Marcus Monk

Marcus Monk (born April 26, 1986 in Lepanto, Arkansas) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arkansas. Monk has also been a member of the New York Giants. As of January 2012, Monk is playing professional basketball in the German Basketball Bundesliga.

Early years
Monk attended East Poinsett County High School and was a 4.0 student and a letterman in football and basketball. Also, he was the Valedictorian of his graduating class. He was an All-State honoree in both sports, 2004 Mr. Basketball of Arkansas as a senior, and was named the National Football Foundation's Scholar Athlete of the Year.

College football career
Monk led all SEC freshmen in receiving in 2004 and set a school record for receptions by a freshman with 37 catches, breaking Richard Smith's school record of 33. He garnered Freshman All-SEC honors for catching 37 balls for 569 yards and six touchdowns.

Monk continued to improve in his sophomore season by catching 35 passes for a team-high 476 yards and seven touchdowns.

In his junior season, Monk had his best statistical season with 50 catches for a career-high 962 yards. Monk broke a school record with 11 touchdown passes caught and averaged 19.2 yards per catch.

Monk was sidelined for most of the season due to an injury to his knee in the offseason that required two surgeries. Of the six games he played, Monk caught 16 balls for 144 yards and three touchdowns, tying him for seventh in the SEC for career touchdowns.

Chicago Bears
Monk was selected in the seventh round (248th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. Monk signed a four-year rookie deal with the Bears on May 31, 2008. He was waived on August 24.

New York Giants
On August 26, 2008, Monk was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants after the team waived/injured wide receiver Craphonso Thorpe. However, he was waived by the team four days later during final cuts. On August 31, he was re-signed to the team's practice squad. He was released from the practice squad on September 8 after wide receiver Taye Biddle was signed.

Carolina Panthers
Monk was signed by the Carolina Panthers on April 28, 2009 after impressing scouts at Arkansas's pro day.

College basketball career
As a college freshman, Monk also played 10 games with the basketball Razorbacks after completing the football season.

On November 18, 2008, KARK 4 News in Little Rock, Arkansas reported that Monk was possibly coming back for his last semester to play college basketball for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Monk was allowed to play as he had basketball eligibility remaining and was never a professional athlete in that sport.

Monk's breakout game would come on December 30, 2008 when Arkansas hosted the Oklahoma Sooners, ranked fourth in that week's Associated Press Poll. Monk scored 12 points and added six rebounds and one steal while holding his ground defensively against the Sooners' star player, Blake Griffin, in only his third game with the Razorbacks of the 2008-2009 season.

Monk was officially removed from the roster on February 13, 2009 by the University of Arkansas after several weeks of not dressing out for the team, for a suspected undisclosed NCAA rules infraction.