Thirty years after he retired as the league’s all-time receptions leader, and 17 years after he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, legendary receiver Art Monk’s jersey No. 81 is being officially retired.
The announcement was met with a lot of “What took you so long?” from Washington Commanders fans.
Monk’s jersey, along with many others, had been out of circulation, or unofficially retired, since he left the game back in 1995. At that point, the franchise had only one officially retired number —the No. 33 worn by the first true great in Washington football history, Sammy Baugh.
For reasons that were never explained, the club went many decades without formally retiring any more numbers. Instead, the organization simply would not assign a famous number to new players, as has been the case with Monk’s.
Before 2020, his was one of 10 jersey numbers apart from Baugh’s that were permanently out of circulation.
Commanders are now retiring numbers for the right reasons, not to distract from disgrace
There are no league-wide guidelines regarding retired numbers. Each franchise makes up its own rules. Some clubs, like the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys, have never officially retired a number. Some of the oldest had to slow the process or else risk running out of numbers. The Chicago Bears have officially retired a league-record 14 jerseys.
The Cincinnati Bengals have only retired a single number — that of Bob Johnson. No one wears No. 12 in Seattle in honor of the fans, also known as the “12th Man" or the "Twelves."
Washington didn't need to begin retiring numbers in 2020. But that’s exactly what they did. And the reason is, unfortunately, cynical — a perfect symbol of former ownership.
Washington retired Bobby Mitchell’s No. 49 in 2020. They followed it with Sean Taylor’s No. 21 in 2021, Sonny Jurgensen’s No. 9 in 2022, and Darrell Green’s No. 28 last year.
If anyone deserved to have his number retired, it was Mitchell. He was a giant both on the field and off for decades. He was the player who integrated the last racially segregated team in the league. He was a Pro Football Hall of Fame performer.
After retiring, Mitchell served in management for a quarter century. He probably should have been given the general manager job at some point.
But why did it suddenly dawn on those in charge to retire his number in 2020? The Dan Snyder ownership group had been in control of the team for 20 years. He could have begun a new tradition at any point.
Washington retired Mitchell’s jersey in 2020 because that was when the Washington Post published bombshell stories of sexual harassment that would eventually lead to mass firings and the sale of the franchise.
I don’t suppose anyone can prove this, but the conclusion is inescapable. Snyder was attempting to distract his increasingly angry fan base by throwing them a bone. What should have been a tremendous honor for one of the franchise’s all-time greats turned into a sideshow.
At the time, Snyder’s spokespeople defended the decision by arguing that it coincided with Mitchell’s death. He had died earlier that year. That makes so little sense that people thought it might be true. What reason could there possibly be for waiting until your franchise icon was dead before honoring him?
In the remaining years of Snyder’s beleaguered ownership, it appeared that every time some bad news hit the press, another jersey retirement announcement was soon to follow. It was just one further insult heaped onto a once-proud franchise by its ownership. They took what should have been a chance to celebrate past glories and turned it into something questionable at best.
No such questions will accompany the Monk retirement ceremony. There is a new owner and a new ethos. He doesn’t have to perform such P.T. Barnum-style maneuvers to distract a fan base. Josh Harris and the Commanders are retiring Monk’s jersey because he was one of the greatest players in club history. No ulterior motives.
You can look up all of Monk’s spectacular achievements. If you are old enough, you probably remember them. He was a core player on the greatest teams in franchise history. A quiet leader who never spoke off the field, preferring to let his play on the field do his talking. On the field, he was remarkably eloquent.
He was a big receiver who was fast. He was a fast receiver who was a technician. Those things have become commonplace as passing has grown in importance. But they were not the norm when Monk played.
Monk was criticized by some because he didn’t make a ton of “big plays.” He was a possession receiver, but in the best sense of the term.
Statistics are hard to come by, but it is safe to say that almost three-quarters of Monk’s catches resulted in a first down or a touchdown. That’s rarefied air. That’s about what Ja’Marr Chase does today, in the era of passing.
No one is going to question whether Monk deserves to have his number retired. The answer is a resounding yes. The good thing about this ceremony is that it is happening for the right reasons — because the franchise is now in the hands of ownership that wants to recognize those who helped make it great.
That has not always been the motivation in the recent past.
Perhaps in years to come, we will see other numbers on display in the stadium. numbers like 27, 42, 43, 44, and 65. They would all be deserving.
Just as Monk is.
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