Football has always been ISU sprinter Derron Montgomery’s first love.

Montgomery grew up around football. His father, Wilbert, has been in the NFL for 21 years as a player and a coach and is currently the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Montgomery also has three uncles who played professionally, and his mother Cheryl was a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys.

“I love football. It runs in my family,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery, a native of Garland, Texas, followed in his family’s footsteps, playing football through high school. He was originally recruited by the Cyclones as a wide receiver. As part of his recruitment, he was also going to run for the track team after football season, something he also did in high school. But, after a series of ACL injuries, Montgomery has had to shift his focus solely to track.

The first injury came in 2005 during a football game for South Garland High School. Montgomery eventually recovered and went on to join the ISU football team in 2006. After redshirting his freshman year, Montgomery looked to get back on the football field for the 2007 season and planned on running for the track team that same year.

Heading into the spring, everything seemed to be back on track for him to make a return to both sports. However, during spring practice his ACL tore for the second time, leaving Montgomery questioning his playing future.

“The second time it happened, I thought my career was over,” said Montgomery. “The first time, I was like ‘I can bounce back from this.’ But the second time, I thought maybe my knees are just that weak and I’m not meant to run around and play sports.”

Once again, Montgomery fought through the pain and continued down the long road to recovery. The recovery process was not as difficult the second time around.

“It was a lot easier the second time. Things got back a lot quicker. But my knees aren’t as stable as they should be,” said Montgomery. “It’s gotten much stronger, but not where it needs to be football-wise.”

With his football future in question after the injury, Montgomery said it was head football coach Gene Chizik who brought up the idea of giving track another try.

“He wants me to contribute to the school as much as possible … He wanted me to excel in something. If I’m not able to excel in football, then maybe I could excel in track,” Montgomery said.

After three years away from the track, Montgomery joined the track team in January. In only two months with the team, he has made an impact. Montgomery had several top finishes during the indoor season, including a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter dash at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Montgomery admits his surprise at how quickly he has found success.

“I’m actually shocked. I wouldn’t have expected to come out here and get the times that I’m getting,” he said.

Sprint coach Ronnie Williams said he was impressed by Montgomery the first time he saw him run.

“I was over doing starts and he ran by, and I was like ‘wow.’ I just stopped what I was doing and thought, ‘Man he’s running fast,'” Williams said. “As we started racing, it was really amazing how much time he dropped. I realized that he was something special.”

Williams said that, even with the knee injury, he was confident Montgomery would have success this season.

“Obviously, with him coming off the knee injury, it took some time and conditioning. But with time, I knew it was going to work. Derron is a very driven and focused athlete.”

Head coach Corey Ihmels shared Williams’ sentiments.

“He’s a competitor. He doesn’t care who you are or where you’re from. He’s going to go out and try and beat you out,” Ihmels said.

To ensure Montgomery made a smooth and healthy transition to the track, the coaching staff had to work closely with Montgomery.

“Coach Williams had to bring him around slowly and be careful not to do too much, too soon,” said Ihmels. “I think he’s adapted well and, as we go along, I think he will be able to do more and more with the training.”

Even though Montgomery can run fine on his knee, he said it’s not at the point at which it can take the constant beating of football. He attempted to go out for practice this year, but found his knee was still too unstable.

“Hopefully, the knee will get stronger and I will be able to come back in a year or two,” Montgomery said.

In the meantime, Montgomery has made the most of his new opportunity with the track team. As the team moves outdoors, Montgomery has shown no signs of slowing his early-season momentum. In his first meet outdoors, he took fifth in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at a time of 21.69 seconds.

Montgomery said he would contemplate a return to football after giving his knee another year to recover. He will, however, choose the sport he sees himself having the most success in.

“Football is in my blood, but I feel if I have a better chance of making it with track, instead of taking the risk of going back to football and having my knee snap again, then I’ll take track any day,” Montgomery said.