Commanders honor franchise ‘pillar’ Monk, retire No. 81 jersey

Hall of Fame wide receiver Art Monk was immortalized at Northwest Stadium on Sunday. The Hall of Famer became the sixth former Washington player to have his jersey retired by the franchise, an honor that former teammates and current players said was long overdue.

Fans flocked to the stadium early ahead of the primetime game against the Seattle Seahawks, ready to celebrate Monk and the debut of Washington’s “Super Bowl Era” throwback uniforms. Many longtime supporters donned Monk’s No. 81, a number no Commander will ever wear again.

“He’s the one. He’s the one everyone recognizes, and he deserves every honor,” said Etta Ford, a longtime fan who donned her No. 81 jersey for Sunday’s game.

Ford has been a Washington football fan since 1974, but Monk’s arrival in 1980 sent her support for the team into hyperdrive.

“I said, ‘I wonder who all these players are under these helmets?’ Then Monk took his off and I said, ‘Who is this good-looking man?’” Ford said on her way into the stadium.

Monk, Washington’s all-time leading receiver, is the sixth former player to have his number retired by the Commanders. He joins former teammate Darrell Green, whose No. 28 was retired last year, Sonny Jurgensen, Sammy Baugh, Bobby Mitchell and Sean Taylor.

Nobody deserves the honor more than Monk and Green, according to former Washington quarterback Doug Williams.

“To be honest, they are the two pillars of this franchise as far as longevity and what they did during that time, not taking anything away from the other guys,” Williams, who played with Monk from 1986 through 1989, told The Washington Times. “But those two guys resonate when you think about the Washington Redskins and now the Commanders.”

Monk spent 14 seasons in Washington as a franchise cornerstone, on and off the field.

It’s a status that current punter Tress Way, the longest-tenured active Commander, said he can only dream of.

“There’s levels to this thing,” he said after a practice this week. “There’s certain guys that are just written in stone of what they’ve meant to the franchise and their production, the people they are, the stories, the memories. I think that he is definitely a prime example.”

Monk wasn’t just a locker room staple. He was the most consistent receiver of his generation. Before Jerry Rice rewrote the NFL record books, Monk was the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions. He became the first NFL receiver to surpass 100 catches in a season and caught at least one pass in 183 consecutive games, then a league record.

“You know what I called Art? First down,” said Doug Williams, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback who played with Monk for four seasons. “Because just about every pass he caught was for a first down. … He could lull you to sleep. He was big, and people didn’t think he was running, but he was moving. Before you know it, he’d run by you.”

Despite his on-field prowess and off-field status, Monk never embraced the spotlight. That created an odd situation for him on Sunday, as fans and former teammates feted the New York native.

“It is kind of weird. I’ve never had anything like this done. It’s an honor, absolutely, and I see it that way and I appreciate it,” Monk said when the honor was first announced over the summer. “I guess I’ll get used to it.”

The Commanders even debuted their throwback “Super Bowl Era” uniforms, which mirrored the Redskins’ looks of the 1980s and 90s, to mark the occasion. Northwest Stadium’s Legend Plaza offered 20th-century pricing: 75-cent sodas, dollar popcorns and hot dogs available for $1.75.

Fans piled into the concourse to salute the final No. 81 in franchise history. It’s the least that the franchise could do for a man who assisted in all three of Washington’s Super Bowl wins.

“Art was such a pillar of this organization,” Williams, now a senior adviser to Commanders general manager Adam Peters, said. “It’d be hard not to do this for Art Monk; if you can do it for anybody, Art Monk certainly deserves a day like this.”

Fans and former teammates said the honor is overdue. That doesn’t mean Monk welcomes the attention.

“I can’t run from this. After a big game or something, I could come to the locker room and hide in the training room from reporters,” Monk said in July. “A game is somewhat temporary. This one, it’s present; it’s now. I could run, but no, I’m not running from this one.”