Hello all, I have not posted anything specifically sports related and here is a topic that has bothered me for some time.  On this day when the Baseball Hall of Fame announced its class of 2008 making things right for past snub Goose Gossage (condolences to Jim Rice for missing by less than 3% and Big Mac for being made an example of again), it brings to mind Art Monk.  For some reason this remains a mystery to me, Monk has yet to be inducted into the Pro Football HOF.  Now, at the end of November, he was selected as one of the 26 semi-finalists to make it this year, so I hope the voters come to their senses THIS YEAR.  ***Reminder, if Art Monk or NFL wide receivers are not your cup of tea, please don't leave without at least checking out the goodies at the end of this posting (and all of my postings).

I have no affiliation to Mr. Monk, the Washington Redskins or anything related (as I have stated, I am a die hard Green Bay Packers fan).  I am a fan of the NFL and I have fond memories of watching Art Monk as I grew up.  He was a class act all the way, but he also has the numbers to back it up.  Winning championships are part of the criteria?  Well he played in 3 Super Bowls and won 2 of them.  So, what is the hold up?  Here are some more of the numbers:  He played for 16 seasons (14 with Washington) and was a 3 time Pro Bowler (in 85, 86 and 87).  He has 3 Super Bowl rings (one is from 82 when he did not play due to injury).  He was named to the NFL All-Decade Team for the 1980's.  In his career, he had 940 receptions for 12,721 yards and 68 touchdowns.  He was the first player ever to reach 900 career receptions and held that record until Jerry Rice passed it in 1995.  He was the first player to catch at least 1 TD in 15 consecutive seasons.  Plain and simple, ART MONK BELONGS IN THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME.  He was one of the best wide receivers of all time and definitely one of the top 10 of my generation.  Did someone say Top 10???  That gives me an idea.  Here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 WIDE RECEIVERS (1978-present):

10.  Sterling Sharpe (1988-1994)  Yes, I am biased by being a Packer fan and Sharpe played his entire short career in Green Bay.  I truly believe that if he would not have sustained the career-ending neck injury in 1994 that Sharpe would have been right near the top of this list.  He was a 5 time Pro Bowler who lead the league in receptions 3 times (89, 92 and 93).  In 1992, he broke Art Monk's single season record with 107 receptions then broke his own record the following year with 112.  He scored 18 touchdowns in 1994.  Wow, was he great.  If you saw him, you would agree.  He is rarely mentioned now and too quickly forgotten.

9.  Tim Brown (1988-2004)  Another class act despite the fact he played all but one of those seasons with the Raiders.  Brown was a 9 time Pro Bowler and named to the NFL 1990's All-Decade Team.  Currently ranks #2 all time in career receiving yards, #3 in career receptions and tied for #6 in career receiving touchdowns.  Can't argue with those numbers.  You could argue he should be higher on my list.

8.  Steve Largent (1976-1989)  One of the original Seattle Seahawks who was a 7 time Pro Bowler and inducted into the Pro Football HOF in 1995.  He held all 3 career receiving records (receptions, yards and touchdowns) when he retired, but has since seen them all broken.

7.  Terrell Owens (1996-present)  You can't argue with what he does on the field, but off the field or on the sidelines is a whole different story.  By the time his career is over, T.O. will be higher on this list.  Counting this year, he is a 7 time Pro Bowler.  He lead the league in receiving touchdowns in 3 seasons (01, 02 and 06).  Currently ranks #3 in career receiving touchdowns (already!), #9 in career receptions and #10 in career yards.

6.  Randy Moss (1998-present)  Dominant when he wants to be.  This guy scored 17 touchdowns in both 1998 and 2003 when he played for the Vikings.  That is nothing compared to the 23 touchdowns he caught this year with the Patriots breaking Jerry Rice's single season record.  Counting this year, he is a 7 time Pro Bowler and currently ranks #4 in career receiving touchdowns (already!!) and #14 in career yards.  Just imagine if he would not have wasted those 2 seasons in Oakland.

5.  Marvin Harrison (1996-present)  Another class act who has played his entire career with the Colts.  It helps when you have Peyton Manning throwing to you most of your career, but that road goes both ways.  He is an 8 time Pro Bowler and has that elusive Super Bowl ring from last season.  In 2002, he set the single season reception record with 143 (still stands).  Harrison currently ranks #4 in career receptions, #5 in career yards and #5 in career receiving touchdowns.  I have the feeling that he and Peyton will still be playing catch for several more years.

4.  Art Monk (1980-1995) See above.  Will soon be passed by the young T.O., Moss and Harrison, but he belongs in the Hall of Fame now.

3.  James Lofton (1978-1993)  Lofton played 9 seasons in Green Bay, so I am partial to him though he went on to play elsewhere in 1987.  He was a 8 time Pro Bowler and notorious for catching the long ball.  He was the first WR to eclipse 14,000 career yards receiving.  He held the record when he retired, but now ranks #4 being passed by Isaac Bruce earlier this year.  He was inducted into the Pro Football HOF in 2003.

2.  Cris Carter (1987-2002)  It pains me to put a Viking player this high on my list, but Carter deserves it.  This 8 time Pro Bowler started his career with the Eagles where Buddy Ryan released him saying that "All he does is catch touchdowns."  I thought that was a good thing.  Carter did catch his share of TD's currently ranking #2 for career receiving touchdowns.  He ranks #6 for career receiving yards and #2 for career receptions.  He caught 122 passes in both 1994 and 1995.  He had some of the best hands I have ever seen on a WR and made some amazing sideline catches keeping just the tips of his toes in bounds.  He will likely be passed by his protege Randy Moss and others on this list down the line, but he ranks a strong #2 for now.

1.  Jerry Rice (1985-2004)  Easily the best the player I have ever seen play the game, not just wide receiver.  He should really be 1, 2 and 3 on this list and have the next player start at 4.  In 20 seasons, he only missed 17 games (and 14 of those were in 1997 when he tore knee ligaments) while making the Pro Bowl 13 times and being named to NFL All-Decade Team for both the 1980's and 1990's.  Having played in 4 Super Bowls, he has 3 rings.  His 207 total touchdowns ranks #1 all-time for any player at any position.  He has the record with 273 consecutive games with a catch.  He ranks #1 in receiving yards (22,895), #1 in receptions (1,549) and #1 in touchdowns (197) and nobody is even a close second right now in any of those categories.  He is simply the best from any era and no doubt heads up the list for my generation.

I feel those are the 10 wide receivers.  The exact order (other than Rice being #1) is not all that important and will continue to evolve.  There are some other WR's that I really enjoyed, but I just could not get them up into my Top 10.  These would include guys like Andre Rison, Harold Carmichael, John Jefferson, Isaac Bruce, Charlie Joiner, etc.  Who do you think is missing???

Let's wrap this one up.  Thanks for readingmy blog!  If you like what you have seen thus far, please bookmark my blog and come back regularly.  I appreciate all the feedback, too.  If you get a chance, check out my LINKS down towards the bottom of the page and click on the one for Kent Ninomiya.  He had a great piece addressing the Roger Clemens and steroid discussion.  I might throw my 2 cents in on this subject at some point, but I really thought that Kent did a nice job here, so check it out.  Peace.

Check this out:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist
and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.
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Quote of the Day:  "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will."  -Vince Lombardi (great coach of the Green Bay Packers in the early 60's and winner of 5 NFL Championships)

Download This:  There is an album titled "80's Hits Stripped" which includes acoustic versions of some of the great songs from the 80's by the original artists.  (I love my 80's music!)  There are a couple songs that I would highly recommend from this particular album which is available on iTunes.  "Your Love (acoustic)" by the Outfield, "No One Is to Blame (acoustic)" by Howard Jones and "Missing You (acoustic)" by John Waite are all fantastic.  There are other songs that are quality, but those 3 are really special to me.  Go get them for yourself.