{{Short description|American football player (1964–2020)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox NFL biography | name = Greg Montgomery | number = 9 | position = Punter | birth_date = {{birth date|1964|10|29}} | birth_place = Morristown, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|8|23|1964|10|29}} | death_place = Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 4 | weight_lb = 215 | high_school = Red Bank Regional<br/>(Little Silver, New Jersey) | college = Penn State <br> Michigan State | draftyear = 1988 | draftround = 3 | draftpick = 72 |pastteams = * Houston Oilers ({{NFL Year|1988|1993}}) * Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|1994}}) * Baltimore Ravens ({{NFL Year|1996|1997}}) | highlights = * Pro Bowl (1993) * First-team All-American (1986) * Second-team All-American (1987) * 3× First-team All-Big Ten (1985, 1986, 1987) | statlabel1 = Punts | statvalue1 = 524 | statlabel2 = Punting yards | statvalue2 = 22,831 | statlabel3 = Longest punt | statvalue3 = 77 | pfr = MontGr20 }}
'''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.<ref name="PFR1">{{Cite web |title=Greg Montgomery Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MontGr20.htm |access-date=May 26, 2024 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}}</ref><ref>McKee, Sandra. [https://www.baltimoresun.com/1997/12/18/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/ "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."</ref>
Montgomery spent his freshman collegiate year at Penn State, but then transferred to Michigan State, where his father had played quarterback thirty years earlier.<ref name="RBDR">{{cite news |title=Montgomery is at home with Spartans |newspaper=The Daily Register (Red Bank, NJ) |date=September 25, 1985 |page=4B |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-register-greg-montgomery-trans/148093590/ |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref>
As a junior, he was honored by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) as a first-team All-American,<ref name="FWAA 1986">{{cite web |title=FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team|editor=Ted Gangi |access-date=May 18, 2016 |url=http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/allamerica/alltime.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304073432/http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/allamerica/alltime.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> and as a senior he was selected to the second-team by United Press International.<ref name="UPI 1987">{{cite news |title=UPI All-America |newspaper=The Indianapolis Star |date=December 9, 1987 |page=D4 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5713555/upi_allamerica/ |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref> In 1996, Montgomery was chosen for the MSU Centennial Super Squad.<ref name="LSJ">{{cite news |title=All-Pro punter Greg Montgomery has died at age 55 |newspaper=Lansing State Journal (MI) |date=September 5, 2020 |page=3B |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lansing-state-journal-greg-montgomery-ob/148094127/ |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref>
Montgomery was selected in the third round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers.<ref name="PFR2">{{Cite web |title=1988 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1988/draft.htm |access-date=September 24, 2023 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>
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.<ref name="PFA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.profootballarchives.com/playerm/mont02400.html |title=Greg Montgomery Stats |website=Pro Football Archives |access-date=May 26, 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607035013/http://www.profootballarchives.com/playerm/mont02400.html |archive-date=June 7, 2020}}</ref>
==NFL career statistics== {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" ! colspan="2"| Legend |- | style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| | Led the league |- | '''Bold''' | Career high |}
=== Regular season === {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="10"| Punting |- ! {{abbr|GP|Games played}} !! Punts !! {{abbr|Yds|Yards}} !! {{Nowrap|Net Yds}} !! {{abbr|Lng|Longest punt}} !! {{abbr|Avg|Average}} !! {{Nowrap|Net Avg}} !! {{abbr|Blk|Blocked punts}} !! {{abbr|Ins20|Inside 20 yard line}} !! {{abbr|TB|Touchbacks}} |- ! 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 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| '''2''' || 15 || 7 |- ! 1990 !! HOU | '''16''' || 34 || 1,530 || 1,244 || 60 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 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 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| '''46.9''' || 37.3 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| '''2''' || 14 || '''9''' |- ! 1993 !! HOU | 15 || 54 || 2,462 || 2,113 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| '''77''' || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 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 |- ! colspan="2"| Career !! 142 !! 524 !! 22,831 !! 19,397 !! 77 !! 43.6 !! 36.5 !! 8 !! 140 !! 50 |}
=== Playoffs === {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="10"| Punting |- ! {{abbr|GP|Games played}} !! Punts !! {{abbr|Yds|Yards}} !! {{Nowrap|Net Yds}} !! {{abbr|Lng|Longest punt}} !! {{abbr|Avg|Average}} !! {{Nowrap|Net Avg}} !! {{abbr|Blk|Blocked punts}} !! {{abbr|Ins20|Inside 20 yard line}} !! {{abbr|TB|Touchbacks}} |- ! 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''' |- ! colspan="2"| Career !! 9 !! 35 !! 1,441 !! 1,157 !! 59 !! 41.2 !! 31.3 !! 2 !! 4 !! 4 |}
==Post-playing career==
In 2003, Montgomery started ZenPunt 5.0, and was the company's president/CEO.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=44978049&authType=name&authToken=jTG6&goback=%2Ermg_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1 | title=Linkedin | publisher=Gregory Montgomery | access-date=29 December 2013}}</ref>
Montgomery died on August 23, 2020, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after succumbing to a long-term illness.<ref name="PFR1" /><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state-university/spartans/2020/09/04/michigan-state-all-american-punter-greg-montgomery-dies-55/5720906002/ | title=Michigan State All-American punter Greg Montgomery dies at 55 | publisher=The Detroit News | access-date=4 September 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121103111840/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1006079/index.htm Greg Montgomery] * [http://www.caller.com/news/2010/aug/21/oilers-montgomery-dealing-with-bigger-issues-now/ Oilers' Montgomery dealing with bigger issues now] * [http://vimeo.com/18105537/2010/jan/1/Madness in the NFL - The Gregory Montgomery Story]
{{Houston Oilers 1988 draft navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Greg}} Category:1964 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Players of American football from Morristown, New Jersey Category:American football punters Category:Michigan State Spartans football players Category:Houston Oilers players Category:Detroit Lions players Category:Baltimore Ravens players Category:American Conference Pro Bowl players Category:People from Shrewsbury, New Jersey Category:Red Bank Regional High School alumni Category:Players of American football from Monmouth County, New Jersey Category:All-American college football players Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:20th-century American sportsmen