Out of Stephens County High School (Toccoa, Ga.) in 1982, Keith Montgomery was considered one of the top prospects in the state, and the top running back, who possessed 4.4-40 speed. He could eventually be regarded as the successor to the legendary Herschel Walker as a sophomore in 1983, leading the Bulldogs in rushing, touchdowns scored, and was the team’s starting tailback. Upon being named the starter for game three that season, Montgomery scored a Herschel-like eight touchdowns over the next five games while averaging nearly 70 rushing yards per contest.
To cap the 1983 season, Montgomery’s 40 rushing yards on 11 carries in the 1984 Cotton Bowl against Texas doesn’t sound impressive. However, considering the Bulldogs faced what could be argued as the greatest defense in the history of college football, one which allowed only 2.3 yards per rush for the season, and the rest of Georgia’s backfield averaged just 2.2 yards per carry against the Longhorns, Montgomery had a respectable outing. Unfortunately, it would be his final outing as a Bulldog.
Following his notable campaign, Montgomery became engrossed in turmoil, resulting in his dismissal from two football programs. Still, he persisted, totally turning his life around, whereby he thrives today, despite dealing with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma since 2009, “just trying to live life being comfortable and happy.”
I recently caught up with Keith from his home in Baltimore:
PG: Keith, you signed with the Bulldogs in 1982 as part of an incoming class still considered arguably the most touted in school history. Why did you ultimately decide to attend Georgia?
KM: I considered a number of schools, but I had built a good rapport with Coach [Ray] Goff who was an assistant at South Carolina at the time. So, I was interested in South Carolina but, by the time I was to sign, Coach Goff had gone back to Georgia. I had a lot of faith in him. Also, I wanted to be close to home and my mom—my family.
PG: Did anyone question your decision to go to Georgia since Herschel Walker was there, and it appeared that you’d have to play behind him for two seasons?
KM: It seemed like everybody questioned my decision because of that. But, I knew I could go in and learn playing behind Herschel, and maybe play some special teams here and there—just wait for my time to come. I learned a lot from Herschel. Our relationship then was short-lived (the 1982 season) but, since then, I got to see and catch up with him a couple of times when he would come up to speak to the wounded veterans [of the Wounded Warrior Project] at Walter Reed (the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.) and the Fort Meade (Fort Meade, Md.) area.
PG: As a true freshman in 1982, it appeared like you were going to redshirt. However, by the fifth game, you were returning the opening kickoff against Ole Miss. How did it go from it looking like you’d redshirt to being one of Georgia’s leading kickoff returners on its team which played in the national title game?
KM: The week of that Ole Miss game, I had a very good practice. I was on the scout team and we were facing the No. 1 defense—and I picked up linebacker Will Forts pretty good (It was reported “the hit of [Tuesday’s] scrimmage came when freshman tailback Keith Montgomery took on blitzing linebacker Will Forts, and knocked him to the ground.”). The next day, Coach Dooley (head coach Vince Dooley) called me into his office and, at first, I was like, uh-oh. But, he said they were going to put me on the kickoff return team on the left hash.
PG: Entering the ’83 season, Herschel had recently departed early for the pros (USFL), and there was talk of who was going to replace him at tailback. You were one of five different players who would be given the opportunity to take over at tailback.
KM: And, man, I remember all the “tailback talk” very well. But, since Coach Dooley knew the tailbacks were young, for the first two games (UCLA and Clemson), we had two fullbacks—Scotty Williams at fullback and Barry Young at tailback (a junior and senior, respectively)—starting in the backfield. During those games, Coach Dooley would filter [each of the tailbacks] in to see who would take off. After the Clemson game, he called me [into his office] and said I was the starting tailback. It was then that life changed overnight for me.
PG: And, speaking of taking off… You know, I was aware that you led Georgia in ’83 with eight touchdowns scored but, until I did the research, I didn’t realize all eight were scored in a span of only your first five starts.
KM: And, I think four or five of those [touchdowns] were on a one- or -two-yard leap into the end zone that I learned from Herschel. When I saw him from the sidelines [in 1982] scoring those touchdowns when he’d leap over the top, I thought, I’d like to do that one day. I was never a big guy with a playing weight of 185 pounds, maybe standing 5-foot-11. Still, I felt that if the defense got me in the air, then they got me, but, even so, I could get at least two yards.
(It was here during our interview that I was determinedly, yet cautiously, going to ask Keith questions regarding a few issues from his past. To his credit, he was more than willing and forthright in his answering.)
PG: Three days after the Cotton Bowl, the media reported that you and another Georgia player were dismissed from school because of “failing to exit developmental studies English after four quarters.” Curiously, you and the other player reportedly were notified of your dismissal before the Cotton Bowl, but were allowed to play because the ruling would not be effective until the start of the university’s winter quarter a few days later. Were you informed you were dismissed from school, but still allowed to play in the Cotton Bowl?
KM: No, I wasn’t. I didn’t have any idea of what was going on until after the game. I can’t speak for the other player, but I wasn’t aware of [my academic ineligibility]. In fact, it came to me as a surprise. I do know it was one of the most difficult things for me to go through—being told you had to go. I remember cleaning out my dorm room and talking to the academic counselors, and all. But, no matter, it was all on me. I don’t put the blame on anybody but myself.
PG: After a couple of quarters attending a community college, you decided to transfer to UT-Chattanooga, when you were again associated with UGA football around Christmas of 1984. However, this time, you were involved in an NCAA probe resulting in violations committed by the program, including when you were reportedly part of providing Tyrone Sorrells, then a UGA player who had since transferred to Georgia Tech, transportation from his home in Buford, Ga., to Athens. What was that all about?
KM: Tyrone left the university a few times disenchanted with the football program to go home, only then to be persuaded to return to UGA. Since Tyrone and I were very good friends, I was asked to go help get him one of those times. So, I simply rode with [graduate assistant] Frank Ros to go try to persuade Tyrone to return to school. I was asked to do something for the team, and I did it. I had no idea it was an NCAA violation, and I’m pretty sure Georgia didn’t know it was an NCAA violation either. So, yeah, an NCAA investigator questioned me and I was like, as far as I knew at the time, I hadn’t done anything wrong—and as far as I knew at the time, the UGA football program hadn’t done anything wrong.
PG: First, why did you decide to attend UT-Chattanooga? Second, after a great start as UTC’s feature back, things didn’t quite go as planned, right?
KM: Johnny Henderson, son of Clarke Central’s legendary coach, Billy Henderson, was an assistant coach at UTC after he had played for Georgia. He called me on occasion asking if I’d be interested in going to UTC. So, I did. After sitting out a year, I played there in 1985 and ran into the same issue I had while at Georgia—I was hurt a lot and would try to play hurt. At Georgia because of injuries, I never played in a G-Day game. My best rushing game—against Kentucky in ’83 (98 yards on 13 carries)—I played with a couple of broken ribs. Even in the Cotton Bowl, I messed up my ankle and was removed in the third quarter. In college, I had really good speed, but was small, comparatively speaking. I just didn’t have the weight to take that constant punishment.
PG: In the spring of 1986, you were dismissed from the UTC team and ultimately charged with sexually assaulting a woman on campus. Keith, I don’t want to overstep, so to speak, but could you explain the allegation and its end result?
KM: I certainly can because I have nothing to hide—not then, not now. I’ll say this: Me and another guy were accused of sexual assault, and we both immediately claimed our innocence—and held steadfast to our innocence. Still, a thorough investigation had to be done and, in the end, we were found to be innocent. But that whole ordeal completely changed my life.
PG: How did it change your life?
KM: At the time I was dismissed from UTC, I had been receiving literature from NFL teams, the first of which was from the Dallas Cowboys. The exact same day I went to see the head coach (regarding Montgomery’s dismissal), two scouts from two different pro teams, one from the San Francisco 49ers, were there to see and talk to me. Well, since I was in the process of being dismissed, the two scouts obviously were no longer interested in me. Even today, it still hurts that I could have had that opportunity. But, I had to move on.
PG: How did you move on?
KM: I stayed in both the Toccoa and Athens areas before I felt like I just needed to get away. I felt embarrassed, had been ridiculed, and felt like I was at the bottom of the barrel. I wanted to leave everything (personal issues from past), erase everything from my mind, but I couldn’t. Although I had grown up a spiritual person, it was then I found God. So, I decided to give everything to Him, and take whatever came at me at face value.
PG: It was then you decided to enlist in the military. Please tell me about that.
KM: I served in the Army from 1987 to 1992. At that time (1992), there was the World League and I had some connections when I was stationed in Hawaii for a tryout with the Orlando Thunder. Before Desert Storm (of the Gulf War), I had decided to eventually leave the military to go try out for the Thunder, but by the time Desert Storm was over, the league had folded. I came out of the military having reached the position of a Quartermaster Officer.
PG: What did you do after serving in the military?
KM: I “out-processed” at the Presidio in California (a former Army military fort in San Francisco) and then moved to Fort Meade, before Baltimore, where I’ve resided ever since. Going on three years now, I’ve worked in operations for the Social Security Administration.
PG: Tell me about your family.
KM: When I was in Hawaii, me and a woman, who remains my good friend, had a baby girl, Elaynea. She now attends VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University). I also have two sons, Kiko and Dante. I met a nice young lady who is now my fiancé, Scherry Davis Stafford, and we’re just trying to live life being comfortable and happy. She works in the medical field doing CAT scans at Northwest Hospital here in Baltimore. Man, my fiancé is my left arm—and my right arm.
PG: Finally, can you embrace—or even associate with—the UGA football program not only because you live in Baltimore, but because your time as a Bulldog was short-lived?
KM: I do embrace the program. I try to get down for games, but Saturdays can be difficult to do so because of my work. It’s easier for me to fly down for Atlanta Falcons’ games on Sundays. I’ve been a Falcons season-ticket holder for the last seven years. Still, I’m going to really try this year to see Georgia play—maybe coordinate it when Atlanta is playing at home on a Sunday. But, I never miss watching the Bulldogs from home. I’m a die-hard Georgia fan, got a Georgia emblem on my truck, and try to really represent the team up here.
