Hang 'em High

In 1997, while he was playing for the Ravens, Montgomery had a full-blown panic attack. It happened at a preseason game with the Eagles. "I'm talking about a complete lockup," he says. "In pregame I couldn't catch a single [snap]. I was the holder for PATs, and I dropped every snap. [Kicker] Matt Stover kicked my hand. The game starts, and I'm pacing the sideline, taking deep breaths. I finally go out there and hit a 65-yarder, my first punt. It was that whole white-knuckle thing of squeezing life too hard. This is what punters do. You have to learn that the only way to gain control is to let go."

Today Montgomery, who lives in suburban Detroit, is an advocate for mental health awareness and suicide prevention. He is also a punting consultant, putting his charges through drills such as drop exercises and punting in a swimming pool. He tries to find language to explain how to perform an activity that he admits he never completely conquered until his playing days were over.

"Remember the movie Days of Thunder?" Montgomery says. "What did Robert Duvall teach Tom Cruise to do when there's a spinout and there's smoke on the track in front of him? Duvall taught him to go to the top of the wall and gun it. A driver can't see anything when there's a spinout, but he knows that the way the track is tilted, all the cars will be bunched up together at the bottom. Basically the story is the same for the punter. You go through the smoke and trust what you know. Don't be scared. Just trust it and go."

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