With Induction comes reflection

Hail to the Redskins!!!! At long last, two of the classiest football players in the history of the game, if not all of professional sports, were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Washington Redskins Darrell Green and Art Monk.  Both exhibited the dignity of men of true character, men who played the game the way it should have been.  Both were celebrated the way they deserved to, on the grandest stage, in front of all of the football world, and they went in together, to take their rightful places amongst the immortals of football.  For Monk, this was the end of a long journey, starting with as successful a career most wide receivers could hope for, breaking records, and being a key part on one of the winnegest franchises in the 80’s, and ending after 8 inexplicable years of not campaining openly for voting support.  For Green, it was an honor which was bestowed on the fastest man in the league, a true Redskin in every respect, and a man who played at the highest level for the same team for twenty years. Their careers were chronicled by limitless cliches, but their names were usually followed by words like “class”, ”dignity”, “respect”, ”toughness” and “character”, not to mention a real allegience to the Washington Redskins. As such, this was a day which I will remember forever, because their play has inspired me for years.

It is not just that they are Redskins going into the Hall of Fame, but their enshrinement truly is my link to Redskins football for most of my life, back to when I started watching football with the 1982 Super Bowl.  I don’t remember too much from my earliest days, but I do know that these two men always displayed class on the field and off, and subscribed to the highest morals which great men demonstrate.  I cannot say that I am as reverent as these men; when they speak the gospel, I know that they believe in every word as their salvation.  I respect that they hold true to their virtues, and have demonstrated respect for themselves, their teams and their competitors, honoring the greatest values of the sport.  They have been, and remain solid pillars in their community…in my community, and they continue to give back, quietly and humbly, to help others out, in a manor which is nothing but credible and real.

Seeing them get in is a pleasure, because it validates the feelings I always held when I watched them play; the realization that I was watching true greats.  It is hard for me to decide who really fits this mold in the current crop of NFL stars.  I know that some guys will certainly be in the Hall of Fame, and some are obvious, while others are less clear, until their playing days are done.  Some great players are flashes in the pan, while others persevere from year to year.  There may be more accomplished players than Green and Monk, but none that I know of can be considered more admirable and respected as men than these two.  They truly played the game, and live their lives…the right way, the Redskin way, and they did so in a way that is truly rare, nowadays…a manner I will miss as the generations pass.

I think that one of the reasons I am really motivated to write about this has nothing to do with celebration, but actually, a bit of sadness.  I have been a sports fan as long as I can remember.  I don’t believe in athletes necessarily being heroes in the traditional mold, but I do acknowledge having certain men whom I idolized both for their play and their characters.  I am sad, because over the past few years, many of them have retired, and I struggle to find new athletes to favor in the same way.  The comforting thing, though, is to see that I am not alone in celebrating my childhood idols as all-time greats.  Last year, I saw Cal Ripken go into the Hall of Fame; tonight I saw Green and Monk get inducted, and in September, Patrick Ewing will be enshrined. They all played with the skill of the greats, and with the attitude of a champion, and still managed to set positive examples worthy of emulation.

I am reflective because these are links to my childhood. Life goes on, of course, and wonderful things take place.  It is satisfying to see your idols celebrated, but it is also hard to accept that the road really is over, and that you will never ever see them play again, or get the chance to celebrate them as athletes in the same way.  I am a Redskin fan now and forever, but these men represent the last link to an era clearly gone by.  Washington is Redskin city, and it is always a better place when they are winning.  I won’t use this forum to go into how they have eroded into a mediocre shadow of its former self, but thinking about these players brings me back to a era gone by.  Some of my great memories involve watching the great Redskins teams of the past, and it is a real part of me. As I have grown from a boy to a man, these players were constants.  As they have gone on to other things, so to have those parts of my life.  I am not complaining per se, but it is a bit sad, at least a cause for nostalgia, to think about this. This feeling is difficult to express through words, but I guess what it comes down to is that I can feel a connection with the past, of my youth gone by, when I see their highlights, and the realization is here that I too have had to move on. 

I am happy, and I am still a sports fan.  I will watch Patrick’s enshrinement with eagerness, and I will enjoy the twlight years of some of my other remaining ”idols”, guys like Mike Mussina, or NASCAR’s Mark Martin.  I will still enjoy watching some of the contemporary greats…guys like Tim Duncan. and Peyton Manning…and….I am struggling to think of athletes who I respect with the same reverence and for the same reasons as these other Hall of Famers from the past…(especially from the Knicks and the Redskins…my teams). It is perceivable that I will never see athletes like Green and Monk, or like Ripken or Ewing, not so much from the talent standpoint, but from the eye of a young man, looking for idols to look up to, and now struggling to find men with the complete package.  It is one thing to root for a man, and to enjoy his play; it is quite another to actually respect them as people.

I go to bed tonight satisfied in hailing two great men into the Hall of Fame, and I will treasure my memories, and the joy that  I remember having watching them. Thank you, Darrell and Art…for the memories, for the way you played, for the character you displayed…and for giving me figures and reasons to look up to you.  Hail to the Redskins!!!!