Posted on 08/03/2008 9:14:14 AM PDT by fkabuckeyesrule
Thank you. Deacon Jones said I would cry. You bet your life I'm going to cry. You bet your life I'm going to cry. You bet your life, I will. That's my boy. That's my boy right there.
It ain't this in that. It's that [son]. Thank God. What a great day. What a great day. I want to thank the committee, the selection committee, the ones who put me up here, some men and women that watched my career over those 20 seasons and said he should be here and he should be here now. Thank you, guys, and ladies. The Pro Football Hall of Fame, this city, this organization, thank you for hosting me and my family and friends. Jared, you are the man. I'll tell you I haven't seen everybody, but I've seen a lot in the world and material and so forth. And I have a clear vantage point, a crystal clear vantage point, of what things are really important. It's Jesus Christ, his people, his family, it's your sons and daughters, your brothers and sisters. It's what makes me excited today.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
I don’t know if anyone got a chance to watch the HOF speeches last night. But I think I may have laughed and cried atleast a dozen times. There was practically a 3 hour infomercial for Jesus last night on ESPN and the NFLN. I was glad to see Emmitt THomas get in the HOF.
I am sure that made a lot of folks at the network very uncomfortable. It is great to see men who can give thanks to Christ in a public arena without being threatened by an ACLU lawsuit.
If Green had given this speech as a graduating high schooler, he would have been hauled into a federal court and threatened with jail time.
Green and Monk were perfect representatives of God fearing men, cloaked in humility.
Great athletes and humble men. Glad to see that. I missed Green’s but watched Monks’ speech.
To Jesus be the glory. Thank you. Bless you.
Amen Brother, Amen.
As I Giants fan I always detested the Washington Redskins back in the 1980s and early 1990s when they were heated rivals. But it was hard not to like players like Art Monk and Darrell Green . . . especially Green, who was one of the best cornerbacks and all-around athletes in NFL history, and who was still able to compete as a finalist in the NFL’s Fastest Man competition even after the age of 40!
As an old Redskins fan, I don’t think anyone ever deserved the honor as mush as Darrell Green. On the other hand, I was disappointed that the other Redskin inductee, Art Monk, had to mention racism in his acceptance speech. He,too, was a great player, but sometimes these millionaires need to just shut up and be thankful for what they have. Everyone has to overcome something to attain success.
I can't understand why it took so long for him to be inducted in the Hall of Fame.
I don’t why Monk was not in the HOF earlier or not. I don’t know what the stanndards are for the football HOF. In baseball fans tend to have fairly solid standards for HOF (3000 strike outs, 300 wins, 500 HR’s, 3000 hits etc.,) however football has to be different for each position. Maybe some sportswriters associate him with the end of Howard Cosell’s broadcasting career. (Coselll referred to MOnk as a “little monkey” on Monday Night Football once)and they hold that against him for some reason.
Monk was, for whatever reason or reasons, never a media favorite. I’ve never figured out why, except that he wasn’t much of a quote factory, like a Deion Sanders or Michael Irvin.
That wasn’t Monk that Cosell referred to as a “little monkey,” btw. It was another Redskins receiver, Alvin Garrett.
}:-)4
Your question about Hall of Fame induction and different positions is a good one. Tight ends, for example, have historically had a hard time getting into the Hall of Fame -- probably because the nature of that position has changed so much over the years and it's hard to compare players from different generations.
I suspect it took so long for Monk to get into the Hall of Fame for two major reasons:
1. The records he set didn't stand for very long, as the peak of his career came just before the 1990s when rule changes in the NFL made 100-reception seasons more common among wide receivers.
2. Even though he was a great wide receiver and played for many years in the NFL, he was always overshadowed by other receivers and was never really considered among the top 2 or 3 receivers in the league. Top WRs in the NFL earlier in his career included Steve Largent, Roy Green and James Lofton . . . while guys like Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin and Sterling Sharpe (who I believe was the best wide receiver in the NFL even during Jerry Rice's best years) were dominant in the early 1990s.
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