Gregory Hugh Montgomery Jr. (October 29, 1964 – August 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was an All-Pro punter for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL).
| No. 9 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | October 29, 1964 Morristown, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | August 23, 2020 (aged 55) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Red Bank Regional (Little Silver, New Jersey) | ||||||||
| College: | Penn State Michigan State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1988 / round: 3 / pick: 72 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Born in Morristown, New Jersey, and raised in Shrewsbury, Montgomery played football at Red Bank Regional High School, where he had hoped to be a linebacker rather than a punter.[1][2]
Montgomery spent his freshman collegiate year at Penn State, but then transferred to Michigan State, where his father had played quarterback thirty years earlier.[3]
As a junior, he was honored by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) as a first-team All-American,[4] and as a senior he was selected to the second-team by United Press International.[5] In 1996, Montgomery was chosen for the MSU Centennial Super Squad.[6]
Montgomery was selected in the third round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers.[7]
From 1988 to 1997 he spent time with the Houston Oilers, Detroit Lions, and Baltimore Ravens. In his nine NFL seasons, Montgomery led the NFL in yards per punt average three times (1990, 1992, 1993), was selected to one Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro (1993), and finished his career with 22,831 punting yards and 120 punts inside the opponents 20 yard line. His longest punt of 77 yards was with the Houston Oilers.[8]
NFL career statistics
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB | ||
| 1988 | HOU | 16 | 65 | 2,523 | 2,217 | 61 | 38.8 | 34.1 | 0 | 12 | 5 |
| 1989 | HOU | 16 | 56 | 2,422 | 2,091 | 63 | 43.3 | 36.1 | 2 | 15 | 7 |
| 1990 | HOU | 16 | 34 | 1,530 | 1,244 | 60 | 45.0 | 36.6 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
| 1991 | HOU | 15 | 48 | 2,105 | 1,842 | 60 | 43.9 | 36.8 | 2 | 13 | 4 |
| 1992 | HOU | 16 | 53 | 2,487 | 2,052 | 66 | 46.9 | 37.3 | 2 | 14 | 9 |
| 1993 | HOU | 15 | 54 | 2,462 | 2,113 | 77 | 45.6 | 39.1 | 0 | 13 | 5 |
| 1994 | DET | 16 | 63 | 2,782 | 2,191 | 64 | 44.2 | 34.2 | 1 | 19 | 8 |
| 1996 | BAL | 16 | 68 | 2,980 | 2,607 | 67 | 43.8 | 37.8 | 1 | 23 | 5 |
| 1997 | BAL | 16 | 83 | 3,540 | 3,040 | 60 | 42.7 | 36.6 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| Career | 142 | 524 | 22,831 | 19,397 | 77 | 43.6 | 36.5 | 8 | 140 | 50 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB | ||
| 1988 | HOU | 2 | 8 | 336 | 253 | 51 | 42.0 | 28.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | HOU | 1 | 3 | 132 | 112 | 48 | 44.0 | 28.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1990 | HOU | 1 | 6 | 256 | 194 | 47 | 42.7 | 32.3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 1991 | HOU | 2 | 3 | 133 | 113 | 50 | 44.3 | 37.7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1992 | HOU | 1 | 2 | 49 | 49 | 25 | 24.5 | 24.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1993 | HOU | 1 | 5 | 243 | 179 | 59 | 48.6 | 35.8 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1994 | DET | 1 | 8 | 292 | 257 | 45 | 36.5 | 32.1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | 9 | 35 | 1,441 | 1,157 | 59 | 41.2 | 31.3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
Post-playing career
editIn 2003, Montgomery started ZenPunt 5.0, and was the company's president/CEO. [9]
Montgomery died on August 23, 2020, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after succumbing to a long-term illness.[1][10]
References
edit- ^ a b "Greg Montgomery Stats". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ^ McKee, Sandra. "A level field Ravens: Punter Greg Montgomery has struggled with the emotional highs and lows of bipolar disorder, but so far, he has adjusted successfully" , The Baltimore Sun, December 18, 1997. Accessed October 8, 2018. "Montgomery spent his early childhood in Shrewsbury, N.J., the son of a Wall Street investment banker.... At Red Bank (N.J.) High, he refused to wear his letter jacket his junior year because it had a 'P' on it for punter."
- ^ "Montgomery is at home with Spartans". The Daily Register (Red Bank, NJ). September 25, 1985. p. 4B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
- ^ "UPI All-America". The Indianapolis Star. December 9, 1987. p. D4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "All-Pro punter Greg Montgomery has died at age 55". Lansing State Journal (MI). September 5, 2020. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
- ^ "Greg Montgomery Stats". Pro Football Archives. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ^ "Linkedin". Gregory Montgomery. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
- ^ "Michigan State All-American punter Greg Montgomery dies at 55". The Detroit News. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
