[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I have a feeling Irvin will get in before Monk and here's why. I love Monk as much as anyone, but keep an open mind here.

Take a look at their career stats, take a close look at the 'Seasons among the league's top 10':

Irvin

Monk

Here's my quick summary of some of the key stats:

1000 yard seasons: Monk (5), Irvin (7)
Season high yardage: Monk (1372), Irvin (1603)
Seasons over 1200 yards: Monk (2), Irvin (5)
Seasons with at least 6 TD catches: Monk (5), Irvin (6)

Monk's career numbers are much better, but he also played 4 more seasons than Irvin.

Monk will get in the Hall eventually in my opinion, but he isn't the kind of WR that blows the hall voters away and when you look at his stats there isn't much there to better his case.

If you take a straight average of all his stats to his 16 year career, his average season works out to be 59 catches, 795 yards and 4 TD's.

Irvin in comparison over his 12 years averages out to 63 catches, 992 yards and 5 TD's per season.

Monk was a very solid WR for a long period of time, Irvin was a very good WR for a shorter amount of time.

I know they played in different eras and there's always the intangibles to account for, but just looking at the numbers and the way they break down, I won't be the least bit surprised if Irvin gets in before Monk.

Excellent points, Matty. There's a very simple explanation I've heard among voters and members of the media as to Monk's absence from the Hall: He didn't "stand out". Peter King often says that when the Giants played the Skins, their first concerns were the running game, and Gary Clark. For that reason, and probably because he hates the Skins in general, King has said he will never vote for Art Monk.

Those averages for a season over his career are very telling. Monk was dependable and solid, but he wasn't exactly a game-breaker. That was Gary Clark. One other little tidbit, Monk never caught a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl. The fact that Monk didn't stand out in big games probably doesn't help his case either. My feeling is that he'll get in someday, but he's simply not a "shoe-in" for the HoF.