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Monk won't be the only once-reclusive player to have to stand up this evening and give the speech of a lifetime. Zimmerman also was known for keeping his thoughts to himself as a player, and he said the attention and coverage he has received since being elected in February have been "a little stressful."
But Zimmerman also said the speechwriting process had gone better than expected.
"The problem is I've got twice as much as I need," Zimmerman said, "so that's my issue right now, and I'm trying to cut it in half and not screw up the whole meaning of it. . . . For the first time in my life, I have too much to say."
Monk seemed to be similarly unburdened.
"Basically you're just writing about your experience, maybe what you think about the Hall of Fame, about receiving this honor, identifying people who have helped you along the way," Monk said. "You know, maybe making a statement about how you feel, what you stand for, those kinds of things. So it's just a matter of kind of pulling all those thoughts together and putting them in a form that kind of makes sense to everybody."
Monk was expansive during a conference call with reporters this week, talking about his first experience in organized football playing Pop Warner as an 11-year-old -- he detested it, he said -- and beginning his high school career as a lineman before finally getting a chance as a tight end during his junior year.
He went on to become the model of professionalism and workmanlike productivity for the superb Redskins teams of Joe Gibbs's first coaching go-round. Gibbs and others associated with the organization were amazed and annoyed year after year when the Hall of Fame selectors passed over Monk.
"I've heard all kinds of reasons why it took so long -- that I was quiet, wasn't a very outspoken person," Monk said. "I didn't speak to the media, wasn't good enough -- a lot of different reasons. Whether they're valid or not, again, it was what it was. So there's really not much I can do about it. . . . I think I'm sort of glad it took longer.
"I can appreciate it more. You know, these past seven [or] eight years, there's been so much. It just set people in an uproar in this community, you know: 'Why not? What's the problem? How come you're not in?' Really, when I think back, just sit down and think about it, I'm glad it didn't happen right away. Otherwise I would never have gone through all of these years just kind of really getting more of an appreciation for it."
