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Redskins Great – Art Monk
by Robert Janis - Capital News Services
01/31/06
They say that records are made to be broken. That’s exactly what Art Monk did. In his 16 year career in the National Football League with the Washington Redskins (14 seasons), the New York Jets (one season), and the Philadelphia Eagles (one season) Monk set the record for career receptions, was the first to have more than 100 receptions in one season (1984), gained more than 1,000 yards in receptions a season five times, played in three super bowls, and was named to three Pro Bowls. He is currently fifth in all time receptions and ninth in receiving yards. He has also been selected as one of the 70 Greatest Redskins of all time, is the leading all time Redskins receptions leader with 888 catches and has been nominated for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Born on December 5, 1957 in White Plains, New York, Monk is the youngest of two children. He has an older sister. His father was a welder for a wiring cable company and his mother was a domestic.
Monk first started playing organized sports when he was 11 years old. “I played in the Pop Warner League,” he said. “I joined because I loved the game and I played it in the neighborhood with friends. When my friends signed up I signed up.”
Monk attended White Plains High School where he played football and participated in track. He played offensive and defensive tackle and running back in high school. “It was a progression from 10th grade to 12th grade. I played the offensive and defensive line my freshman and sophomore years, tight end my junior year, and running back my senior year,” said Monk. He was selected All-County for football.
After graduating from White Plains High School, Monk attended Syracuse University on a football scholarship. Other schools had recruited him including Penn State, the University of Maryland, and Boston College. It was his mom’s decision that he attend Syracuse.
He began his career with the Syracuse football team as a wide receiver. “The school had ineligibility problems with a few running backs my sophomore and junior years so I played running back then. My junior year Joe Morris (later to play with the New York Giants) came to Syracuse and my senior year I was moved back to wide receiver,” said Monk.
He was selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 1980 NFL draft. Jack Pardee was head coach at the time and Bobby Beathard was the team’s general manager. Joe Walton was the offensive coordinator. It was after that season that Pardee was fired and Joe Gibbs was hired as head coach. “The team was in transition,” explained Monk. “It was the tail end of the Over the Hill Gang. We had a lot of older guys and a mixture of younger guys of which I was one. So we didn’t fair very well.”
During Gibbs first season as head coach the Skins started 0-5. “We were a little frustrated. We were excited about having a new coach who came from San Diego which had the Don Coryell offense where they threw the ball a lot. That proved not to be successful for us. So Gibbs changed the offense and emphasized the running game with John Riggins and we did much better.” The Redskins went 8-3 after the 0-5 start. “We were very excited that we could turn things around and we were motivated for the next season,” said Monk.
In 1982 the Redskins made it to Super Bowl XVII and beat the Miami Dolphins 27-17. Monk did not play in that game nor did he play in any of the playoff games. He had broken a bone in his foot during a game in the regular season and was replaced by Alvin Garrett. Despite the injury, Monk participated. He traveled with the team and he was present to encourage the other players. He attended the games and was present on the bench. “I helped the guys with pass routes. When I saw something I wanted to relay to a receiver I went to the guy and told him. Some times a player would come up to me during a game and ask questions and I would help them with answers,” said Monk.
Monk believes that the team was successful that year because the players had a great relationship with one another. “Each unit gave themselves a name. There was the Hogs, the Fun Bunch, Capital Punishment, The Pearl Harbor Crew. We all took pride in each other,” he said. Moreover, Gibbs made certain that the second and third team players were as prepared as the first team players. “That’s why Alvin Garrett did so well. He was prepared to play.”
In 1983 the Redskins went 14-2. The only games they lost was to Dallas and to Green Bay by a total of two points. And the Skins had a chance to win the Green Bay game. Mark Moseley missed a field goal as time ran out. The Redskins swept through the playoffs and into Super Bowl XVIII to play the Los Angeles Raiders. “That may have been our best team ever,” commented Monk. “Defensively we were very strong and offensively we moved down the field and scored a lot of points. Everything clicked. We had a young team getting experience and beginning to understand the system. And we had been together for three or four years.”
However, the Raiders won that Super Bowl 38-9. “The only memory I have of that Super Bowl is having our butts handed to us,” quipped Monk. “We prepared for the game and did the research and studied tendencies and all of that. And we had played the Raiders during the regular season and had beaten them. We had good practices. But we just didn’t show up for the game. One could say that we were there the year before and won and we had a fantastic season rolling over everybody. We scored a lot of points and our defense took the ball away. But we probably went into the game taking things for granted.”
The following season Monk caught 106 passes setting a league record. Monk credits the fact that the team adopted a more balanced offense for the achievement. “In Gibbs first year we were pass oriented and that didn’t work so well. So we went to a ground game. About this period of time we shifted a little into more of a balanced offense. I was moved from being just a wide receiver to playing H back. I would come out of the backfield and do a lot of motion. And we had a lot of success with that.”
That period of time was also the start of Monk’s consecutive game record for receptions. He caught at least one pass in 183 consecutive games.
One reason why Monk had so much success was that he had great receivers complementing him. During his career with the Redskins Monk was accompanied by Charlie Brown, Ricky Sanders, and Gary Clark. He points to Charlie Brown and Gary Clark as the best complements to his play.
The Redskins with Art Monk went on to play in two more Super Bowls winning both of them.
Gibbs retired as head coach after the 1992 season and Richie Pettibon, then the defensive coordinator, was named head coach. Charley Casserly also became general manager. About this time the Redskins started to phase Monk out. “The team brought in Tim McGee from Cincinnati and he was made the starter. The next year the team wanted to drastically cut my salary and they threatened to release me if I didn’t sign. I didn’t sign. So I left the Redskins and was picked up by the New York Jets.” He also played a few games for the Philadelphia Eagles the following season.
Monk’s career statistics look like this:
Monk was first in receptions in the league in 1984; second in receptions 1985; ninth in receptions in 1988 and third in receptions in 1989. He was fourth in the league in receiving yards in 1984, third in 1985 and 10th in 1989.
All time in the NFL he is fifth in receptions, ninth in receiving yards, 29th in receiving touchdowns and 26th in yards from scrimmage.
He retired after the 1995 season. Asked if he ever had a desire to be a coach, Monk answered, “I have had no desire to coach at all. To be a successful coach at this level you have to spend all your time doing it. I spent 16 years playing. I wanted to spend more time with my family.”
Today he is co-owner with fellow ex-Redskin Charles Mann of Alliant Merchant Services. Started in 2000, the company provides credit card processing services.
In 1989 Monk along with Mann and former Redskins Ernest Byner and Tim Johnson founded the Good Samaritan Foundation of Washington, D.C. “We were inspired to start the foundation to be active in the community,” explained Monk. “We wanted to combine our resources to do something to give back to the city. The community had supported us for so long and did great things for us. So we felt obligated to give back.”
The mission of the Good Samaritan Foundation is to prepare youth for leadership in the community and workplace. This is achieved through the Student Training Opportunity Program (STOP). The year-round program provides high school students with help with their homework and assistance in strengthening their academic skills and develop their social skills. It also assists participants in exploring their interests and encourages them to participate in moral development and other meaningful activities that help them build positive character traits and a sense of civic responsibility.
All participants in STOP are high school students who live in Southeast Washington, D.C. In addition, the Foundation is in the process of constructing a Training and Outreach Center in the Anacostia area of the city which will provide a safe place with structured activities during non-school hours. Future plans are to construct other Centers throughout the city.
Art Monk is married to a fellow ex-student of Syracuse University. He and Desiree were married in 1982. They have three children -- two girls and a boy. The family currently lives in Northern Virginia.
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