Washington Commanders Will Retire Wide Receiver Art Monk’s Jersey No. 81 On Nov. 2
He was always a team player which played a large role throughout his NFL career. When he retired from the game after the 1995 season he was the all-time leading receiver. Since that time he has slid to 24th on the list but it definitely is a testament to how well he played the game. He played so well that he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. Now he is slated to receive yet another accolade as the Washington Commanders will retire wide receiver Art Monk’s jersey No. 81 on Nov. 2. No one will ever wear that number that he made famous again.
Besides being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame he was also added to the team’s Ring of Fame. Now he’ll add another notch to his belt of accomplishments. He becomes the sixth player in franchise history to have his number retired, joining Sammy Baugh, Bobby Mitchell, Darrell Green, Sonny Jurgensen and Sean Taylor. And he earned that distinction during his 16 year career, 14 of which were with Washington. He also spent a season each with the New York Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles.
It was the pleasure of some of his former teammates like Gary Clark, Ricky Sanders and Doug Williams to deliver the good news to Monk. They were accompanied by Washington Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris, Team President Mark Clouse and several family members. Monk was always a man of few words so all he could say was, “What the…?” But his humility was one of the things that endeared him to his teammates. He played the game because he loved the sport and didn’t expect to receive any accolades in return.
Washington Commanders Will Retire Wide Receiver Art Monk’s Jersey No. 81 On Nov. 2
Monk never took his teammates for granted but appreciated being a member of both “The Posse,” which included Sanders and Clark. And “The Fun Bunch” alongside Virgil Seay, Charlie Brown, Alvin Garrett, Rick “Doc” Walker and Don Warren. Both groups delivered Super Bowls to the franchise while making league history.
But as for Monk’s individual accomplishments, he set a single-season record with 106 receptions in 1984. He was part of three Super Bowl championships during his Washington tenure. He was the first player to record over 100 receptions in the Super Bowl Era, reach 820 receptions in a career and record a catch in 180 consecutive games. Describing his approach to the game Monk said:
“It was a lot of fun,” Monk said. “No matter where we were…it was just a lot of fun. We laughed all the time but we also took our job seriously. But during the offseason, we just enjoyed being around each other. We fed off of each other; we challenged each other. We helped make each other what we ended up becoming.”
Congratulations to Art Monk on having his famous jersey No. 81 retired forever!
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