Meet the NFL running back who’s now an official Scouting America ambassador

It was the summer of 2013, and David Montgomery already had a bright future ahead of him.

He didn’t know it at the time, but the then-16-year-old was just a few months away from earning the rank of Eagle Scout, two and a half years away from committing to play college football at Iowa State University, and just under six years away from being drafted by the Chicago Bears.

Back in the summer of 2013, Montgomery was almost six and a half years away from his first 100-yard rushing game in the NFL, nine years away from being ranked as one of the top 100 players in the NFL (as voted on by then-current players), and nearly 10 years away from signing an $18 million contract with the Detroit Lions.

But back in the summer of 2013, David Montgomery didn’t know any of that.

All he knew was that he was standing at the top of the bowl at the Summit Bechtel Reserve’s skate park at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree, and it was his first time ever on a skateboard.

“They had taught us the basics of skateboarding,” Montgomery says. “I had knee pads on, elbow pads on, helmet on … I had never been on a skateboard before, but man, it’s Scouting! You get to try new things!”

Montgomery felt confident that he had this. Then he began his descent into the bowl.

“There was this loud ‘swoosh,’” he says.

It was the sound of the skateboard shooting right out from under his feet. It was a total wipeout.

But even back then, in the summer of 2013, Montgomery was not a quitter.

When David Montgomery gets tackled, or has something else go against him, he gets back up and tries again.

“The first thing everybody did is they came over and helped me up and helped me dust myself off,” he says. “And the second time I dropped down into that bowl, it was a success. And I said, ‘Ah … so this is what Scouting is about.

“It was amazing.”

“Complete correlation with everyday life”

Montgomery says Scouting gave him the skills and discipline it takes to succeed in all aspects of life. Last week, Montgomery was named an official Scouting America recruitment ambassador. His message: Scouting can do for everyone what it did for him.

“I think there’s so many things that Scouting teaches you that are in complete correlation with everyday life,” Montgomery says. “If you get involved in Scouting, you’ll realize how much it can help you every day.”

Montgomery joined Scouting as a Cub Scout in his hometown of Cincinnati. One of his earliest memories of Scouting is building a Pinewood Derby car with his stepdad and then winning his pack’s race a short time later.

“My car was so simple — it was a yellow car that was like a half circle — and my stepdad helped me put eyes on it,” he says. “It was bright yellow, and it was aerodynamic. And it won.”

Montgomery’s mom and stepdad remained active in his pack and, later, his troop. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout from Troop 772 in 2014. His Eagle Scout project was collecting toiletries for people without homes.

Montgomery was following in the steps of his older brother who earned the rank of Eagle Scout before him. His younger brother just earned the rank of Eagle earlier this year.

In high school, Montgomery had two loves: Scouting and football.

“I had to learn how to prioritize what was important to me,” he says. “Scouting was important to me. And it still is. When I completed my Eagle Scout project, it was like, now I can go play football. Football was important, but Scouting was far more important.”

Montgomery played well enough to earn a scholarship to Iowa State. He finished his collegiate career with 2,925 yards — sixth best in school history.

In 2019, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears. He played in Chicago for four seasons before joining the Detroit Lions.

“I needed that”

Back in the summer of 2013, Montgomery didn’t necessarily realize everything that Scouting was doing for him. All he knew was that he was having fun with his buddies.

But looking back on it now, he says there’s no question that his experience as a Scout helped him deal with the tragedies he faced as a youth. In 2013, one his brother’s best friends — a boy Montgomery looked up to as a mentor — was murdered during a home invasion. A few years later, one of Montgomery’s relatives was sentenced to prison.

“Scouting was an escape, similar to football,” Montgomery says. “In Scouting, the people around you show a different kind of love. As a young man, and especially as an African American young man, it was hard to show emotion. Scouting is a safe haven for you to do just that. That I could go someplace to be me, unapologetically and without judgment. I needed that.”

Montgomery played quarterback in high school. As the quarterback, he was expected to be the leader of the team. Guess where he learned how to do that?

“Being able to communicate is probably the biggest thing I learned in Scouting,” he says. “Our troop was made up of different boys from different parts of the city with different backgrounds. And that transitioned over to the football field, where as a quarterback I had to learn to communicate with different people in different ways.”

Now Montgomery is a father himself. His son — a future Cub Scout, he says — was born in January 2023.

That day at the Summit skate park in the summer of 2013 seems like such a long time ago. But the lessons of it for Montgomery are still alive and well, some of them continuing to reveal themselves all these years later.

“If I hadn’t experienced the things I experienced in Scouting, there would have been a lot of things I wouldn’t have known how to work through as a football player, even as a professional football player,” he says. “Scouting helped me be who I am so I can be the man I need to be for my son.

“Having my son showed me again how much I needed Scouts.”

NFL photos by Getty Images. Photos of Montgomery as a Scout courtesy of the family

Montgomery is one of 17 Eagle Scouts currently playing in the NFL. Click here to read about the others.