STEGON: No better choice for Hall of Fame than Art Monk

DAVID STEGON / Stafford County Sun
Published: February 6, 2008

Most of the students wrote to Mark Rypien or Ernest Byner or Darrell Green, but my letter went to Art Monk, the venerable wide receiver who was my favorite player for reasons I am no longer sure of.

It was a simple writing exercise that allowed my teacher to kill another boring January afternoon and I forgot about the letter the next morning. It was not until later that summer - long after the Redskins won the Super Bowl - that a beige letter from Redskins Park appeared in my mailbox, including a letter from Monk and an autographed picture.

(Note: I never asked Monk to write back or send an autograph; he did that on his own.)

I was the happiest kid in the world that day. I showed the picture to my friends and put it in a drawer in my bedroom, coming across it during spring cleaning days or whenever I happened to be looking through old stuff.

I pulled the letter out again this past weekend after hearing Monk, along with Green, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was a day that I always assumed would happen, considering Monk retired with the most catches in NFL history, but never did after the Pro Football Writer's Association, which chooses the inductees, voted against Monk for eight straight years.

They criticized Monk for not being a flashy downfield threat. They said other teams were not scared of Monk the way they were of teammates Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders. They said Monk was a very good player who caught a lot of passes, but was not one of the game's greats.

This, of course, was complete garbage. Any Redskins fan knows the impact Monk made on the Super Bowl winning teams of the 1980s and early 1990s, catching passes on third down to extend drives and being a superb blocker on a run-first team. He was the ultimate team player. Coach Joe Gibbs said of Monk, "He never asked for the ball to be thrown to him once."

No, Monk just showed up and did his job.

Monk showed me on that day the letter arrived what a caring person he was. Sure it was probably a form letter sent out to every other dopey 11-year-old kid who mailed him, but it meant the world to me. Would I still have it today if it did not-

It was sad to watch lesser players - Lynn Swann - or lesser people - Michael Irvin - get elected to the Hall of Fame before Monk, but now he is in the Hall of Fame and a great injustice has been righted.

Maybe it is fitting that he waited this long to go in with Green. They are arguably the greatest Redskins ever for their great play, leadership, consistency and character. As a fan you could not find two better players to cheer for.

As Green said following the announcement of he and Monk's induction, "It is going to be a Redskins day."

Yes it will be, perhaps the greatest non-Super Bowl winning day in franchise history. And I hope to be there, but even not, I think I will write Monk a letter and congratulate him. And maybe this time, I will not be surprised when he writes back.

David Stegon grew up in Woodbridge and is completing graduate-school requirements at Columbia University in New York. Reach him at .

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