Listening to Art Monk, Tuesday’s surprise to him from the Washington Commanders was about the others, not merely himself.
Monk heard someone was at the door of his home, so he opened it and was surprised to see so many familiar faces smiling to greet him. The former Redskins receiver sat down and talked with Washington Post reporter Nicki Jhabvala about the special surprise.
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Told instantly they were there to honor Monk for his Hall of Fame career and to announce to him personally his jersey was going to be retired, Monk thought of those old teammates and how their taking the time to come to him personally meant so much to him. “It was good to see their faces there, I just felt like home,” said a visibly touched Monk. “When I was playing during those seasons, it is one thing to stand over on the sidelines. But when you are called into the game, and you get into that huddle and you see those familiar faces, you feel, I don’t even know how to explain it. It is just a comfortable place to be.”
Monk was looking around at his old teammates in his home to celebrate with them, spend a special moment, and it meant so much to the former first-round selection of the Redskins in the 1980 NFL draft (18th overall). At a loss for words, but moved with feelings of gratitude, he expressed, “I don’t know, it was just a great feeling to see their faces.”
Monk conveyed to Jhabvala that he had not played on FedEx Field, only at RFK during his career (1980-95). “Coming out onto that field and hearing the roar of the fans, that was so loud, it was deafening. It just made you feel good. You knew you were home. You knew you had everyone behind you, and standing with you and cheering for you to do well. When you did well, there was another roar of excitement and appreciation. That is what I remember most about being in that stadium.”
One particular moment Monk will always recall was a Monday Night home game in 1992 against the Denver Broncos. Monk went into motion to the right, then ran a quick out and Monk caught Mark Rypien’s pass to break Steve Largent’s record for most pass receptions in an NFL career.
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Another tremendous memory for Monk at RFK was the 1984 season finale against the then-NFC East rival St Louis Cardinals. In the fourth quarter, Monk caught a pass over the middle for 11 yards from Joe Theismann for his 101 overall catch of the 1984 season, tying Charlie Hennigan’s single-season mark, which had been set 20 years earlier in 1964. A couple of plays later, Theismann went further down the field to Monk for a 37-yard gain, for Monk’s then-NFL single-season record 102 receptions. The crowd roared for one of their Redskins’ favorites, and he was presented a game ball.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Art Monk was humbled by the Commanders decision to honor him
