Will Montgomery

Will Montgomery
refer to caption
Montgomery with the Denver Broncos
No. 66, 63, 64
Position:Center
Personal information
Born: (1983-02-13) February 13, 1983 (age 41)
Brunswick, Maine, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:304 lb (138 kg)
Career information
High school:Centreville (Clifton, Virginia)
College:Virginia Tech
NFL draft:2006 / round: 7 / pick: 234
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:110
Games started:75
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Will Montgomery (born February 13, 1983) is a former American football center that played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft. He played college football at Virginia Tech.

Montgomery also played for the New York Jets, Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, and Chicago Bears.

Early life

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Montgomery attended Centreville High School in Clifton, Virginia and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he won All-State honors as a senior defensive tackle.

Professional career

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In Montgomery's career, he has started in 54 contests as a center, 10 at right guard and 7 at left guard.[1]

Carolina Panthers

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Montgomery was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round (234th overall) of the 2006 NFL draft.[2] He played a total of six games in the 2006 NFL season. The Panthers waived Montgomery on September 2, 2007.[1]

New York Jets

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Montgomery signed with the New York Jets on September 19, 2007.[3] He was waived by the Jets on September 25, but re-signed on September 29, 2008.[4] Montgomery was waived again on October 14, 2008.[5]

Washington Redskins

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2008 season

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Montgomery signed with the Washington Redskins on December 9, 2008,[1] but saw no playing time in 2008 season.

2009 season

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In the 2009 season, he played in all 16 games, but had only three starts as right guard.

2010 season

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The Redskins re-signed Montgomery on March 13, 2010.[3] In the 2010 season, he played a total of 13 games and was the starting right guard for the last six games of the season.[6]

Montgomery with back-up, Erik Cook, at Redskins 2011 training camp.

2011 season

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In the 2011 season, Montgomery was moved from his original position of right guard to center.[7] Although he became the starting center, he was moved to left guard after Kory Lichtensteiger suffered a torn ACL in Week 6.[8] In Week 9 against the San Francisco 49ers, Montgomery moved back to center after Maurice Hurt took over as left guard.[9] At the end of the season, he started in all 16 games for the first time in his entire career.

2012 season

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Montgomery at Redskins training camp in 2012.

Originally scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in the 2012 season, Montgomery was re-signed by the Redskins to a four-year, $12 million contract.[10][11] After the NFL cut $36 million from the Redskins' combined salary cap of the next two years, the Redskins restructured Montgomery's contract so $2 million of cap space was gained on March 16, 2012.[12]

In the Week 13 game against the New York Giants, Montgomery jumped into a pile-on in an attempt to recover the ball that Alfred Morris fumbled. Linval Joseph tried to pull Montgomery out by yanking on his leg, but he reacted by kicking him in the groin. Joseph then stomped on Montgomery's stomach. On December 7, Montgomery was fined $10,000 for the incident.[13] Late in the Week 15 game against the Cleveland Browns, he left the game after a player on the Browns team fell on his leg.[14] The next day it was confirmed that he suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left leg.[15] Montgomery was able to start in the next game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

2013 season

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Montgomery returned as the Redskins' starting center and not only started every game, but he played every snap.

On March 14, 2014, the Redskins informed Montgomery he was being released, saving the team $1.92 million in salary cap room.[16]

Denver Broncos

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On April 1, 2014, the Denver Broncos and Montgomery agreed to terms on a one-year contract.[17][18] Montgomery started the final 8 games at center, helping Denver rank 8th in rushing yards (1,032) in the second half of the season.[1]

Chicago Bears

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On April 2, 2015, Montgomery and the Chicago Bears agreed to terms on a one-year contract.[19] On October 5, 2015, Montgomery was placed on Injury Reserve.[20]

Personal

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After retiring from football, Montgomery lost roughly around 80 pounds by December 2017.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Chicago Bears: Will Montgomery". www.chicagobears.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "2006 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Redskins Sign OL Will Montgomery". NECN.com. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
  4. ^ "Chatman Returns; Graham Released Again". NewYorkJets.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
  5. ^ "Will Montgomery". sbnation.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  6. ^ Jones, Mike (September 26, 2011). "Gameday Q&A: Will Montgomery on the switch to center, growing up a Redskins fan, and 'Gladiator'". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  7. ^ "Will Montgomery acing new job as Redskins' center". WashingtonTimes.com. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  8. ^ "Redskins' Will Montgomery says acclimation to left guard will come". WashingtonTimes.com. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  9. ^ Jones, Mike (November 6, 2011). "Roy Helu, Leonard Hankerson, Maurice Hurt to start for Redskins". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  10. ^ Jones, Mike (February 26, 2012). "Center Will Montgomery and Redskins agree to four-year deal". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  11. ^ Jones, Mike (February 28, 2012). "Will Montgomery's contract worth $12 million over four years". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  12. ^ Maske, Mark (March 16, 2012). "Redskins restructure center Will Montgomery's contract to gain cap space". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  13. ^ Hanzus, Dan (December 7, 2012). "Fines roundup: Linval Joseph, Will Montgomery docked". NFL.com. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  14. ^ Maske, Mark (December 16, 2012). "Injuries suddenly piling up on Redskins' offensive line". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  15. ^ Jones, Mike (December 19, 2012). "Mike Shanahan: Robert Griffin III not yet cleared to play Sunday". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  16. ^ Boyer, Zac (March 14, 2014). "Redskins continue line shuffling by releasing Will Montgomery". WashingtonTimes.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  17. ^ Broncos agree to terms with Montgomery
  18. ^ "Broncos agree to 1-year deal with Will Montgomery". 9News.com. April 1, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  19. ^ "Bears release Garza, sign Montgomery". Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  20. ^ "Bears center Will Montgomery out for season". chicagotribune.com. October 5, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  21. ^ Steinberg, Dan (December 20, 2017). "After losing more than 80 pounds, former Redskin's 'not scary anymore.'". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
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