Lions running back David Montgomery on how being a scout shaped his NFL career
David Montgomery stops by to talk about his continued partnership with Scouting America and how being a scout himself helped his NFL career.
Sports Seriously
- Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery is returning to his hometown of Cincinnati for a game against the Bengals.
- Montgomery previously expressed a fear of not making it to the NFL and having to live in Cincinnati and be like everyone else.
- Montgomery has fulfilled promises to his mother by making it to the NFL and earning his college degree from Iowa State.
When the Detroit Lions’ team plane lands at CVG ahead of their Week 5 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals, running back David Montgomery will be living out his biggest fear. Of course, context matters in that scenario.
Montgomery, a Mt. Healthy High School product in his seventh NFL season, is back in his hometown as the man and role-model he always believed he’d be.
On The Pivot Podcast in August, Montgomery explained that when he was playing football at Iowa State, his biggest fear was not making it and having to return to Cincinnati.
“I was so infatuated with the fear of going back home and being like everyone else,” Montgomery said on the show. “I had a choice to make.”
In Ames, Iowa, Montgomery passed on the typical college experience with an obsession to get better, even swiping the code to get into the facility after hours to get additional work.
“We didn’t really have much when I was a kid. I just didn’t want to go back home. I knew there were greater things out there in the world that I wanted to experience,” Montgomery told The Enquirer. “I’ve experienced some of those great things and I just never wanted to go back to Cincinnati and live there. There are just too many bad memories.”
Montgomery’s NFL path began at Mt. Healthy with a coach who believed in him
Going back to his prep career at Mt. Healthy, Montgomery couldn’t remember his first touchdown, which came in his first varsity game against North College Hill. His 19-yard score punctuated a 44-0 Owls’ victory and put in motion the most successful four-year run in school history.
Before his sophomore season, Montgomery was asked to switch position and be the Owls’ quarterback by then-head coach Arvie Crouch. Crouch, who is now at Hamilton, knew he had a special talent to lead his team.
“He (Crouch) helped build the foundation for me. The foundation of confidence and really believing in myself,” Montgomery said. “He always held me accountable, and I was never better than anybody. He would challenge and push me to be the best version of myself every day. If it had not been for him, there’s no telling where I would be.”
Montgomery led Mt. Healthy to an 11-2 record in 2013, eventually losing in heartbreaking fashion to Loveland, 28-21, in the regional final. The Owls reached the regional final again in 2014, then went 8-4 in 2015. Over Montgomery’s four seasons, Mt. Healthy went a combined 40-9 with five playoff victories and four league titles. Montgomery, who also kicked extra points, returned kicks and punted, finished his career with 6,664 rushing yards and 91 touchdowns. He also threw for 2,283 yards and 25 scores.
“I tell people to this day, there’s no football more fun than high school,” Montgomery said. “I think about it time and time again. I think about the guys I got to experience that part of my career with. They are still lifelong friends to this day. It was definitely the most enjoyable football I’ve ever played.”
‘It meant a lot to me.’ Montgomery’s homecoming includes promises delivered
It takes more than long touchdown runs to go from preps to pros. It takes the right role-models in the right place to steer a boy with potential into a man. Montgomery didn’t know his father. His mother, Roberta Feltha-Mitchell, was the glue who made ends meet and often moved the family to do so.
Montgomery made his mother a few promises: she would never have to pay for college, and that he’d graduate. As he suits up for Detroit Oct. 5, Montgomery has kept his word. After three years at Iowa State, he declared for the NFL Draft and went to Chicago in the third round. In May 2025, Montgomery received his bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies.
“It’s really a big shoutout to Iowa State for continuing to work with me,” Montgomery said. “Being out of school for so long and enabling me to get my degree so I don’t have to worry about things when I get done playing football. It meant a lot to me.”
Montgomery will have large entourage at Paycor Stadium
The Bengals game will be the first time Montgomery’s older sister, Kiki, will get to see him play since a Feb. 2024 car accident left her unable to walk.
“I’m most excited for her,” Montgomery said.
When it’s all said and done, Montgomery could dish out 20-plus friends and family tickets to the game.
“Too many,” Montgomery laughed.
It’s well worth it for someone who values family as much as Montgomery and giving back is in his nature. In 2020, he donated gloves to the Mt. Healthy football team before a playoff game. Two years later, he had a children’s football camp at the school.
He’s never forgotten where he came from, and the kind of life he avoided with the mindset that failure is not an option. He’ll have the same pregame meal (spaghetti, steak and salad), then hit the turf at Paycor Stadium to create a remarkable memory that overshadows the bad ones.
“It will be a special day.”
