Whatever Happened to No. 26 Ty Montgomery?

"Not Me"

This week Ty Montgomery was placed on injured reserve for a wrist injury and not the broken ribs he had been suffering from ending the season for the former No. 3 draft pick. He began the season as the No. 1 running back after being an emergency replacement for Eddie Lacy and James Starks when General Manager Ted Thompson left the position unprepared for injuries. Does that sound familiar? But I digress with a very old and very repetitive complaint of mine.

After last season it was assumed that Montgomery was going to have to change his number since he finished the season as a running back and it was announced almost immediately he was going to be the starting running back this season because of NFL rule 5, Section 3, Article 3c which states running backs must wear numerals between 20 and 49 while wide receivers and tight ends must wear between 80 and 89 and 10 to 19.

Then on January 26th in his year end press conference Head Coach Mike McCarthy said this, "He's a running back. He wants to change his number." By saying that he stated directly that it was a decision by Montgomery and had nothing to do with the NFL rule. I wonder why he thought he needed to say that? Later it was revealed his new number would be 26.

Then on May 25th Montgomery announces on twitter (where else in this Trump World we live in) what he really thinks about his jersey number and it was totally different than what McCarthy said, “It’s who I am. It’s me. It’s been my number, and if I don’t have to change it, why should I?”

"It's Me" (2015-2017)

 He brought up the case of former Charger running back/tight end Rod Bernstine who wore No. 82. However, I don’t think his case was the same since he was listed at both positions and when he became a full time running back after he signed with the Broncos he switched to No. 33. But in a Trump World any explanation whether it’s true, false or doesn’t fit the situation at all is good enough, so whatever makes Montgomery feels better.

It seems Montgomery was informed back in March that there is another NFL rule that states if a player changes position during his NFL career, but the position still is still an eligible receiver, the player does not have to change numbers. So it seems he was only making the number change because he had to“if I don’t have to change it, why should I?”  and NOT, “He wants to change his number"  FAKE NEWS.confirmed.

Ok, it seems nobody back in January knew of this other rule even the great NFL national reporters (I wouldn’t expect the local kiss ass media to know anything about anything, so I’m not surprised they didn’t know it either).

"It's Me" (2006-2010)

A little history in high school Montgomery played wide receiver, running back and quarterback at St. Mark’s School of Texas in Austin wearing No. 97. As a senior he was mainly at running back with 93 carries (823 yards rushing) while having 17 catches.

 

"It's Me" (2011-2013)

He played wide receiver at Stanford wearing No. 7 and then No. 88 his senior year when Stanford retired No. 7 formerly worn by John Elway.

 

"It's Me" (2014)

Let’s sum it up. Montgomery wore No. 37 for 4 years becoming a first team Super Prep, wore No. 7 for 3 years being named first team All-American and wore No. 88 for 1 year dropping to second team All-American. Then he picked No. 88 with the Packers his first 2 seasons. It seems he had only been 88 for 3 seasons, but as the man himself said, “It’s who I am. It’s me.” so No. 88 and Ty Montgomery are one and the same “if I don’t have to change it, why should I?” until they aren’t “He wants to change his number."