As a six-year veteran of the NFL, David Montgomery has recorded a lot of commercials, voice-overs and other promotional materials.
This one, however, hit different.
“I do a lot of these things, but this one was a lot of fun,” Montgomery told the Scouting America representatives who were on the scene when he recorded a promotional video last fall.
Montgomery, a running back for the Detroit Lions, is an Eagle Scout from Troop 772 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an official Scouting America ambassador.
In the video, which you can view in its entirety below, Montgomery speaks from the heart about what Scouting meant to him as a youth and what it continues to mean to him to this day.
“I quickly fell in love with the outdoors,” Montgomery says. “I even built a really fast Pinewood Derby car.
“(Scouts) showed me how to take responsibility, how to work with other people and how to become a leader. And that made me a better athlete on the field.”
Montgomery suffered a serious injury late in 2024 that at first seemed likely to end his season. However, recent reports indicate a possible return in time for the playoffs. The Lions, at 15-2, finished the regular season with the best record in the NFC, earning them a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
The team returns to action in the divisional round the weekend of January 18-19, hopefully with a healthy Montgomery.
A talented actor too?
The video was recorded over the course of one day at a youth sports training facility in Detroit. Montgomery drove himself to the location and brought his young son with him. (David Andrew Montgomery turns 2 next week.)
During filming, a member of the production team would shout out suggested lines to Montgomery to get him to talk about his youth and his time in Scouting. Montgomery would take it under consideration, then say the lines back to the camera in his own voice, tweaking the wording as he saw fit.
During downtime, Montgomery seemed supercomfortable talking and joking around with the youth who were on the set. At one point, he even demonstrated to them some of his favorite football moves.
Montgomery especially lit up when he was photographed with a real Pinewood Derby track, debating with the other talent about which car would run the fastest. The Pinewood Derby track doesn’t appear in this video, but I’m told you’ll see it in future Scouting America promotional materials.
Flashing the Scout salute
Montgomery was eager to talk about why his Eagle Scout service project, which involved collecting toiletries for the homeless, meant so much to him.
“In high school, I broke a couple of records,” Montgomery says. “But one of the things I’m most proud of is I collected donations from my community to support those in need. And that was my Eagle Scout project.
“It took a lot of time, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. A lot of people benefited from it, including me.”
In addition to being active in Scouts, Montgomery was a good enough football player in high school to earn a scholarship to Iowa State. In 2019, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears. He played in Chicago for four seasons before joining the Detroit Lions ahead of the 2023 season.
After scoring a touchdown in a game against the Green Bay Packers, he flashed the Scout salute for the Thursday Night Football cameras.
Photos by Scouting America
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