Elect Art Monk -- www.electartmonk.com

4:52:22 PM EDT
Hearing US Open (Roddick vs. Verdasco) This is old, but Football Outsiders Mike Tanier and Michael David Smith weigh in on HOF debates and lump Monk in with other great 80s-90s receivers: Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Michael Irvin and Andre Reed. They both rank Monk third among thoe five, with Smith going 1. Brown 2. Carter 3. Monk and Tanier going 1. Carter 2. Irvin 3. Monk. It's an interesting piece all around, especially these couple of points...

"Smith: At this point, if Art Monk gets in I think it sets an awfully bad message, implying that Hall of Fame voters are subject to lobbying.

Tanier: Voters subject to lobbying? Two words: Elvin Bethea.

Smith: Nothing about Monk’s career has changed, and if he didn’t belong before, he doesn’t belong now. I just can’t get over the fact that through most of his career, Monk wasn’t even the first option in his team’s passing game."

That last bit sticks in my craw a bit as HOF voter Peter King has expressed the same sentiment, but it wasn't Monk's fault that guys like Gary Clark, Ricky Sanders and Charlie Brown were able to have big years opposite him. In fact, it was in some ways Monk's presence that enabled them to put up such big numbers. Regardless, long live the Posse and long live the Fun Bunch, both of which were undeniably awesome.

Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

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12:28:16 PM EST
Hearing Jenny Lewis

Sportz Assassin breaks down Monk's shafting in '06, and his post includes this stupendous bit of information:

"I truly believe that 2007 may be the year, however.  Next year....Bruce Matthews is the only real strong newcomer on the Hall of Fame scene [and he should get in].  Monk, Irvin and Thurman Thomas should get their calls then."

Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

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12:05:24 PM EST
Hearing Spoon

When an ElectArtMonk.com reader takes the time to email me something, I post it. So take it away Rich Flynn:

"My wife is an avid Redskins fan. I, myself (a former sports writer for a northeastern North Carolina newpaper), am a Carolina Panthers fan, but, having lived in the DC area as a young boy, rooted for my parents' favorite team -- the 'Skins! Noting a comment that she had read on the Internet about the sway Peter King apparently holds over the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters, my wife and I began enumerating reasons why Art Monk should be in the Hall of Fame. I did a little research about Art Monk's career stats and how he measures up against all other wide receivers, active, retired AND Hall of Famers! Here's what I found:

There are 17 "Modern Day" WRs listed on the official Pro Football Hall of Fame web site. They are:
        Lance Alworth (1962-1972)                        Don Maynard (1958, 1960-1973)
        Raymond Berry (1955-1967)                        Bobby Mitchell (1958-1968)
        Fred Biletnikoff (1965-1978)                        Tommy McDonald (1958-1968)
        Tom Fears (1948-1956)                        Pete Pihos (1947-1955)
        Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch (1946-1956)        John Stallworth (1974-1987)
        Charlie Joyner (1969-1986)                        Lynn Swann (1974-1982)
        Steve Largent (1976-1989)                        Charley Taylor (1964-1975, 1977)
        Dante Lavelli (1946-1956)                        Paul Warfield (1964-1977)
        James Lofton (1978-1993)

(Note: There are seven other receivers enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame; however, they are listed as "Pre-Modern Day" ends. I did not include them here, as they are disadvantaged in the number of games played per season in that era, as well as the lack of sophistication in the passing game in that era compared to the modern era. Many of them are also enshrined in part due to their play as ends on defense, as well.)

Art Monk has MORE TOUCHDOWNS RECEIVING (68) than nine of the 17 Hall of Famers listed above. Only Alworth, Biletnikoff, Largent, Lofton, Maynard, McDonald, Taylor and Warfield have more. Monk ranks 29th (tied) all time in receiving touchdowns...

Art Monk has MORE RECEIVING YARDS (12,721) than 15 of the 17 Hall of Famers listed above. Only Largent and Lofton have more. Monk ranks ninth all time in receiving yards...

Finally, Art Monk has MORE RECEPTIONS (940) THAN ANY RECEIVER CURRENTLY IN THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME. Only Jerry Rice, Cris Carter, Tim Brown and Andre Reed have more receptions. Monk ranks fifth all time. Rice leads all receivers in virtually all statistical categories and will be eligible for enshrinement in 2011. Brown will also be eligible for enshrinement at that time. Carter and Reed both retired after the 2000 season and will be eligible for the first time this year.

Monk played 16 seasons, reaching the Super Bowl with the Redskins three times. (Ed. note: He actually reached the Super Bowl four times, winning three.) The first, in 1983, resulted in a loss to the Oakland Raiders, 38-9. Monk caught one pass for 26 yards in that game. The second, in 1987, resulted in a victory over the Denver Broncos,  42-10. Monk again caught just one pass, this time for 40 yards. The third occasion was in 1991, resulting in a 37-24 win over the Buffalo Bills. Monk caught seven passes for 113 yards in that game.

He has the rings...
He has the stats...
He has the reputation...
He has the respect...

Why isn't Art Monk in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Someone needs to ask Peter King that... "

Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

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10:24:01 AM EST
Hearing the Insistors

Congrats to Troy Aikman, Reggie White, Harry Carson, John Madden, Rayfield Wright and Warren freaking Moon on being a part of the Hall of Fame's class of '06. Of course, this site will go on, so now more than ever...

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2:33:05 PM EST
Hearing Stellastarr*

This was sent to me by friend of the Elect Art Monk movement, Brian, because it brings to light an interesting comparison between Andre freaking Rison and the man who seems to be getting more supported than the Artist:

"Peter King’s arguments against Monk include the following….

1. “He was only voted to 3 Pro Bowls.” (Rebuttal: Fine, so was Charlie Joiner, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth. It’s also worth noting, John Riggins only went to ONE Pro Bowl. Tells you what that’s worth.

2. “Modern wideout numbers are threatening to obliterate Monk’s catch total.” He cites Keenan McCardell, Jimmy Smith, Marvin Harrison as examples. Okay fine. But they aren’t Monk’s contemporaries. If you look up at Pro Football Reference the list of Most Catches in a Season, the staggering number of 100-plus catch years is amazing. Monk’s 106 in 1984 is notable however in one very important respect. It’s the ONLY such mark from the entire decade! Once 1993 rolled around, wideouts began racking up 100 catch seasons like it was nothing. Hell, even scrubs like Brett Perriman had 100-ball years!

3. “Monk was the 4th most dangerous weapon on those Redskin teams.” Please. Ricky Sanders, while a nice compliment wideout, could hardly be considered a “bigger weapon” than Monk. Comments like this really make you question King’s ability to judge ANYTHING in regard to pro football.

Finally, I want to layout a pair of wide receiver numbers, and you tell me who is who.

Receiver A: 13 Seasons 5 Pro Bowls 743 Rec. 10,205 Yds 84 TD
Receiver B: 12 Seasons 5 Pro Bowls 750 Rec. 11,904 Yds 65 TD

Both receiver A and B were Top 10 in the league in Touchdowns (5 times each) and Catches (4 times each). The only significant difference is that Receiver A has just one Super Bowl ring, while B has three.

Who are they?

A = Andre Rison
B = Michael Irvin

And yet I don’t hear anybody banging the drum for Bad Moon for Canton, do you?"

Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

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11:59:11 AM EST
Hearing the Magnetic Fields

An email from ElectArtMonk reader Doug Gole:

"Monk's achieved every milestone needed to be in the Hall of Fame.  While he was not the most "feared" player in the league...he was a go-to guy in the clutch.  Was Charlie Joiner the most feared player on the Charger teams? No.... Winslow, Chandler, Jefferson were - yet Joiner was a no-brainer when he came up for election.  Why isn't Art Monk?"

Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

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2:43:03 PM EST
Hearing Maximo Park

Update: Hail Redskins also provided me with an email list and reminds us all to be respectful of the HOF voters... "Calling Peter King a piece of [bleep] will not help." Sound advice.

Friend of ElectArtMonk.com Doug Moore emails urging to spread the word about his email writing campaign which I'm sure to take part in this week. Consider it an email onslaught feuled by the 1,400+ signatures that the ElectArtMonk petition has received in its 10 days of existence.

Here's Doug:

"It was decided that campaign of letter and email writing, targeted towards the eligible members of the media who vote for the HOF, might be useful in reminding them of Art's accomplishments during his very worthy career.

To help that effort, Monkster took the names of all the eligible voters, and generated a contact list for all of them. I am providing that list at the end of this post, and we encourage all board members to take a little time, create a letter expressing your feelings on the subject, and send it to each of the voters or as many as you can.

We don't want to send a form letter, so I encourage each of you to express in you own words why you feel Art deserves nomination. But here are some things that you might want to mention:

• Art Monk retired the leading receiver all time in the NFL .
• Art is #5 on the all time reception list and #9 on the all time receiving yards list.
• Monk has better numbers in yards, receptions, and Touchdowns than Joiner, who is in the Hall Of Fame, yet did it in 2 fewer seasons.
• Monk caught a record breaking 106 catches in 1984, he had 13 receptions in a 1990 game vs. Detroit, and had a 230 yd receiving day against the Bengals in 1985.
• Monk played for many seasons in a run oriented offense, and had to share time with other great receivers such as Clark, yet he was arguably the most clutch Redskins player from that era.
• Monk's teams went to 4 Super Bowls, winning 3. They were 16-5 in post season play. He was part of the 1983 club that set the NFL record for most points scored in a season.
• Redskin's teams dominated the 80's, went to 4 Super Bowls and won 3, played in the toughest division in the NFL, and provided some of the finest football of that era. Yet only 1 player and Gibbs represent that team.
• Monk wasn't flashy, he didn't grab headlines, yet he was the epitome of the consummate professional who got the job done. Perhaps not a TD machine, although he could be that, but a reliable chain mover who at times was unstoppable."

Now, here's where it gets fun. The aforementioned contact info for the 39 HOF voters:

Lee Shappell, Arizona Republic
lee.shappell@arizonarepublic.com

Furman Bisher, The Atlanta Journal
fbisher@ajc.com

Mike Preston, The Baltimore Sun
mike.preston@baltsun.com

Mark Gaughan, Buffalo News
mgaughan@buffnews.com

Charles Chandler, Charlotte Observer
cchandle@charlotteobserver.com

Don Pierson, Chicago Tribune
dpierson@tribune.com

Chick Ludwig, Dayton Daily News
cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com

Tony Grossi, Cleveland Plain Dealer
tgrossi@plaind.com

Rick Gosselin, Dallas Morning News
rgosselin@dallasnews.com

Woodrow Paige, Denver Post
wpaige@denverpost.com

Jerry Green, The Detroit News 
sports@detnews.com

Cliff Christl, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
cchristl@journalsentinel.com

John McClain, Houston Chronicle
john.mcclain@chron.com

Mike Chappell, Indianapolis Star
mike.chappell@indystar.com

Sam Kouvaris, WJXT-TV
skouvari@wjxt.com

Bob Gretz, KCFX Overland Park, KS
bgretz@susqkc.com

Edwin Pope, Miami Herald 
epope@herald.com

Sid Hartman, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
sports@startribune.com

Ron Borges, Boston Globe
borges@globe.com

Pete Finney, Times-Picayune
pfinney@timespicayune.com

Vinny DiTrani, Bergen Record
sports@northjersey.com

Paul Zimmerman, Sports Illustrated
SI.com Email: cnnsi@cnnsi.com

Frank Cooney, The Sports Xchange
Gridder32@aol.com

Paul Domowitch, Philadelphia Daily News
domowip@phillynews.com

Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
ebouchette@post-gazette.com

Bernie Miklasz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
bmiklasz@post-dispatch.com

Jerry Magee, San Diego Union Tribune
jerry.magee@uniontrib.com

Ira Miller, San Francisco Chronicle
imiller@sfchronicle.com

John Clayton , ESPN/ESPN Magazine
Requires snail mail
C/O ESPN Magazine
19 E. 34th Street
New York, NY 10016

Tom McEwen , Tampa Tribune
tmcewen@tampabay.rr.com

Jeff Legwold , The Tennessean
jlegwold@tennessean.com

Len Shapiro , Washington Post
webnews@washingtonpost.com

Adam Schefter , The Denver Post
aschefter@denverpost.com

Jarrett Bell , USA Today
jbell@usatoday.com

Dave Goldberg , Associated Press
dgoldberg@ap.org

Peter King , Sports Illustrated
SI.com Email: cnnsi@cnnsi.com

Bob Oates , Los Angeles Times
sports@latimes.com

Len Pasquarelli , ESPN.com
C/O ESPN.com
ESPN Plaza
Bristol, CT 06010

Mike Wilbon , Washington Post
webnews@washingtonpost.com

Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

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6:53:59 PM EST
Hearing Bloc Party on NPR's All Songs Considered

Chris's Sports Blog's plea to elect Art Monk (from last February) is one of the best I've read. Some excerpts:

"Art Monk was the guy to throw to when you needed a first down. His side was the side you ran a sweep to, because you knew Monk would throw the perfect block. And when it was third-and-long and Joe Gibbs needed a receiver to run a crisp route and catch any ball that came his way, he went to Monk. Art was an indispensable member of the Joe Gibbs' Redskins and for that, deserves his place in Canton....

 Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

Yes, he only made the Pro Bowl three times. But, at the time of his retirement, Art Monk was the all-time leader in receptions, with 940 and was third in receiving yards. He also had the record for most consecutive games with a catch. Monk finished with over 12,000 receiving yards and 68 touchdowns. Most of which (save for his ill-fated years with the Jets and Eagles in the mid-90’s) were accumulated with two other excellent receivers, All-Pro Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders, lined up next to him. And during his Redskins career Monk caught passes from Joe Thiesmann, Mike Kruczek, Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams, Mark Rypien, Stan Humphries, Jeff Rutledge, Rich Gannon and Cary Conklin. Compare that to Jerry Rice who had Joe Montana, Steve Young and a new and improved Rich Gannon slinging balls his way during his career...

Swann and Stallworth’s numbers could be interpreted as being a bit low because they played on the same team for many of their years. But, their total catches combined don’t equal Art Monk’s...

Sports Illustrated’s Dr. Z says that a Hall of Fame wideout needs to be able to stretch the field, and Monk didn’t do that, so he doesn’t belong. With all due respect to Dr. Z, saying a wideout needs to stretch the field to gain induction is like saying a quarterback needs to be mobile. Both are only one skill of the position. Monk opened the field up for his teammates by unselfishly running the 8-yard hooks that Dr. Z decries. The Doc has to know that one doesn’t needto be a deep threat in order to be a dangerous receiver...

Monk being left out of the Hall makes a mockery of the institution, but if Michael Irvin gets in before him, then those hallowed halls will become a total joke."

More on Monk vs. Irvin soon.

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9:10:54 PM EST
Hearing the Decemberists

Gary Fitzgerald at Redskins.com pens an insightful piece on Monk's HOF candidacy. Thankfully he includes a tidbit that Michael Irvin made the final six on the ballot last year whereas Monk (and Russ Grimm) didn't make it past the round of 10; which is rubbish. 

Here's the excerpt comparing Big Money to the Playmaker:

"Since voters tend to lean toward statistics in evaluating Monk, let's consider the numbers for a moment: Monk surpasses Irvin in virtually every statistical category. Monk caught 940 passes for 12,721 yards and 68 touchdowns while Irvin caught 750 passes for 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns.

Here's the key difference between Irvin and Monk that seems to jump out to some Hall of Fame voters: Irvin had a 15.9 yards-per-catch average to Monk's 13.5.

There's another way of looking at those statistics, though.

"Because Art was an inside receiver, he caught a lot of balls inside," head coach Joe Gibbs said. "So almost everything he caught was inside, where he would take some hard hits. I think that should go to his credit, but what some [Hall of Fame voters] do is downplay it because his average-per-catch wasn't as high."

Pretty convincing when you take into account Monk's character and Irvin's lack thereof; although I do enjoy counting the buttons on #88's suit each and every Sunday NFL Countdown.

Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

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9:04:21 PM EST
Hearing American Idol

A site called Murdoc Online makes a case for Art Monk to be elected (Jan. '04) and recalls a play a remember all to unfondly:

"Monk had a touchdown taken away in the Super Bowl against Buffalo after the 1991 season, and I was disappointed. I knew that that was probably his last real chance to grab a score in the big game. The call was controversial, but largely forgotten in the wake of Washington's destruction of the Bills that afternoon.

I hope that a similar call by the electors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame doesn't relegate Monk's career to an overlooked bit of trivia as flashier and higher-profile stars jet into the halls of Canton."

Sign the petition to elect Art Monk!

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