Off-season again so it's time for another story since I can get any sleep tonight. Mike said the Hall of Fame weekend for the induction of Art Monk and Darrel Green was one of his fondest Redskins' stories and it is one of mine as well. But it almost didn't happen for me.
I was in the midst of my junior & senior years at FSU where I completed my final 61 credits in 15 months. Of course it was early August while most students were either preparing for their return to school or still living it up on some beach somewhere. It was Florida after all. Anyway, it was the second half of the summer session and I was taking 3 courses. Yes, I was taking 3 courses in a 6 week summer session, the second half of my 3rd level college Spanish course, Christian Tradition and Religions of South Asia.
Needless to say, my head was spinning with all the reading that was condensed into those 6 weeks and all I could think about was the chatter over at ES about the upcoming weekend in Canton. I agonized over getting there, but it just didn't seem feasible. The event took place on the weekend before my finals for the summer session. The first final was slated for 8am that Monday morning and I was not able to simply brush off my Friday class since missing class affected our grade. (I thought this was college?
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As I am known to do, I manipulated and schemed in my mind every possible scenario that could get me to Canton in time for the induction ceremony on Saturday Night and back to Tallahassee in time for my Spanish final at 8am Monday. The only way I could swing it financially was to drive to Jacksonville (2 hours 20 minutes) and fly out from there since the Tallahassee airport was regional and it was 3 times as expensive. I would not have been able to swing it otherwise. But here's the kicker, all the flights into Cleveland that Saturday morning were full since I was buying this ticket with less than a week's notice. So I had to fly into Pittsburgh, rent a car and drive to Canton (2 hours).
So my itinerary was set and I was off:
That Friday night I could not sleep. I decided to go ahead and drive to JAX at midnight the day of the ceremony. I arrived at the airport around 2:30 am and tried to get a little sleep there. My flight was scheduled to leave around 6:30 am. Finally after not being successful at getting to sleep thanks to the hottie who I had been talking to for hours. I get to the gate only to be told my flight had been cancelled! I about **** myself! There was a mechanical issue with the plane so it was cancelled. I almost flipped my lid when the smarmy attendant got smart with me. I expressed my urgency but it didn't seem to matter. Eventually, things were worked out and instead of a direct flight to Pittsburgh I would have a layover in Charlotte. No biggie, it was only about an hour delay altogether. Whew!
At the airport in Charlotte I met up with Dean Collins who was flying from Tampa and we discussed the hotel accommodations. From there he was flying into Cleveland, but I had to fly to Pittsburgh and drive to our hotel. So I finally arrive in Kent at about 1 in the afternoon. Mind you it was over 24 hours since I had slept so I had to lay down for about an hour. I slept til bout 3 and Dean had already left for the Tailgate so I hurried down there myself.
I finally got to the ES Tailgate at around 3:30ish with the ceremony starting around 6ish. I got the chance to see many of the characters I had met at the Cowboys shut out the previous season like Pez, Huly, Jrock (a.k.a Lanky) and HH and got to meet a few new guys like Big Mike and Fuji. We all shuttled over to the Induction Ceremony. It was like one huge party! I was with HH and TLC and a few others until we got to the stadium where I snuck down to about the 10th row on an aisle seat for the ceremony.
At this point I was tired and hungry and I was second guessing such an impulsive decision for something that was nothing more than some OK fun. It was cool to see the likes of Don Warren and Doc Walker. I had the chance to make fun of Tom Jackson sitting at the ESPN desk. I yelled something obnoxious to Berman who completely ignored me.
I saw a lot of super star NFL players and was preparing to see the induction ceremony. I had the chance to boo Miachael Irvin with thousands of my fellow Skins' fans.
Finally Darrell Green was introduced by his son. While it was awesome to see, I have to admit when I was listening to Darrell Green, I thought he was a bit arrogant. He kept repeating, "I belong here!" Yeah, we heard you the first 4 times Darrell, we agree. But it was exciting, I was enjoying myself. Zimmerman from Denver was pretty cool too. But I am not really sure any of us were truly prepared for what was to come.
We sat through like 4 of the players introduction and the sun had begun to set when it was time for Art Monk to be introduced. I can't remember who introduced his son, but you could tell it was Art's son by the way he talked. Darrell's son was just like Darrell, very boisterous. He gave an awesome introduction for his dad, and I was glad to see Darrell Green inducted even if his speech was a little ego filled. But Art's son was humble, sharp, effectual...a very moving intro for his father. The 2 of them walked over to the covered bust, lifted the black velvet vail together and the stadium, which was 90% full of Redskins' fans, erupted into the most moving and meaningful show of appreciation I have ever witnessed. After being denied year after year, told he wasn't good enough when the man held the all time receiving record at one point in NFL history. He was a major part of a team that won 3 Super Bowls in his tenure on that squad. This man belonged there and there we were to finally see him inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The moment was upon us and it is forever stained in my memory as one of the most awesome experiences of my life.
It was clocked at somewhere between 4 and 5 minutes, but it felt like an eternity as we fans stood and cheered for this icon of Redskins history being recognized, finally. I stood with thousands as we did not allow him to speak to us until we had shown him how much we knew he belonged in that Hall, how much we appreciated Arthur Monk. We all loved Darrell Green, but Art Monk stood for something that has long since seemed to pass us by. He was a man of high character, humble, polite, hard working, affable, soft-spoken. He was a great WR in the NFL. He was apart of greatness for 11 years and we were all there to let him know, his hard work and greatness would not go overlooked any longer. We let him know how deserved he was of such accolades! And by the look on his face, you could tell the moment was not lost. I was close enough to see his eyes well as we cheered and cheered and cheered. Again, it was only about 4 or 5 minutes, but if felt like an eternity!
He finally had the opportunity to speak to us and complete gratitude was on display. He thanked us repeatedly, he spoke of his relationship with God, he spoke of his family, his friends, his team mates, and the fans. As this all went on, I thought to myself that the decision to go through all of the last minute details and round about route to get there was worth it. It was worth every sleepless moment to witness such an unbelievable event take place. I have missed out on many great historical events throughout my lifetime for various reasons, but I was there when the Redskins' faithful refused to let Art Monk speak until he knew how much we appreciated what he meant to the Redskins' us! What an awesome spectacle!
After the ceremony, there was one other event that was like icing on the cake for me. I managed my way through the crowd as I saw Darrell and Art ushered to the opposite side of the Stadium. I followed them to where they were going to be interviewed on stage. I sat there taking pictures of them when I saw a crowd forming. I was kinda tired so I didn't want to have to fight a crowd so I was dropped my camera and turned to my left only to find Coach Gibbs standing shoulder to shoulder with me. I extended my hand and thanked him for giving so much of himself. The crowd worked it's way over and he began to get swamped with autograph seekers. I decided that was my time to exit. I had the opportunity to briefly chat with Coach Gibbs. I have to say, all those years working in South Florida restaurants, I was never star struck. I sure was that night!
Needless to say, I made the return trip all the way back to Tallahassee in time for my Finals. I got home by 1 am on Monday 7 hours before my first final of the summer session. I missed out on some very serious fun with the fellas, Mike, Lanky and honorary hog can tell you about those times. Mike, why were you so hard on the damn Colts' mascot?
But I made it for the most important part of the weekend, the tribute to Art Monk and Darrell Green. What a great weekend! I will never forget it!
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..anyways i'm meeting skins fan left and right that actully made the trip from D.C. really kool peps ...so the game starts and where just kicking ass , and i'm screaming my lungs out ...and not a niner fan in sight ...we were on defense and the whole stadium went crazy and started shouting DEFENSE , DEFENSE...i felt like i was at a home game was a great feeling since i never been to a home game...we won that game , and the best part is 5x8 photo of #28 d.green which i got him to sign before he retired..
