Like English writer Anthony Burgess said, “It's always good to remember where you come from and celebrate it. To remember where you come from is part of where you're going."
Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery grew up in Cincinnati.
He attended Mount Healthy High School, graduating in 2016 after a record-breaking four years wearing the red and black. According to his 247Sports profile, he wore a three-star status and was ranked as the No. 74 running back in the country.
However, he was only lightly recruited, getting offers from Iowa State, Cincinnati and Miami University and ended up a Cyclone. He played at Iowa State from 2016-2018, forgoing his final year of eligibility and signing with an agent. He was selected in the third round, the 73rd pick, in the 2019 NFL Draft by his current team and will be entering his fourth season with them this fall.
This year, to give back to the community he came from, out of appreciation and respect, Montgomery partnered with the BamFam Foundation to host a football camp for children from fifth to 12th grade at his alma mater.
BamFam coordinators said this was their first event of the summer, with several more in coming months across the country and with different NFL players. The events are completely free when registering and Saturday, they were handing out shorts, t-shirts, draw-string backpacks and water bottles to participants.
Montgomery's mother, Roberta Feltha-Mitchell, couldn't be more proud of her son and the work he's doing for his community.
"(He does this) for the kids," she said. "He wants to make sure that the kids know it's possible to do anything. He wants to make sure that he can come out here, give them something to hope for, let them see where he came from and that they can be where he is now."
"He's amazing, and I'm not saying that just because I'm his mom," she added. "Everything that he does, all of the people (and places) he's giving back to, the way that people look up to him, ... that pumps me up."
Montgomery said he plans to make this an annual event.
The event took place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday and had a variety of different activities. The children started with group dynamic stretching, before splitting up into smaller huddles to test out a circuit of drills over the first two hours.
After that, the coaches, who were said to have come from all corners of Montgomery's life, rounded up the children to have what they called a "Fastest Man" challenge. Also known as, a race.
To make things light, because the ages of the children fell anywhere between five and 18, the coaches made things fun and fair: Once the participants were done racing, it was the leaders' turn for the challenge.
"It's really important to give back to the community he came from, David knows that," former Mount Healthy football head coach Arvie Crouch said. "He's just a high character guy who does things right and loves kids, loves people."
"(This) was for the babies. For them, to get out of the house and for me, to try and give back as much as I can to my community," Montgomery said. "I know I have a lot of kids that look up to me and a big support system behind me, it's a blessing and without God none of this is really possible."
Montgomery estimated upwards of 300 participants were at the camp. He said it took roughly three months to put the event together with his mom at the helm. It turned out great, if not better than they were expecting, and Montgomery was thankful Mount Healthy welcomed him back.
"When we were kids, we never pictured ourselves in this moment, being the one to give back, to have this opportunity to give back," Montgomery said as the camp wrapped up with pizza being handed out. "To know that I got this chance, I'm just trying to take advantage of it and I'm blessed to be in this position."
Montgomery can't stay in his hometown for long with Bears mini-camp around the corner and the offseason grind begging to be pushed. He said he's thankful to still be going strong and healthy because no day is guaranteed.
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