No. 31, 28 | |||||||||||||||
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Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Date of birth: | September 16, 1954 | ||||||||||||||
Place of birth: | Greenville, Mississippi | ||||||||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||
Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
College: | Abilene Christian | ||||||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 1977 / Round: 6 / Pick: 154 | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
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As coach: | |||||||||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Rushing yards: | 6,789 |
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Rushing average: | 4.4 |
Rushing touchdowns: | 45 |
Receptions: | 273 |
Receiving yards: | 2,502 |
Receiving touchdowns: | 12 |
Player stats at NFL.com |
Wilbert Montgomery (born September 16, 1954) is a former American football player in the National Football League for nine years with the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions. In the past, Montgomery has been the running backs and tight ends coach for St. Louis Rams (1997–2005), the running backs coach for the Detroit Lions (2006-2007), the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens (2008–2013), and the running backs coach for the Cleveland Browns (2014–2015).
An outstanding athlete at Abilene Christian University, Montgomery was a four-year starter at running back and set the all-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics record for touchdowns with 76. Montgomery broke the record for touchdowns by a freshman with 37 and helped lead the Wildcats to the NAIA Division I National Championship in 1973. He was featured in "Faces in the Crowd" in the November 12 issue of Sports Illustrated that same year.
Montgomery was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 1977 NFL Draft. Wearing number 31, Montgomery played eight seasons with Philadelphia, shattering almost all of the Eagles' rushing records and leading the club in rushing six times. Montgomery, who concluded his NFL career with the Detroit Lions in 1985, holds or held seven Philadelphia rushing records, including career attempts (1,465), rushing yards (6,538, broken by LeSean McCoy in 2014), attempts in a season (338 in 1979), rushing yards in a season (1,512 in 1979, since broken by LeSean McCoy in 2013), career 100-yard rushing games (26), 100-yard rushing games in a season (8 in 1981), and touchdowns in a game (4). In 1979, Montgomery led the NFL with 2,012 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving, returns). Over his NFL career, he accumulated 6,789 yards rushing, 2,502 receiving, 814 kickoff return yards, 57 touchdowns (45 rushing, 12 receiving, 1 kickoff return), and two Pro Bowl invitations (1978–79).