Greg Montgomery

Greg Montgomery
No. 9
Position:Punter
Personal information
Born:(1964-10-29)October 29, 1964
Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
Died:August 23, 2020(2020-08-23) (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
Career NFL statistics
Punts:524
Punting yards:22,831
Longest punt:77
Player stats at PFR

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).

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

[edit]

In 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]
  1. ^ a b "Greg Montgomery Stats". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  2. ^ 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" Archived October 9, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, 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."
  3. ^ "Montgomery is at home with Spartans". The Daily Register (Red Bank, NJ). September 25, 1985. p. 4B – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "UPI All-America". The Indianapolis Star. December 9, 1987. p. D4 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  6. ^ "All-Pro punter Greg Montgomery has died at age 55". Lansing State Journal (MI). September 5, 2020. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  7. ^ "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "Greg Montgomery Stats". Pro Football Archives. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  9. ^ "Linkedin". Gregory Montgomery. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  10. ^ "Michigan State All-American punter Greg Montgomery dies at 55". The Detroit News. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
[edit]
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