins). Yet Gibbs was able to do this w/ho-hum players, and just his "System". Sorry, but as much as I love Gibbs, the truth is, he did it w/some damn special players too. That's a fact. Too bad these idiots don't get that.

Two last notes.

On Monk and Pro-Bowls-The big problem is two fold. #1 Monk lost several seasons in the prime of his career too injury, '82, '83, and '87. These years were all when he was in his twenties and his prime, he simply wasn't healthy enough in his prime to consistently make the pro bowl. The stretch of years where he did go to the pro bowl, '84-'86 prove this point. These were healthy years following his '82, and '83 injuries, and preceeding the '87 injury that more or less elevated Clark into the position as a go-to-guy in terms of the deep passing game, and long-intermediate routes. In addition it might be wise to note that in two non-pro bowl years ('88 and '89) Monk Finished third overall and ninth overall in total receptions but did not get pro bowl invites. His exclusion has no basis on it's merits. Additionally spectacular diving catches litter his career, indeed in '86, '87 and '88 he made clutch TD diving catches in successive years against Minnesota in a monumental comeback from 17 down w/only about 20 football minutes to play, as well as against the Cardinals in '87 and against the Giants in '88. There are more, but I don't remember all of them and don't have the game tapes to clear it up.

My other small point is this. Feel free to use Swann, and Stallworth for comparison purposes, but I don't like it much when people try to tear them down to bring Monk up. You don't have to do that. The same arguments we use for Monk, one being that the majority of Monks career (about '80-89) was played in a 50/50 play selection, or even more run oriented league. Not at all like todays league. The fact is, the same defense applies to Swann and Stallworth's Steeler teams, which were signinfigantly more run oriented.

Doubt me? Check these stats out from the Steelers Super Bowl era (w/Swann and Stallworth):

1974:

Rushes: 546

Passes: 386

In their rookie years Swann and Stallworth combined for 28 receptions. Neither were starters.

1975

Rushes: 581

Passes: 337

Swann and Stallworth 69 Receptions

1976

Rushes: 653

Passes: 257

Swann and Stallworth: 28 and 9 receptions respectively.

They combined to miss half the season this year due to injuries.

1977

Rushes: 581

Passes: 341

Swann and Stallworth 94 Receptions

’78

Rushes: 641

Passes: 380

Swann and Stallworth 102 Receptions

‘79

Rushes: 561

Passes: 492

Swann and Stallworth 111 receptions

Once both were elevated to starting jobs, quite clearly Swann and Stallworth were working in run first offenses. W/the exception of '79, the playcalling appeared to be (I'm being lazy on math here) about 60-40 run, and even more so in certain years. Their numbers are low because of the era they played in, and because of the approach Noll's Steelers made in terms of offensive strategy but when called upon to come up big, they did so, Stallworth catching 6 passes for 276 yards and 2 TD's in Superbowl's XIII and XVI, and he threw in a 10 catch, 156 yard 1 TD effort against the defending Champion Broncos in a divisional playoff game preceeding the XIII classic with the Cowboys. He had 5 playoff games w/100 yards, 7 w/80 or more yards. Swann caught 16 passes for 364 yards and 4 TD's in three Super Bowls. You can't overlook those numbers. You just can't. His career production in that run nearly 3 times for every pass weren't bad at all, particularly when you consider how brief his career was. He may be borderline, but his incredible Super Bowl performances put him over the top. Btw, Monk shines in the post season as well, 4 games w/more than 100 yards in the post season, caught 15 passes for 201 yards and 2 TD's against the Bears vaunted 46 Defense in two playoff games in '84 and '86, and of course he also turned in a 10 reception 163 yards and 1 TD performance against the defending repeat Super Bowl champion niners in the '90 playoffs, and in Super Bowl XXVI he caught 7 passes for 113 yards, and was robbed of finishing w/8 receptions for about 128 yards and a TD by a horrible ref call.

Quite plainly, all three of them and Clark belong in the Hall (not to mention some Hogs and possibly Charles Mann).

[>>Spearhead>>]

I heard, I think it was George Michael talking to one of the fox DC sportscasters, years ago that the voters just didn't like Art because instead of kissing their asses, he didn't return phone calls and make a case for himself. I wouldn't doubt it.

What did DrZ's 'always wrong' ass say?

We should create a huge thread of Monk Memories and mass it to everyone on that voter list!

Great stuff here, Hogs!

Thanks for the opportunity to help out Art, even though he left early from an autograph show and I never got to shake one of the greatest hands in history.