Will Montgomery (born February 13, 1983) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

that played ten seasons in

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

in the seventh round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. Montgomery has also played for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

, and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Early years

Montgomery attended Centreville High School in

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. In football, he won All-State honors as a senior

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

Professional career

In Montgomery's career, he has started in 54 contests as a

, 10 at

right guard Right Guard is an American brand of deodorant and shower gel that is manufactured and sold by Thriving Brands LLC. It is the second largest brand in the male deodorant category in the United States. Right Guard was introduced in 1960 by The Gill ...

and 7 at

left guard In gridiron football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is a player who lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team on the line of scrimmage used primarily for blocking. Right g ...

Carolina Panthers

Montgomery was drafted by the

in the 7th round (234th overall) of the

. He played a total of six games in the

2006 NFL season The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League. Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006. The season began with the reigning Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh defeating the Miami in t ...

. The Panthers waived Montgomery on September 2, 2007.

New York Jets

Montgomery signed with the

on September 19, 2007. He was waived by the Jets on September 25, but re-signed on September 29, 2008. Montgomery was waived again on October 14, 2008.

Washington Redskins

2008 season

Montgomery signed with the

on December 9, 2008, but saw no playing time in 2008 season.

2009 season

In the 2009 season, he played in all 16 games, but had only three starts as right guard.

2010 season

The Redskins re-signed Montgomery on March 13, 2010. In the 2010 season, he played a total of 13 games and was the starting right guard for the last six games of the season. Redskins erik cook and will montgomery 2011

Redskins erik cook and will montgomery 2011

2011 season

In the 2011 season, Montgomery was moved from his original position of right guard to center. Although he became the starting center, he was moved to left guard after

Kory Lichtensteiger Kory Adam Lichtensteiger (born March 22, 1985) is a former American football center who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at ...

suffered a torn ACL in Week 6. In Week 9 against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, Montgomery moved back to center after

Maurice Hurt Sparrow Maurice "Mo" Hurt, Jr. (born September 8, 1987) is a former American football guard and offensive tackle that played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Florida, and was a member of two ...

took over as left guard. At the end of the season, he started in all 16 games for the first time in his entire career.

2012 season

Originally scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in the 2012 season, Montgomery was re-signed by the Redskins to a four-year, $12 million contract. After the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

cut $36 million from the Redskins' combined salary cap of the next two years, the Redskins restructured Montgomery's contract so $2 million of cap space was gained on March 16, 2012. In the Week 13 game against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, Montgomery jumped into a pile-on in an attempt to recover the ball that Alfred Morris fumbled.

Linval Joseph Linval Clement Joseph (born October 10, 1988) is an American football defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at East Carolina. He was drafted by the New York Giants in t ...

tried to pull Montgomery out by yanking on his leg, but he reacted by kicking him in the groin. Joseph then stomped on Montgomery's stomach. On December 7, Montgomery was fined $10,000 for the incident. Late in the Week 15 game against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, he left the game after a player on the Browns team fell on his leg. The next day it was confirmed that he suffered a Grade 2

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

sprain in his left leg. Montgomery was able to start in the next game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

2013 season

Montgomery returned as the Redskins' starting center and not only started every game, but he played every snap. On March 14, 2014, the Redskins informed Montgomery he was being released, saving the team $1.92 million in salary cap room.

Denver Broncos

On April 1, 2014, the

and Montgomery agreed to terms on a one-year contract. Montgomery started the final 8 games at

, helping Denver rank 8th in rushing yards (1,032) in the second half of the season.

Chicago Bears

On April 2, 2015 Montgomery and the

agreed to terms on a one-year contract. On October 5, 2015, Montgomery was placed on Injury Reserve.

Personal

After retiring from football, Montgomery lost roughly around 80 pounds by December 2017.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bioDenver Broncos bioWashington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Will 1983 births Living people People from Brunswick, Maine Players of American football from Virginia Sportspeople from Fairfax County, Virginia American football centers American football offensive guards Virginia Tech Hokies football players Carolina Panthers players New York Jets players Washington Redskins players Denver Broncos players Chicago Bears players