Is This Art Monk's Time?

Former Washington Redskins wide receiver Art Monk could be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when electors gather on Saturday, February 3. This is Monk's seventh or eighth time coming before the committee. He should have been a first-ballot lock years ago.

He meant as much, if not more, to the Washington Redskins of the first Joe Gibbs era as any other offensive player. He did not say much. He did not throw tantrums and dance like a fool after scoring a touchdown. He simply did his job, which was to come up with huge catches at crucial times. He had a big impact in the locker room and the practice field. His work ethic was second-to-none. He left the NFL in the mid-1990s as the leading receiver in the history of the game.

Russ Grimm, one of the famous Hogs, the Redskin offensive unit during the Monk era, also is a candidate for the hall on Saturday. He recently was passed over as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He deserved that job, and he deserves to make the hall.

But I find it hard to believe the electors, some of whom probably never saw either player compete, would elect two Redskins to anything.

Also on tomorrow's ballot, among a long list of candidates in what is viewed as perhaps a bit weaker field this year, is former Oakland Raider kicker Ray Guy. I'm hoping the judges put the football back into the hall and elect Guy.

He's a guy (pardon that!) who as a boy growing up in Georgia wanted simply to kick a football over a powerline. Did he ever!

Cynics laughed when then Raider Coach John Madden and owner Al Davis selected Guy as a No. 1 draft choice. The laughing died quickly, as Guy pinned down the opposition with his kicks in the proverbial coffin corner.