Ahead of return, Lions RB Montgomery shares value of faith, intense offseason workouts and vivid Super Bowl dreams
Allen Park — Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery prays as hard as he works. He believes it’s that combination of nurturing his body and spirit that will allow him to take the field for Saturday’s playoff game against the Washington Commanders, a little more than a month after he suffered what was initially reported to be a season-ending MCL tear in his right knee.
“The speculation that I was getting surgery, or that was kind of the end-all-be-all, like, nobody really ever knew,” Montgomery explained Tuesday evening. “When that got put out, I didn't know that I was getting surgery. The media told me, so it was news to me.
“But, you know, I'm always pretty confident in who I am and how I prepare,” Montgomery said. “I mean, I know who my God is, so there ain't really too much, or anything, that I know that I can’t overcome when I know who is the head of my life. …I'm where I’m supposed to be because I'm supposed to be here. It's never been up to me. It'll never be up to me. It’s His way.”
But, as the cliche goes, God helps those who help themselves. And Montgomery's dedication to getting ready for the season is the stuff of legend around the team's practice facility. The hit that put him on the shelf, he’s watched it with his trainer and remains convinced his approach to the offseason limited the extent of the damage.
“We looked at when the hit happened and the way it happened, there’s no way — if you look at the hit the way it happened — I didn’t tear my ACL,” Montgomery said. “But when people were laughing at me in the summer, saying, ‘Why is he deadlifting 800 pounds? Why is he doing all this crazy stuff?’ I’m like, it’s a fierce, crazy game. It’s grown men hitting each other at full speed. If you’re not strong and your body can’t take it, you’re not going to make it. So I’m blessed and I’m lucky to be standing here to be able to play right now.”
Montgomery is one of the players who set a tone for Detroit on the field and in the locker room. His position coach has said the veteran’s back’s work ethic and intensity elevate those around him. And when linebacker Alex Anzalone showed up to an offseason press conference, it wasn’t an accident he did so wearing a Montgomery t-shirt. Everyone in the building respects what he brings to the table. It's why the team awarded Montgomery a contract extension in the middle of the season, more than a year before his current deal was set to expire.
When coach Dan Campbell was asked this week about what it would mean to be able to re-incorporate Montgomery into the game plan, the coach had one of those moments where he got briefly choked up before answering.
“It’ll mean a lot,” Campbell said. “Five’s a big part of us. He’s a huge part of us, and to me, he’s a bell cow. He’s a tone-setter, he’s a catalyst, so there’s a place for him. There’s a place for him here, so there’ll be a place for him in this game. It’s going to be good to get him back.”
Recovering wasn’t sitting back on his couch and waiting for the knee to heal. Montgomery had to attack his rehab with a similar intensity as his offseason workouts.
“Kind of put the horse blinders on and silence the noise of the world and just kind of attack it every day, no matter what the day looks like,” he explained. “As long as I get the opportunity to wake up every day, no matter how the day before it looked, I've got a chance. So I kind of looked at it that way, put my best foot forward every chance that I got.
“…You know, MCL sprain, or whatever you want to call it, it's all about strengthening,” he explained. “The more you can get the scar tissue to grow, the better off you’ll be. For the scar tissue to grow, you need to strengthen it. We did a lot of stuff that was kind of focused toward regaining that strength.”
He has no concerns about his knee holding up on Sunday and doesn’t expect to be on a pitch count. If he had any hesitations, he wouldn’t risk putting himself or the team in a bad situation.
Additionally, he has no doubt about the outcome of all of this. Call it faith, or a vision, but he’s confident about where he and the Lions are headed.
“I tell my brother all the time — I've really been saying it since I was training last year in Arizona — I would tell him all the time I would have dreams about us going to the Super Bowl,” Montgomery said. “It was crazy. And the closer we get, the more vivid they become. I have them often.
"It ain't going to be (easy)," Montgomery said. "I don't know how it's going to look with us getting there, but I know we gonna be there. That's going out, performing, and being who we're capable of being.”
Do the Lions win the Super Bowl in these dreams? You can probably guess, but there’s a limit to what Montgomery cared to reveal.
“I'm going to keep that to myself."
When the Lions first signed David Montgomery, I was the happiest guy around. I saw what he had done on a not-very-good Bears team for a few years. He was the hardest guy to bring down. He would regularly rip the Lions- as well as other teams. He played the game hard- even when the team around him wasn't. He was, as they say, a stud. I loved the pick up then. But getting to know who he is as a man, I like him even more. He is a man of high character, strong will, and exactly the kind of guy that can inspire those around him. I'm delighted he is at the core of this team. He is a walking embodiment of what it means to be a Detroit Lion these days.
Wonderful write up J Rog! DMo is a freight train and I’m so excited to see him back in action with Gibbs!