Fighting the Good Fight Charles Montgomery wears his heart on his sleeve. He wears his grief there, too. A prayer wraps around Montgomery’s left arm in black ink: “Now I lay me down to sleep.” BLOOMINGDALE HIGH SCHOOL On the other arm, the names of his aunts tattooed into his skin. It’s his way of memorializing his aunts who passed away from breast cancer. The prayer, which he reads to his younger sister each night, is a nod to his sibling killed by a drunk driver. “A lot of deaths in my family, but I’ve been working through it,” Montgomery said. One way the Bloomingdale High rising junior works through it is on the football field. “Football is just where I can let all my anger out and all my tensions,” Montgomery said. “It’s just something I can release all the stress from in my life. “I love the sport of football because I can just leave all that stress and depression on the field. You know, it doesn’t get to my head as much.” Instead, Montgomery gets in the heads of his opponents. One of the top offensive players in the Bay Area, he has Bloomingdale poised for big things. Last season, he helped the Bulls make history by posting their third-straight winning season and a trip to the postseason where they won the school’s first playoff game. “I’m very proud of what we accomplished as a team and I think it’s going to give us that energy we need to stay together,” Montgomery said. The Bulls advanced to the Class 7A region finals last season where they lost to defending state champs Venice. Montgomery played a big role in transforming the Bloomingdale program, once a doormat in Hillsborough County, into a perennial power. Colleges took notice and showered him with offers. Montgomery ended his recruitment in the offseason by verbally committing to South Carolina. “He’s just one of those personalities that
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can light up a room when he walks in,” said Max Warner, the Bulls’ former head coach who left after last season to become Bowling Green’s quarterbacks coach. “When you see Charles smile, it’s a good thing.” That personality is infectious and has created a tight bond with his teammates. “We’ll fight for each other, we’ll do anything for each other,” Montgomery said. “Brotherhood is the word for it, ’cause every last one of them are like my brothers.” It’s Montgomery’s extended family, one that means everything to him because he’s lost so many family members. But don’t expect him to wallow in his grief. He’s found ways to cope. Just like football, the Consulate Care nursing home in Brandon provides a refuge for Montgomery, a place he can surround himself with family. “It’s a smile on their face every time,” he said. “That’s why I love to do
what I do. I love to do what I do.” Montgomery volunteers his time, not to beef up a résumé, but to be that bright light in someone’s day, a shoulder to lean on. One of the patients checks in with him after games to go over his stats. “I just want to be that person that feels like family every time I come there,” he said. “That’s how I want everyone to feel when I’m there. I just want to leave a mark because you never know what can happen.” Montgomery learned that lesson the hard way. Through the various family members who have passed away and the one he almost lost. He was just 10 years old when his mother, Iris, was diagnosed with breast cancer. A blow to a young boy who had already lost several loved ones to the hideous disease, but also a great life lesson. “It showed him to continue to fight, no matter what we’ve endured, we continue to fight,” Iris Montgomery said. Iris fought the good fight and is now cancer-free. She battled so she could continue to do what she loves the most – sitting in the stands, watching her son play football. “It just amazing to be able to see him do what he’s always loved to do,” Iris said. “I think God has allowed me to live this far to be able to watch him do what he does best.” And she’s prepared to continue as his No. 1 fan when Montgomery plays in college. “I’m so excited for him,” she said. “I’m looking forward to cheering and screaming for him at the next level. I’ll be the loudest mama there.” There are many people rooting for Montgomery. Not only because of his football talent, but because of all he has endured. And because Montgomery knows better than most how unpredictable life can be, and he’s doing all he can to control his destiny. “Football’s my way out,” Montgomery said, “so I gotta do what I gotta do.”