Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery is in a positive moment – his team is 3-2 and the man they call “Monty” has finally found a place where he feels at home.
During a recent appearance on Sports Illustrated’s “Fantasy Dirt” podcast this week with Michael Fabiano and Lindsay Rhode, Montgomery hinted how this hasn’t always been the case throughout his pro career. The Lions star battled depression during his NFL rookie season, a condition exacerbated by the pressure of fantasy football.
“When I was a rookie, I had a real, real stressful time in the league,” Montgomery admitted. “I was at a point where I would have this suicidal thought, and it was just a depression.”
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“It was just a depression. It was just a depression and a scary year for me. And unfortunately, the people in fantasy were kind of helping me be aided to feeling that way. And I was at a point where I was scared to live.”
The Chicago Bears selected Montgomery in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft with the hope he would be the final piece in a championship puzzle: the team was fresh off an 11-5 campaign and was a “double doink” away from securing their first playoff victory since 2010.
Mongomery maintained his starting position in the Chicago backfield despite averaging a dismal 3.7 yards per carry as the Bears missed the playoffs.
David Montgomery was closer to pedestrian as a Chicago Bear before blossoming with the Detroit Lions (
Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
“I was in a situation where I was this close to doing something that I knew I shouldn’t have done, that would have changed the trajectory of my life or changed the trajectory of everybody else around me in my life,” he continued.
However, Montgomery’s family began to offer support. “And my nephew called me right when I was in the midst of doing so. And he didn’t say anything about football. He didn’t say anything about how fast I was. He just said, ‘Uncle Dave, I miss you. How are you doing?’ And my nephew, and it meant so much to me because my nephew, he has leukemia.”
“Hearing my nephew’s voice, I made a vow to myself and a promise to myself that I would never, ever allow anybody else to have that much control over my mind, my body to make me feel like I wasn’t worth anything or valued in a light to where I had a purpose on this Earth.”
Montgomery admitted he has a “really good therapist” and has been reminding himself that he “is enough.” And now, the Lions star “having the best time of my life. And I’m enjoying life for exactly what it is.”
Montgomery joined the Lions on a three-year, $18 million contract ahead of the 2023 season. HE rushed for 1,015 yards at a clip of 4.6 yards/carry and a career-high of 12 touchdowns.
He currently averages the eighth-most points amongst running backs in half-point PPR fantasy football leagues this season. Mongomery is also working on a seven-game touchdown streak and can break the Lions’ all-time record with a score on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
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