Art Monk is a hall of famer

[rthomas]

I am really happy for Art Monk. It's about time. I'm not a Redskin fan but you can't deny he was a great great player.

[billybreen]

I am really happy for Art Monk. It's about time. I'm not a Redskin fan but you can't deny he was a great great player.

Good for Art. One of my favorite names ever.

[merry]

Big fav of mine too - congrats to Art Monk!

[hurleyfor3]

He certainly deserves it. I'm a bit surprised Cris Carter didn't make it, but Carter was much more a me-first guy than Monk was. Perhaps the voters were sending a message.

[YmoBeThere]

The full list is:

Fred Dean
Andre Tippett
Darrell Green
Art Monk
Emmitt Thomas
Gary Zimmerman

Andre Tippett is a local selection for those of us in the Boston area. I remember him from my first go around in Massachusetts in the 1980's.

[Olympic Fan]

Finally ...

I'll stop sniping at the HOF now that Art is in (to put in that coke sniffing Cowboy ahead of Art was a crime). And to have Darrell Green go in at the same time is a double blessing -- kind of like the Baseball Hall bringing in Mickey and Whitey at the same time.

Hail to the Redskins, Hail Victory ... Braves on the warpath, fight for old DC!

[bjornolf]

I've been irrate about #81's (and no, I don't mean TO) snubbing for years. The guy held the receiving record for years until Largent broke it, and people call him just a compiler. Well, aren't pretty much all receivers compilers at least some of the time? What the heck is wrong with that? You can only catch the balls the QB throws you. He was a very important part of those redskins teams of the 80s.

How crazy is it that a team that went to four super bowls in eight years and won three of them has only one player (now three with Monk and Green) in the HOF for all these years? No hogs? No smurfs? No high five posse? No capital defense? Only Riggo was in. And the coach of course, but most people count players in these things, not coaches.

[allenmurray]

Art Monk . . . you can't deny he was a great great player.

And a great person as well.

[dkbaseball]

I've been irrate about #81's (and no, I don't mean TO) snubbing for years. The guy held the receiving record for years until Largent broke it, and people call him just a compiler. Well, aren't pretty much all receivers compilers at least some of the time? What the heck is wrong with that? You can only catch the balls the QB throws you. He was a very important part of those redskins teams of the 80s.

How crazy is it that a team that went to four super bowls in eight years and won three of them has only one player (now three with Monk and Green) in the HOF for all these years? No hogs? No smurfs? No high five posse? No capital defense? Only Riggo was in. And the coach of course, but most people count players in these things, not coaches.

God in heaven, Michael Irwin went into the HOF before Art Monk? And no hogs? Not even Jacoby or Grimm? I don't follow the NFL HOF too closely, so this all comes as a shocking surprise to me. My Dad had season tickets to Skins' games from '66 to '96, and I'm telling you the NFL experience has never gotten any more intense and exciting than it was in old D.C. for many of those years. And surely you're not telling me that Sonny isn't in the Hall? I saw Elway, Staubach and Aikman, among others, play at RFK, but I never saw a better passer than Mr. Jurgensen.

[mapei]

Art Monk is my all-time favorite football player and right up there with Shane, Roger Federer, Steffi Graf and Laurent Jalbert (cycling) as my all-time favorite athletes. What all of these had in common was being bright, respectful, and setting a standard of consistent excellence over time, on and off the arena of play. Total class acts. I have "81" in my email address as a tribute to Art.

And, if he had to wait all these years while lesser players got in, being able to go in with #28 (and their assistant coach at the time, Emmitt Thomas) is a nice silver lining. Darell's punt return against the 87 Bears is my all-time favorite Redskins play.

BTW, Art broke Largent's record, not the other way around. Jerry Rice broke Art's.

[bjornolf]

God in heaven, Michael Irwin went into the HOF before Art Monk? And no hogs? Not even Jacoby or Grimm? I don't follow the NFL HOF too closely, so this all comes as a shocking surprise to me. My Dad had season tickets to Skins' games from '66 to '96, and I'm telling you the NFL experience has never gotten any more intense and exciting than it was in old D.C. for many of those years. And surely you're not telling me that Sonny isn't in the Hall? I saw Elway, Staubach and Aikman, among others, play at RFK, but I never saw a better passer than Mr. Jurgensen.

Old #9 retired in 1974 and was inducted into the HOF in 1983. I wasn't talking about ALL redskins. I was merely talking about the group under Gibbs that went to the 4 superbowls and won 3 in the 8 years between 1983 and 1991. There are certainly several redskins in the HOF from before 1980. The amazing thing about those years is that Gibbs won 3 superbowls in 8 years with 3 different QBs and 3 different RBs. How many coaches could have done that? None of the hogs are in, being Jacoby, Grimm, May, Bostic, and Starke. That, to me, is a travesty.

Here's a little history about them: http://www.thehogs.net/The_Hogs/history.php

Possibly the most dominant offensive line in the history of the NFL as a group, and NONE of them are in. I think it would be cool to just put them all in as a group. Not as separate entrants into the hall, but as a group, one statue of the five of their heads right on one pedestal.

These Redkins players and coaches are in:
George Allen Head coach, 1971-77, Inducted in 2002
Cliff Battles Running Back, 1932-37, Inducted in 1968
Sammy Baugh Quarterback, 1937-52, Inducted in 1963
Bill Dudley Running Back, 1950-51/1953, Inducted in 1966
Turk Edwards Tackle, 1932-40, Inducted in 1969
Ray Flaherty Head coach, 1937-42, Inducted in 1976
Joe Gibbs Head coach, 1981-92/2004-, Inducted in 1996
Ken Houston Safety, 1973-80, Inducted in 1986
Sam Huff Linebacker, 1964-67/1969, Inducted in 1982
Sonny Jurgensen Quarterback, 1964-74, Inducted in 1983
Paul Krause Safety, 1964-67, Inducted in 1998
George Preston Marshall Team founder, 1932-69, Inducted in 1963
Wayne Millner End, 1936-41/1945, Inducted in 1968
Bobby Mitchell Flanker, 1962-68, Inducted in 1983
John Riggins Running Back, 1976-79/1981-85, Inducted in 1992
Charley Taylor Wide Receiver, 1964-77, Inducted in 1984

Other Related Members
Otto Graham Cleveland Browns quarterback, 1946-55;
Redskins head coach, 1966-68, Inducted in 1965

David (Deacon) Jones Los Angeles Rams defensive end, 1961-71;
San Diego Chargers defensive end, 1972-73;
Redskins defensive end, 1974; Inducted in 1980

Stan Jones Chicago Bears offensive/defensive lineman, 1953-65;
Redskins defensive tackle, 1966; Inducted in 1991
Earl (Curly) Lambeau Green Bay Packers Founder/Head coach, 1919-49;
Redskins head coach, 1952-53; Inducted in 1963
Vince Lombardi Green Bay Packers head coach, 1959-68;
Redskins head coach, 1969; Inducted in 1971

[mapei]

When he was playing and had amassed a lot of team records, Art said that, if he ever was lucky enough to be inducted, he would want Charley Taylor, who was then his receivers coach and whose team receiving records he broke, to present him. I wonder if he still feels that way.

[Matches]

Art Monk's borther was my gym teacher in 5th grade. Heckuva great guy. I've never met Art but always rooted for him b/c of his brother. Glad to see he finally got the honor he's deserved for some time.

[greybeard]

Everybody liked Art, except for newspaper guys whom he refused to even nod to, much less chat with, during the length of his career. I don't think that that explains the wait.

It seems to me that there were arguments in favor of honoring his accomplishments, which everyone did, but not by a HOF induction.

1. The Hogs. They were great.

2. The Hogs plus Riggins, and then the pick ups afterwards, made for an awesome running game. Kind of opens things up for the pass, right?

3. Gibbs, and his ability to team Art with a crew of other wideouts who could and did spread the field because they were great at getting deep and really, really hurting people by making great plays when they did.

4. So we are basically left with longevity (the record), and the workmanlike way Art went about filling a role that Gibbs custom made for him.

Was it enough to merit a vote into the Hall? It took folks a while to say, "Yes," and I think appropriately. Tough call'; I'm glad Art got it.