I don’t use the word “great” very often, for the simple fact that many use it too often. Words have meaning, so “great” should only be used to describe people or things that are excellent, awesome, and amazing. Coleman’s contributions to the Redskins were truly excellent, both on and off the field. Coleman died this weekend; He was only 68 years old. The cause of his death has not been revealed so far.
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All that said, Monte Coleman was a “great” Washington Redskin. Coleman didn’t play football growing up and was a walk-on at Central Arkansas, first as a cornerback. A tremendously hard worker, Coleman became the first player in Central Arkansas University history to be drafted by the NFL.
Recalling his first NFL experience, Coleman said he remembered “wearing the Washington Redskins uniform in my first preseason game. Just the thought of this little country kid getting a chance to play professional football. That will always stand out to me. I didn’t do anything spectacular, all I did was play special teams, but that will always be a special moment in my mind.”
That’s Mount Coleman. Special teams was how he made the Redskins roster in his rookie season. He was not chosen until the eleventh round, 289th overall. He understood that, in those 1979 preseason games, he would need to excel on special teams to get noticed. Making the 1979 team, it wasn’t an instant star linebacker story, as Coleman didn’t start a single game in his rookie season, but he did play in all 16 games on special teams.
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Who would have thought that 1979 would be the first of 16 consecutive seasons in the NFL? And that was as a linebacker! He would play 215 NFL games for Washington, second only to Darrell Green. Coleman grew in size and strength, and used his speed on special teams throughout his career. He excelled on the punt and kickoff coverage teams. In the 1982 NFC Championship game, Washington led Dallas 7-3 when punter Jeff Hayes sent his punt to Dallas’ Rod Hill. Hill muffed the punt as Monte Coleman ran downfield and was there when the punt reached Hill. Coleman then recovered the punt, setting up Washington at the Dallas 11-yard line for the touchdown that extended the Redskins’ lead to 14-3. That was Monte Coleman contributing the way he did to that championship team.
There was also defensive coordinator Richie Petitbon, acknowledging how he could use Coleman’s assets to improve Washington’s defense. Coleman entered the game in third-down passing situations to cover tight ends and running backs. All Coleman did was respond with 17 interceptions, returning three for touchdowns. Would you believe his three touchdown interceptions came against NFC East opponents? There was one against the Giants (Phil Simms), the Eagles (Ron Jaworski) and the Cowboys (Danny White). That was Mount Coleman.
When he wasn’t providing great pass coverage, Petitbon sent Coleman on blitzes, blitzes, as I recall, from all over the place. He would line up outside the defensive ends, above and between the defensive tackles. He would attack immediately; could attack with delayed charges. Coleman produced immensely with 49.5 quarterback sacks, 13 forced fumbles and 14 fumble recoveries. Can you imagine how many quarterback hits it produced if it had been an official statistic back in the day?
After his playing days, Coleman turned to coaching. His coaching career mirrored his playing career. He was linebackers coach for three seasons, defensive coordinator for two seasons and head coach for 10 seasons, all at Arkansas Pine Bluff. Sixteen seasons playing for a team, 15 seasons coaching at a school, married to a woman for over 30 years. Each one, so Monte Coleman.
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There is one more aspect of Coleman that many may not know. Coleman was a leader on those Redskins teams, not only as a warrior on the field, but also as an ambassador on and off the field. He was a spiritual leader, participating in and leading Bible studies for the Redskins. Coleman credited one night in 1976, when he was invited to a gathering of Christians on the Central Arkansas campus, as the day he began to trust Jesus Christ as His Savior.
“I truly believe it was His purpose, His plan for me to play those 16 years. He surrounded me, gave me great brothers in Christ around me who would be responsible brothers. Brothers who understood what it means to walk, if you’re going to talk it. They were brothers who had no problem getting together to study the Word of God, no matter who was watching. As the Bible says, iron sharpens iron. We took that literally and tried to sharpen each other.” Mount Coleman
Monte Coleman was a man who finally followed the only man who can be fully trusted to follow him completely.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Remembering the Great Mount Coleman