Green, Monk, Thomas elected to Hall

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PHOENIX — Darrell Green said it best after he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame yesterday in his first year of eligibility, along with longtime Washington Redskins teammate Art Monk and former Redskins assistant coach Emmitt Thomas.

"It's a Redskin day, baby," Green exulted here after the selections were announced. "Everyone said, 'You're a shoo-in,' but I never embraced that. And that's how I think I was able to play at a high level for so long.

"Before they ever paid me $120,000 my rookie year, I was already overpaid. My whole career I was overpaid, overrespected and overcared for."

Green, 48, set franchise records with 20 seasons and 54 interceptions when he was selected for seven Pro Bowls, the last one when he was 37 years old.

He had his signature moments when he ran down Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett from behind in his 1983 debut on "Monday Night Football" and when he returned a punt for a touchdown with pulled rib muscles to upset the Bears in frigid Chicago in a 1987 playoff game.

Monk, 50, played the first 14 of his 16 seasons in Washington.

Although Charlie Brown, Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders at times made more plays downfield, Monk once held the NFL records for career catches, catches in a season and consecutive games with a catch.

In the 1984 finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, Monk set a season record by catching 11 passes, including a 20-yarder on a fourth-and-18 that helped give the Redskins a 29-27 playoff-clinching victory.

"We asked Art to block and run inside routes that took away some of his average per catch," said former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who praised the character of Green and Monk. "Art was always unselfish, whatever it took to be a great teammate."

Monk was Washington's first pick in the 1980 draft, as Green was three years later for the defending champion Redskins.