(Editor's note: Montana State athletics release.)
BOZEMAN — Montana State senior defensive end Brody Grebe added to his long list of honors Thursday when Bobcat football coach Brent Vigen announced the Melstone product will wear the program’s legacy jersey No. 41 in 2024.
“Brody embodies everything this program stands for and everything that football players from Montana stride to be,” Vigen said. “He’s a great representative of Bobcat football and of what number 41 stands for here.”
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬.
— Montana State Football (@MSUBobcats_FB) April 19, 2024
Congratulations to @BrodyGrebe for the honor.#BobcatBuilt | #GoCatsGo pic.twitter.com/bub9YiOLql
In addition, Vigen announced that the team’s other six Treasure State seniors will wear uniform patches with “41” to denote their status as Montanans. Those players: quarterback Tommy Mellott (Butte), safety Rylan Ortt (Missoula), linebacker McCade O’Reilly (Bozeman), center Justus Perkins (Bozeman), offensive tackle Marcus Wehr (Billings), tight end Ryan Lonergan (Bozeman).
“Each of these individuals show the characteristics that each of the players who have worn 41 have shown,” Vigen said. “This group of seniors from Montana deserves recognition, and taking this opportunity is something that is really warranted.”
Grebe earned first-team College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors in 2023, and also became a two-time All-American.
“It’s a great honor, obviously, knowing the guys that came before me who wore this number,” Grebe said. “Grant (Collins) and Brayden Konkol and Chase (Benson) and RJ (Fitzgerald) and, of course, Nolan (Askelson). They’re all class-act guys who do everything the right way, take care of business on and off the field.
"They’re standout Montana guys who the community wants to get behind an who the community loves. It’s a great honor.”
The other 2024 in-state seniors comprise a decorated group. Mellott earned the Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award from Stats Perform last season, Wehr earned first-team All-America honors, Perkins and Ortt each earned all-league honors a season ago, and O’Reilly and Lonergan appear poised to step into starting roles.
Montana State football issues No. 41 as a legacy jersey each season to a senior from Montana as a tribute to the Treasure State’s status as the 41st state admitted to the United States, and also to the 1941 Bobcats which (along with several preceding teams) lost 13 men in service.
The legacy jersey began with Grant Collins (Bozeman) in 2018, and includes Brayden Konkol (Belgrade) in 2019, Troy Andersen of Dillon in 2020 (when the season was canceled due to COVID-19), Chase Benson (Helena) in 2021, R.J. Fitzgerald (Dillon) in 2022, and Nolan Askelson of Billings a season ago.
