Casey Husband argued at the official site that Character Should Count in the Hall of Fame. Needless to say I completely agree with him, as that would only strengthen an Art Monk bid. From Casey:
Not just because of the fact that on Oct. 12, 1992, he became the NFL's all-time receptions leader with career catch No. 820. But because of the fact that Monk brought character to the game.
A recent article on Monk's Good Samaritan Foundation really drove that point about character home for me, although similar stories of selflessness, charity, and character from Monk aren't hard to come by. Emphasis mine:
"The foundation is something that's very important," he said. "We feel it's a responsibility that we have to do our part to look after the youth in Washington. ... It's not just something that we do to have people look at us and say, `Hey, we're doing a good job.' This is serious to us.
"We're not looking for a pat on the back. We're just looking to do good work."
Of course Michael Irvin should also be praised for his sterling reputation and character to which Keith Bilbray can attest:
Just saying.
Update [2007-2-7 10:8:9 by Skin Patrol]: Kirkendell over at Cincy Jungle weighed in on the character issue and has some interesting thoughts. He agrees that Art Monk should be in, but also believes that character should not be "debilitating" on entry. Thoughts?