Commanders to retire Hall of Fame WR Art Monk's No. 81 during 2025 season

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Washington is honoring one of its most venerated heroes this season.

The Commanders announced on Monday they will retire the No. 81 worn by Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Monk during their Week 9 game against the Seattle Seahawks, a prime-time Monday night affair set for Nov. 2.

A product of Syracuse, Monk was a central figure in two different beloved receiving corps — “The Posse” and “The Fun Bunch” — producing immediately and consistently over 14 seasons in Washington. With Monk leading the pass-catching group, Washington won three Super Bowls (XVII, XXII, XXVI), and over the course of Monk’s long career in the nation’s capital, he caught 888 passes, broke 12,000 receiving yards (12,026), and snagged 65 receiving touchdowns, earning a deserved place on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade Team for the 1980s.

One number. Forever legendary.

Art Monk’s number 81 will officially be retired this season pic.twitter.com/T1bLURR2Yg

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) July 15, 2025

Even for a franchise that rarely retires numbers, Monk’s honor is long overdue. His 12,721 career receiving yards, 940 receptions, 68 touchdowns scored, three Pro Bowl nods and one first-team All-Pro selection garnered over 16 seasons earned him a place in Canton in 2008, yet he had to wait 30 years after his final NFL season before Washington decided to honor him by sending his jersey to the proverbial rafters.

It’s the latest sign of the new Josh Harris-led ownership group doing things differently in Washington, where the Commanders have decided to honor their past in a number of different fashions since the transaction was finalized ahead of the 2023 season.

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