CLEVELAND — Sometimes dreams are a lifelong thing, pursued for as long as one can remember. But sometimes dreams are discovered down the way, realized through life experiences. The latter is true for Tyren Montgomery. The standout wide receiver at John Carroll University has set school records, helped the Blue Streaks into the Division III Final Four, and now has his sights set on the NFL. But despite excelling at football, this is all relatively new to Montgomery.
Montgomery grew up an athlete in a different sport. A standout basketball player, Montgomery played all throughout high school in Texas and was a walk-on at LSU right out of high school. However, life happened, his mother got sick and it changed a lot of things for Montgomery.
Back home, he was hanging out with his younger brother, Kam, who plays football collegiately. It was there that Montgomery's dream came to be.
"So my plan was just to come back home, get a job, but with [COVID-19], everything was shut down. So then one day me and my brother, we was in the backyard and we were throwing the football," Montgomery said. "He was like, 'Look, bro, you could really do this."
Montgomery was naturally athletic, but had never played football. So while he had natural abilities, he didn't have a route tree, he didn't have the terminology, and he didn't have any tape.
"So with that being said, I had to find some type of way that I could get film because I had no film from high school because I didn't play in high school," he said.
Montgomery had tried to walk on at the University of Houston, but after the pandemic, many students had extra eligibility, and there was no space for him on a roster. So he had to get creative. He decided to do workouts and train, recording his work as his first bit of tape. It also set him on a unique journey to reach his dreams.
"I ended up having like some workouts, some routes that I was running just out on air by myself and I uploaded them to Facebook," Montgomery said, recalling his story. "There was a guy who was running a flag football team out of Miami, Florida, and he was like, 'Look, bro, it would be nice for you to come to our flag football team and just show us what you could do.' So I went out there. Vegas was my first-ever tournament. I went out there, I showed my tail, I ended up getting a chance to play in the Olympics for flag football, but they told me if I were to do that, I couldn't play at the collegiate level for college football, and that was my goal."
Montgomery, passionate about the dream he realized later than most, took a chance on himself. He turned his flag football highlights into his first real highlight reel and then sent it everywhere he could.
Many of the schools that got Montgomery's tape had similar concerns. Sure, he was athletic, and his leaping catches would have impressed anyone, but could he do that in shoulder pads and a helmet, something he'd never experienced before?
Nicholls State University, a Division I school, took a chance and brought Montgomery into its football program. He wasn't eligible his first year in 2022, needing to get his college credits in order on the academic side. So he took the field for the first time in 2023. He played in eight games with 171 receiving yards on 12 receptions, but suffered an injury.
It was after working back from the injury that Montgomery's next chapter in chasing the dream began.
Montgomery entered the transfer portal, but with no more DI eligibility, his pool of suitors dwindled. But that didn't mean the pool didn't have great opportunities ahead. A DIII school with a full NFL tree, John Carroll noticed Montgomery and invited him into their program.
"The thing I was most impressed with was that this was somebody who had a dream and they were willing to do these unusual things, they were willing to leave their comfort zone and chase this dream, and we have been the lucky beneficiaries," said JCU athletic director Brian Polian.
Montgomery impressed Polian, as well as recently departed head coach Jeff Behrman, and they wanted the green receiver in their program.
"JCU has a whole bunch of NFL alum and I told [coach Behrman] like, 'Look, you know I got aspirations of playing in the league,' and he was like, 'Look, we can help you,' so that was what really sold me and I went to John Carroll and that's— the rest is history," Montgomery said.
When Polian said they were the lucky beneficiaries, it wasn't a one-way street, but he certainly was right.
While Montgomery worked extremely hard at learning the playbook, figuring out schemes, reacting to defenses, understanding the terminology and sharpening his football IQ—all work that most college players have done over the course of a decade or longer, that Montgomery was doing in two years—JCU was seeing him shine.
In the two seasons he played for the Blue Streaks, Montgomery set numerous school records. He holds the titles of most receptions in a single season, most receiving touchdowns for a wide receiver in a single season and most receiving yards in a single season.
"The records and stuff, that's amazing too, but I feel like I wouldn't have been able to do that without my quarterback, Nick Semptimphelter, and my coaches, Coach B, Coach Trav, Coach Rover, all the people that believed in me," Montgomery said.
Belief in Montgomery has gone far beyond JCU. He's been named to All-Americans, and now, as his college career comes to an end, he's been invited to the American Bowl this month. During the season, his name spread across NFL circles as one to watch.
"There are 32 clubs in the National Football League—28 of them came to University Heights this year to come scout Tyren," Polian said.
Football has not been a lifelong dream for Montgomery, sure. But it's a dream that he's just as passionate about, if not more, than many who started playing at a younger age.
"I ran my first route at like the age of 19, and I think whenever I started doing the flag football stuff and I realized my abilities—because that was my first time really going against competition—I'm like, 'Oh yeah, this league thing, this is me.' I felt like it was my calling in life," Montgomery said. "For anybody that's been growing up at the age of five and playing football, I feel like my aspirations are just as strong as theirs, and it's more for the love of the game. I love going out there and showing my athletic abilities and just route running. It just makes sense to me. Everything within football just makes sense. Secondhand nature."
A few years of work have set Montgomery apart. He hopes to continue making a name for himself at the American Bowl on Jan. 22. From there, he hopes to receive an invite to the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine. He made college football happen and now it's time for his next dream. It's a dream that others believe he can achieve, but more importantly, one he believes he can achieve.
"Y'all gonna see me on TV on Sundays. Y'all gonna see me out there on Sundays. Whatever team decides to take the chance for me, y'all gonna see me out there, you're going to be like, 'Wow, he really did it,'" Montgomery said.
