MOBILE, Ala. — Here’s the first thing you notice about Tyren Montgomery when watching Senior Bowl practices this week: He moves through the process like someone who belongs, like someone who has done this before.

This is my eighth Senior Bowl, and it’s not uncommon to see players from small schools show up here and look completely overwhelmed. Montgomery has looked more like a No. 1 receiver from a Power Four program than “that guy from Division III John Carroll University whose football backstory is almost too much to believe.”

And that’s what makes this all the more remarkable.

Montgomery didn’t start playing football as a 5-year-old with dreams of making it to the NFL.

“You know, I’ve only been playing this game since I was a junior,” he admitted.

Wait, a junior in high school, right?

“A junior in college. I played basketball in high school. I went to LSU for basketball.”

And yet, here he is, on the turf at Hancock Whitney Stadium — stacking releases, winning one-on-ones and forcing all of us to return to the same question: How did he get here this fast?

Hoop dreams

Montgomery’s athletic foundation was built on a basketball court in The Woodlands, Texas, just north of Houston. And basketball wasn’t just his first sport — it was his plan.

“I played point guard and two guard,” Montgomery said. “I could shoot it. I could really shoot.”

Basketball led him to LSU, where he planned to walk on, but life had other plans. During his first semester, Montgomery’s mother fell ill. It wasn’t long before COVID shut everything down, including any sense of certainty about his future.

“Basketball wasn’t in the vision anymore,” Montgomery said. “Everything was shut down. I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.”

He came back home to Houston unsure of his next step, unsure whether sports even fit into it anymore. He even considered getting a real job.

Then, as often happens, a mundane moment — for Montgomery, a game of catch — changed his life.

The backyard

Montgomery’s younger brother Kam, now a quarterback at North Greenville University, was the one who first put a football in his hands. One afternoon, the two were tossing it around in the backyard, passing time more than anything else.

“My brother just looked at me and said, ‘Bro, you might as well do this,'” Montgomery said with a laugh. “‘You don’t really got nothing else going on right now.'”

At first, it sounded ridiculous. Montgomery had never played football. No high school tape. Never even put on pads. Just God-given instincts and athleticism honed on the basketball court.

But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense — in part because there was no Plan B.

Starting from square one

Montgomery enrolled at the University of Houston, hoping to walk on. But COVID-era roster crunches ended that idea before it could begin.

“There were just no spots,” he said. “A lot of guys got that COVID year and came back [to school].”

Montgomery, who is the walking embodiment of the Stoic philosophy, “The obstacle is the way,” was undeterred. Instead of giving up, he improvised.

He filmed himself running routes on air, posted the clips online and hoped someone — anyone — would notice. Those clips found their way to Eddy Franca, a Miami-based flag football coach, who invited Montgomery to a tournament in Las Vegas.

Montgomery showed up — and showed out enough to earn an invitation to pursue Olympic flag football, but that path came with a caveat: forfeiting his college eligibility.

“I didn’t start playing football to play flag football,” he said. “I wanted to play real football.”

Franca then connected Montgomery with Deuce Schwartz, who was at Missouri at the time (he’s now with the 49ers). Schwartz forwarded Montgomery’s flag-football highlight reel to college coaches across the country.

“They all liked me,” Montgomery said. “But they were scared. I never put on shoulder pads before. And that was valid.”

Eventually, that leap of faith came from Nicholls State.

Learning on the fly

Nicholls wasn’t just Montgomery’s first real football opportunity — it was also his education.

In 2022, academic issues left him ineligible. He spent the season learning terminology, concepts and the physical demands of the sport. In 2023, he finally played.

“I was just getting my feet wet,” he said. “And I barely got them wet.”

He started the first five games before a right ankle sprain derailed any momentum. When he returned, his spot was gone.

After the season, Montgomery entered the transfer portal and hit another wall. The NCAA ruled he had no remaining Division I eligibility.

“I only played one season,” Montgomery said. “But my clock started when I first became a full-time student.”

Once again, football tried to move on without him. Once again, Montgomery was unfazed.

Where it all came together

Franca connected Montgomery with Jeff Behrman, then the head coach at John Carroll. Behrman saw Montgomery’s practice tape on Twitter and didn’t take long to come to a conclusion.

“He knew right away,” Montgomery said. “He told me later, the first 30 seconds.”

Behrman promised more than playing time. John Carroll had deep NFL ties, with over 40 alumni working across the league. 

That’s all Montgomery needed to hear.

At John Carroll, Montgomery thrived. He learned a pro-style offense and quickly became the focal point of every defensive game plan. He racked up a jaw-dropping 119 receptions for 1,528 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, earning All-American honors and leading the Blue Streaks to the Division III semifinals. 

“I was always doubled, sometimes tripled-teamed,” he said. “I never really saw press coverage.”

And that changed everything at the Senior Bowl.

Basketball footwork, football routes

In Mobile this week, Montgomery finally saw consistent press-man coverage — and embraced it.

“It actually feels good,” he said. “I can finally show my release package.”

That package comes straight from basketball.

“All that one-on-one stuff, it’s just like iso ball,” Montgomery explained. “You’re breaking somebody down, getting them to lean, crossing them over.”

Once you hear him explain it, that’s all you can see when he gets off the line of scrimmage and into his route.

“That’s all basketball,” he said. “Crossover releases, body control, timing — it all translates.”

I was surprised to find out that Montgomery measured only 5-foot-11â…œ because he plays more like he’s 6-foot-2. He’s also 190 pounds with 31-inch arms, and that, coupled with his athleticism, allows him to play much bigger.

Senior Bowl validation

“I’ve been learning from my mistakes,” Montgomery said of his first two Senior Bowl practices. 

He was thrown into higher-level football at Nicholls State before he’d barely ever played. Then he had time to grow into the game at slower-paced John Carroll. Now, it’s all coming together.

“My IQ is way better now,” he said. “The game’s slower.”

Coaches have noticed how quickly he absorbs instruction, and more importantly, how he just keeps getting better. He’s also unfazed by the level of competition and the physicality that comes with it.

“They gotta get their hands on me first,” Montgomery said. “And that’s not easy.”

So far, the Senior Bowl has validated everything about his journey — that his production wasn’t about the level of competition, that his athleticism translates, and that his learning curve keeps flattening with each passing day.

‘I’m still learning’

Montgomery’s story — from a backyard in Texas, to LSU, to no roster spots, to flag football, to a Division III program most fans have never heard of, and finally to the Senior Bowl, where he looks anything but out of place — is still in its early stages. What he’s endured so far is, if anything, proof of concept.

He knows what comes next: the NFL Scouting Combine, pro days and private workouts. More rooms where he’ll be the outlier on paper and the eye-opener on the field.

But if the all-star game circuit was the first test — he played in the American Bowl before getting the Senior Bowl call-up — Montgomery passed it. And not just with flashes, but with consistency, confidence and still plenty of room for growth.

He didn’t just survive the week. He stacked wins against the best competition and looked like a player whose best football is still ahead of him.

From basketball courts to beating press coverage, Tyren Montgomery has taken a circuitous route to Mobile … but he’s also right where he’s supposed to be.

“And I’m still learning,” he said.

And to think it all started with a casual game of catch in the backyard with his little brother.