Wilbert Montgomery

Wilbert Montgomery was born on September 16, 1954, in Greenville, Mississippi. He played college football at Abilene Christian University, where he started at running back for four years and set an NAIA record with 76 career touchdowns. As a freshman, he scored 37 touchdowns and helped the Wildcats win the 1973 NAIA Division I national championship. That year, he was also featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd.”

Drafted in the sixth round of the 1977 NFL draft (154th overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles, Montgomery wore number 31 and played eight seasons for the team. He led the Eagles in rushing six times and broke most of the franchise’s rushing records. He finished his NFL career with the Detroit Lions in 1985. Montgomery still holds or once held seven Philadelphia rushing records, including career attempts (1,465), career rushing yards (6,538, later broken by LeSean McCoy), single-season attempts (338 in 1979, later broken by Ricky Watters), single-season rushing yards (1,512 in 1979, later broken by McCoy), career 100-yard rushing games (26), 100-yard games in a season (8 in 1981), and touchdowns in a single game (4).

In the 1980 NFC Championship Game, he rushed for a then-franchise postseason record 194 yards, sending the Eagles to Super Bowl XV—the first Super Bowl in team history. In 1979, he led the NFL with 2,012 all-purpose yards. Over his career, Montgomery totaled 6,789 rushing yards, 2,502 receiving yards, 814 kickoff return yards, 57 touchdowns (45 rushing, 12 receiving, 1 kickoff return), and earned two Pro Bowl selections (1978–79).

After playing, Montgomery became a coach. He was the running backs and tight ends coach for the St. Louis Rams from 1997 to 2005, working with Pro Bowl backs Marshall Faulk and Steven Jackson. Under his guidance, Faulk moved into 12th place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list, and Jackson finished third among rookie running backs. Montgomery won his first Super Bowl title when the Rams beat the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. In 2002, he served as the Eagles’ honorary captain for the NFC Championship Game at Veterans Stadium, receiving a loud ovation. He later coached running backs for the Lions (2006–2007), the Baltimore Ravens (2008–2013), and the Cleveland Browns (2014–2015). With the Ravens, he won a second Super Bowl ring when they defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. He was not retained after Browns head coach Mike Pettine was fired.

Montgomery is one of four brothers—Fred, Cleotha, and Tyrone—who all played in the NFL. He earned the Abilene Christian University Alumni Citation Award in 1979, was inducted onto the inaugural Philadelphia Eagles Honor Roll in 1987, and entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. He and his wife Patti have three children: twins Briana and Brendan, and a son, Tavian. Montgomery also has a daughter, Sherrita, and a son, Derron, who played wide receiver at Iowa State, later worked as a graduate assistant and assistant wide receiver coach at Miami, coached wide receivers at Michigan, served as tight ends coach at Abilene Christian, and is now offensive quality control and assistant running backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings. Tavian is a college sophomore playing cornerback at Northern Arizona University.