EMQB Interview: Art Monk

Photo Courtesy Pro Football Hall of Fame

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

Former Washington Redskins wide receiver Art Monk waited a long time to become a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For the past seven years, the honor was within his grasp as a finalist, but the door would always close. I agreed with the many who felt Art should have been inducted with a class long before 2008. He was an early prototype for today’s bigger, stronger receivers, never hesitating to run patterns across the middle of the field. And he was a master of yards after the catch. Art was a major part of the powerful Redskins teams that were dominant during the 1980s. In his 14 seasons with the Skins, the team won three Super Bowls (XVII, XXII, and XXVI) and had just three losing seasons. Art had his finest season in 1984 when he caught eight or more passes in six games, had five games of 100 yards or more and in a game against the San Francisco 49ers, caught 10 passes for 200 yards. His outstanding play earned him team MVP honors and his first Pro Bowl selection (the first of three). His season totals of 106 catches for 1,372 yards were career highs. Washington coach Joe Gibbs claimed his star receiver was the complete package. He called him the strongest outside receiver he’d ever coached. I spoke with Art on a national conference call today. He will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this Saturday evening. Here is my part of the interview.

DAVID: Seven years as a finalist, Art. Why do you think it took so long?

ART: I’ve heard all kinds of reasons why it took so long — that I was quiet; I wasn’t a very outspoken person; I didn’t speak to the media; I wasn’t good enough. There were a lot of different reasons. Whether they’re valid or not, again, it was what it was. So there wasn’t really much I could do about it.

DAVID: Does it have more meaning to you to have waited so long?

ART: You know what I really think about it? I think I’m sort of glad it took longer. I can appreciate it more. You know, these past seven, eight years — there’s been so much, it just set people in an uproar in this community, you know. Why not? What’s the problem? How come you’re not in? Really, when I think back and just sit down and think about it, I’m glad it didn’t happen right away. Otherwise I would never have gone through all of these years just kind of really getting more of an appreciation for it.

DAVID: Being able to share this experience with Darrell Green — a teammate and friend — has to be extra special.

ART: Well, I mean, the past several months, there’s just been a lot of activity, a lot of hoopla, a lot of excitement. We’ve been so involved in this “Route 281 Tour” and doing things, trying to get ready for this day that, you know, I really haven’t had a chance to kind of digest it all. You really kind of sit back and think about what’s really about to happen. But it’s great. I mean, what makes this even more significant than just being in the Hall of Fame is that we’re going in together. He wasn’t just a teammate of mine, he’s a great friend. Our families are like real family. His kids call me uncle. My kids called him uncle. We do those things together. This makes it just that much more of a special event for both of us.

DAVID: You’re just a couple days away now, Art. What are your emotions like? What are you feeling?

ART: It’s almost like before I got married. I was fine until a couple days before the actual wedding. Not that I was getting cold feet, but I just woke up one day and I was terrified. Not in the sense of being scared, but just the reality of what was about to happen. You know, the past five months or six months, however long it’s been, I’ve been fine. I talk about it and everything. But now, as you say, we’re just a few days away. I’m not scared. But, it’s just kind of the reality of, okay, this thing is real ‑‑ this is for real, you know, it’s really happening. So there are butterflies and being nervous. But, I think once I get there, hopefully I’ll calm down a little bit and that will go away.

DAVID: Art, you obviously were a great receiver and you made a lot of clutch catches. But you were on a lot of teams that predominantly ran the ball. So you were a player who blocked very well. Did you have a special sense of pride in being a complete player?

ART: Yes. I mean, most receivers are just — you know — they’re great at running timing routes, catching the ball, being well‑known for those things. But when it comes more to the physical end of things like blocking and really getting involved in a lot of traffic, most will kind of shy away from that or don’t do as good of a job. I don’t know if I necessarily took pride in it, but I felt good about being able to not just be a good receiver down field, but also to be a good blocker and being able to operate in traffic as well.

DAVID: How is the “Route 281: Road to Canton Tour” coming along with Darrell Green and how did the whole idea for the tour develop?

ART: Well, it came about with both of us being inducted into the Hall of Fame. We also both have foundations that work with youth in the City of Washington DC’s metropolitan area. A lot of athletes kind of take advantage of the Hall of Fame to benefit themselves, but we decided to use this opportunity to benefit our organizations and raise money for our organizations that serve our youth. So in just brainstorming the idea of his number (28) and my number (81) — our jersey numbers being combined together — we had 281. Then we just kind of put Route 281 to the Hall of Fame as a means of a marketing scheme to help raise money for our causes. That entailed us going around to various cities locally and remotely to speak, to do autographs, signings, different activities — like punt, pass and kick contests — to really engage those communities to come together. You buy tickets and we would sell paraphernalia, hats, T‑shirts, and all of that money would go to our foundations.

Special thanks to Saleem Choudhry at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Check out my other Class of 2008 interviews: Andre Tippett, Darrell Green, Gary Zimmerman, Fred Dean.