Why Art Monk Is The Man
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Feb 7, 2007
Well, a black head coach won the Super Bowl, and it was a nice thing to see. And yet, even with that, there are still so many more wrongs that need to be righted before anyone can really take overt pleasure in it all.
This brings me to a local story about a local former Syracuse University star who also became, in his time, the leading receiver in NFL history. His name is Art Monk, and, of all things, he's still not in the Hall of Fame. He played for the Washington Redskins, and if I can forgive him for that, being a Cowboys fan, one would think that the press, those who vote for Hall of Fame candidates, would forgive him for basically alienating them during his entire career. He wouldn't speak to the press; they called it arrogance, but he was just a quiet man who had his own sense of dignity, and didn't want that kind of publicity. There was another man at this year's Super Bowl who, because now the rules say you have to, gave his first interview in many years himself, another Syracuse University standout named Marvin Harrison, on the winning team no less.
Anyway, this is about Art Monk. And just what has he done? Well, what he did was go back further in Syracuse University's history to, in his quiet way, demand special chancellor's awards for a group of players known at the Syracuse 8 (which was actually 9; nobody took the time to count). What they did was, as a group, decided to boycott the team to decry racial injustices that they were being subjected to at the time. The local press decided that they were just malcontents, which is how local press used to cover anything across the country when minorities decided they'd had enough, and even when the university investigated and found merit in what they'd said, and, in doing the right thing, diversified the coaching staffs of their major sports, the local press tore into these men, which in turn led local fans to give them grief, and there's been a sore spot in the hearts of these players for almost 40 years.
Art Monk decided it was time to heal the rift, and he got it done. That's the character of this man, it's what Black History Month is all about, and it's just one more reason why he should be in the Hall of Fame.