Art Monk is best remembered as a star receiver for the Washington Redskins.
Monk’s four-year college career, however, is less recognized outside Syracuse, where he serves on the school’s board of trustees.
“What I did in college does get overshadowed, so something like this is great,” Monk said. “You get to step back out into the forefront and say, ‘Hey, I wasn’t just a great professional athlete, but I also did some things in college that were worth being recognized.’ ” Monk, Ty Detmer, Dave Casper, Charles Alexander, Art Shell and Jimmy Johnson were among 24 former players and coaches enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday night.
The hall has moved from South Bend, Ind., but the new building in downtown Atlanta is still under construction and scheduled to open in August 2014.
Atlanta was hosting its first enshrinementceremony in a hotel ballroom adjacent to what will be a 94,256-square foot museum that organizers believe will host 500,000 visitors each year.
Other hall inductees included Steve Bartkowski, Jonathan Ogden, Phillip Fulmer and R.C. Slocum.
Other offensive players enshrined were Bartkowski (California quarterback who was the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick in 1975 by the Atlanta Falcons), splitend Hal Bedsole (helped Southern Cal win the 1962 national title), Rice quarterback Tommy Kramer (set NCAA single-season passing record in 1976) and Colorado guard John Wooten (1958 All-American).
Defensive players included Colorado State cornerback Greg Myers (1995 Thorpe Award winner), Texas Tech tackle Gabe Rivera (1982 All-American), Kansas State linebacker Mark Simoneau (1999 Big12 defensive player of the year) and Air Force safety Scott Thomas.
Organizers said that Johnson, Detmer, Ogden, Otis Armstrong and National Football Foundation chairman Archie Manning were unable to attend the event.
Manning, a former Mississippi quarterback and father to NFL star QBs Peyton and Eli Manning, is recovering from back surger y.
Fulmer (led Tennessee to 1998 national title) and Slocum (Texas A&M’s career-leading winner in now-defunct Southwest Conference) were enshrined as coaches.
Shell was one of seven inductees from FBS or lower division schools – Washington University linebacker Shelby Jordan, Westminster (Pa.) quarterback Joe Micchia, Ithaca College fullback Jeff Wittma n a nd coaches Frank Cignetti of West Virginia and Indiana (Pa.), Boots Donnelly of Austin Peay and Middle Tennessee State and Jess Dow of Southern Connecticut State.