Archives
6:53:00 PM EST
Hearing Bloc Party on NPR's All Songs Considered
Chris's Sports Blog: 'An Unappreciated Work of Art'
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....
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.
Written by dcsportsguy Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
You can can attribute his blocking skills to his middle school/ high school coach Dick linell who also happended to be my coach this season. That's because coming up in grades 7-9 he was an offensive lineman as he told me.
8/7/07 9:26 PM