David Montgomery will return home when the Lions face the Bengals in Cincinnati on Sunday. While the trip might remind him of some painful childhood memories, it’ll also serve as a reminder of why the Lions running back is doing what he does.
In an interview with FOX Sports’ Tom Rinaldi, Montgomery opened up about his rough childhood experience in Cincinnati, which included moving to multiple homes and sleeping through cold nights.
“My mom, she’s a soldier,” Montgomery said. “She worked double, triple shifts sometimes. But it was just never enough. There were nights where we didn’t eat. There were times where the heat and stuff went off. We just turned the oven on as hot as we could. Sometimes, my brothers and I would take baths where we would be out of heat and we would just boil the water.”
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As Montgomery saluted his mom, Roberta, there are a couple of other people who he’ll have in mind when he takes the field for Sunday’s game. One of them is Vince Turnage, who was a high school track star in the Cincinnati area that Montgomery idolized before he was murdered in 2013.
“He was a track star who played football with my brother,” Montgomery told Rinaldi of Turnage. “I was in high school when he got murdered. In college, whenever I scored, I used to let him know every change that I’d get.”
The other is Montgomery’s sister, Kiki, who was left paralyzed following a car crash in 2024. Sunday will mark the first time that Kiki will be able to watch Montgomery play in person since she suffered the injury.
“I’m most excited about seeing her, and seeing the joy on her face, I hope I can give her,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery told Rinaldi that he’ll have other friends and family from his hometown in attendance for Sunday’s game as well. Playing in front of all of them will serve as a reminder of what he went through to reach the NFL.
“To be able to go back where I was born and raised, it will be an emotional experience because I was a kid from Cincinnati, Ohio, who no one knew, went through the worst of the worst, who just knew how to work and believed in himself,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery’s NFL dream came to fruition when the Chicago Bears selected him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. After four strong seasons in the Windy City, Montgomery left to join the Lions in free agency ahead of the 2023 season.
In the Motor City, Montgomery has formed one of the league’s strongest running back tandems alongside Jahmyr Gibbs, elevating the Lions’ offense to another level. After rushing for 25 touchdowns over the last two seasons, Montgomery has gotten off to another strong start this year, rushing for 245 yards on 5.7 yards per carry and three touchdowns.
“He’s carrying a legacy that he’s trying to create for himself,” Lions assistant coach Scott Montgomery told Rinaldi of the running back. “He’s carrying his family, so many young men that don’t believe they can do it. He’s a soldier and he’s tough as nails. He’s going to carry our football club.”
Montgomery’s play with the Lions has only continued to show just how far he’s come since he was a kid who had to battle through a rough situation in Cincinnati. He’s proud of what he’s had to overcome to get here, and hoping his story can inspire others.
“If I could tell the little boy that left home anything from the man that I am now, it’s that the pain is temporary,” Montgomery said. “Don’t allow the pain be a wound that’s consistently open.”
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