The Fun Bunch were the wide receivers and tight ends of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) during the early 1980s.
Known for their choreographed group celebrations in the end zone (usually a group high-five) following a touchdown, the Fun Bunch's actions eventually resulted in a league-wide ban of "excessive celebration" in 1984.
The members of the Fun Bunch included the Redskins' wide receivers Art Monk, Virgil Seay, Charlie Brown, and Alvin Garrett, running back Otis Wonsley [1] and tight ends Rick Walker, and Don Warren. Each won a Super Bowl with the Redskins (Monk and Warren were on all three Super Bowl champion Redskin teams), and three were chosen for the Pro Bowl. Art Monk was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The first high-five leap performed by the Fun Bunch occurred after an Alvin Garrett touchdown in a 1982 first round playoff game against the Detroit Lions.
During a 1983 game against the archrival Dallas Cowboys, defensive backs Michael Downs and Dennis Thurman stepped into the middle of a celebration by the Fun Bunch following a Monk touchdown, sparking a brief skirmish. Offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were called against Downs and Brown.
In the Fun Bunch, there was a sub-group nicknamed the Smurfs. The Smurfs consisted of Virgil Seay, Alvin Garrett, and Charlie Brown. The three were given the nickname because of their diminutive size (Garrett was 5'7", Seay known as Papa Smurf was 5'8", and Brown the tallest at 5'10"), comparing them to the tiny blue comic and cartoon characters in The Smurfs .
Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking effect the following season. The American Football League (AFL) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football League (NFL) champion Minnesota Vikings by the score of 23–7. This victory by the AFL squared the Super Bowl series with the NFL at two games apiece as the two leagues merged after the game.
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Keenan Wayne McCardell is an American football coach and former wide receiver who is the wide receivers coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, University of Maryland, College Park and Washington Redskins.
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The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland, to Indianapolis, Indiana, before the season.
Gary C. Clark is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins (1985–92), Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (1993–94), and Miami Dolphins (1995).
Alvin Craig Harper is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers. Harper was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 1991 NFL draft. He played in Dallas for four years as the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII, both against the Buffalo Bills.
Ricky Wayne Sanders is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 12 seasons from 1983 to 1994, two with the United States Football League (USFL)'s Houston Gamblers and 10 in the National Football League (NFL). He played running back, safety, and place kicker as a three-year letterman for Belton High School in Belton, Texas and broke five records.
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Otis Wonsley is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alcorn State Braves and was selected in the ninth round of the 1980 NFL draft.
Virgil LeVan Seay is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and the Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at Troy State University and was selected in the 10th round of the 1980 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. The highlight of Seay's career was winning the Super Bowl with Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs in 1982. He is well known for being a member of the Redskins' "The Fun Bunch". Seay spent several years as an assistant varsity football and track coach at Lake Braddock Secondary School as well as coaching track at Williamsburg Middle School in Arlington, Virginia.
The 1982 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 51st season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 46th in Washington, D.C. Although the Redskins lost all their preseason games, they advanced from an 8–8 record the previous season to become one of the only two teams in NFL history to win the Super Bowl after not winning a pre-season game. The 1990 Buffalo Bills and 2000 New York Giants also made it to the Super Bowl after a winless pre-season, but they did not win the Super Bowl.