MISSOULA — The lights were a little bit brighter at the Grizzly Indoor Practice Facility on Thursday, as it was pro day for some former Montana Grizzly football players who had a chance to showcase their skills in front of professional scouts.
Seven former Griz football players put their talents on display, with all of their hard work since the season's end coming to the forefront as they aim for the next level. Players in attendance included wide receivers Junior Bergen, Keelan White and Aaron Fontes, defensive end Hayden Harris, offensive tackle Brandon Casey, running back Nick Ostmo and safety Ryder Meyer. Tight end Cole Grossman was scheduled to compete and was in attendance but did not participate due to injury.
PHOTOS: MONTANA GRIZZLIES HOLD PRO DAY IN MISSOULA
"It's just making sure your mind is right," Harris said of the day. "You know, making sure that you're all in order with all your drills, the training you put in, it pays off at the end of the day. Like, you come out here, you lean on your training and that mentally helps you a lot knowing that you went through all this work and it was good."
THANK YOU to the 2️⃣1️⃣ @NFL & @CFL teams that came to see our guys at #GrizProDay!#GoGriz / #NextLevelGriz pic.twitter.com/IK1ipxxh6p
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) April 3, 2025
In total, scouts from 21 professional teams in the NFL and CFL were in attendance, with 13 of them from NFL squads looking at the Grizzlies ahead of their draft which comes at the end of this month.
"It's a lot different than years in the past. You're training for football. And this, you're training for drills," Bergen said. "Shuttle, 40, stuff that you don't really work on throughout the year, but it was nice to kind of adapt to something new and challenge myself, push myself. I had a lot of good guys with me that were able to challenge me and get me better overall."
Bergen's star power as the record-setting return man for Montana drew plenty of interest, while White and Harris are seen as strong candidates to be drafted in the CFL, with some predicting White to be the top overall pick. The NFL Draft is April 24-26 in Green Bay and the CFL Draft will follow on April 29.
"It would mean a lot. I've looked up to my dad my whole life, he played professional football," White said. "I'd want to follow in his footsteps and also play professional football, whatever league that may be. It would feel awesome to get that call."
"It might be a little bit stressful, but in terms of getting the pro day done, you did what you could do," Harris added. "You did your best and that's all you can really lean on. If the team wants to take a chance on me, they'll take a chance on me. I'll be grateful for that."
To see how the marks from UM's players compared to this year's NFL Combine, click here.
These guys trained all over the country to prepare themselves for Thursday's opportunity.
The work is done and weight off their shoulders. Now, the waiting game begins as they hope to have their names called one way or another and keep playing football for the foreseeable future.
"Getting a guy who's hard working, I'll do whatever's asked of me," White said. "I pride myself in being really coachable. So you never have to ask me to do something twice. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win."
"I know like as a kid I'd fake sick and skip class and watch Path to the Draft," Bergen said with a big smile. "So it's been a dream of mine for quite some time and I'm just grateful that a lot of teams came out and were able to come watch. And I'm grateful that these guys were out here as well, and we're able to do it one more time."
