Ty Montgomery denounces "false accusations about my character"

"I'm walking around with a state of mind that I'm not supposed to have," he told his locker at Lambeau Field.

But to understand where Montgomery's spirit was on Monday, we had to go back 24 hours in the aftermath of the Packers defeat at L. Colis Memorial on Sunday. At that time, Montgomery had two main questions: was he told to kneel in the end zone after the Rams took the lead with 2 minutes and 5 seconds to go? And if so, why did he return it?

Montgomery chose not to talk about post-game, leaving the coaches and their teammates talking about this decision and its aftermath, which was a fumble and Aaron Rodgers and the offense stuck on the bench for that time expires.

Head coach Mike McCarthy simply stated that the discussion before the kickoff was to drop the ball and give the offensive two minutes to get into the penalty area. McCarthy admitted that he did not know how close the ball was to the goal line. On the record, the teammates were frustrated that the offensive did not have this last chance to win.

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But around 3 am on Monday, the NFL network announced that an anonymous teammate had questioned Montgomery's character on the kick back.

The league-listed site said six Packers coaches and players said Montgomery was frustrated when he left the field to play a second game with about six minutes to play, calling his actions a "crisis." of anger "when he had slammed his ball. headphones on the sideline.

An anonymous player then made the connection between Montgomery's posting after leaving the lot and his deliberate disruption of McCarthy's order to kneel to serve his own interests.

Just before 4pm Monday, Montgomery met the media and tried to treat everything.

"We are talking about being brothers," he said. "We are talking about being part of the family and keeping things at home, this and that. That's not what happened. I do not know. Maybe that's what they do in their family. That's not what I do in mine. Nobody ever told me anything. Nobody has ever come to me. So I am totally disappointed by the speculation and the backlash that I have to face now. Because now we are talking about my character. We do not even talk about the fumble anymore, we talk about my character. We talk about why I did what I did, and it does not suit me.

Regarding his decision to take the ball back from the kick, he acknowledged that the return unit had its usual conversation – "if it's in the end zone, keep it in the end zone" – but Montgomery was furious at not wanting anything.

"At that time, I stood where I was still, I had a balloon that could be returned," he said. "So I took a split second, I do not know if it will land on the goal line. So, I'm not going to kneel on the goal line on the half-yard line and try to put the game in the hands of the referee. Unfortunately, I ended up fumbling with football. I do not think we would have this conversation if I did not escape football, because we know how much our offensive is two minutes.

"But I've never been a guy to completely disobey what I'm told. I think you can ask a lot of guys in our locker room. That's not what I do. This is not the kind of man I am. He's not the kind of person I am.

He also confessed to being frustrated after being pulled in favor of Aaron Jones for a second game with 18:45 to go, likening it to going to another room and releasing a scream. Montgomery acknowledged that this moment was the culmination of some pent-up emotions.

"I'm a little frustrated. I wanted to do a play, "he said. "I did not play a lot, I was not able to play and I was frustrated. I do not quite understand my current role, what I'm supposed to do, how am I supposed to help this team. And it's frustrating when I want to help the team and I have few opportunities and that was not the case. So I went out frustrated about it. "

But Montgomery said it did not affect his decision-making process regarding the match's return.

"Absolutely not, and that's what I was trying to say," he said. "And it's very …"

He paused.

"I am very disappointed with what has been said and they have tried to make correlations that do not exist."

Montgomery admitted that he was beginning to wonder who this anonymous teammate was, what his motives were and he was trying to convince others of his point of view. He added that no one had come to see him directly to claim this quote and that he could not hide the fact that he was disappointed with this teammate.

"One hundred percent, very disappointed," he said, "There are many things that are not true that cause me to face false accusations about my character, perceptions of my character. I have never been one to throw teammates under the bus. You know that if you never ask me questions about your teammates, I always deflect it. I do not like it. So it's very disappointing especially since a guy who has endangered the length of his career, the money he can earn during his career, is asked in mid-season to do several things at a time. That's all I'm going to say about it. "

Tramon Williams was one of his teammates who spoke to Montgomery on Sunday night, bringing important support.

"I'll tell you what, people who said that, it's unfortunate to have said," said Williams, a veteran of 12 seasons and three teams – including the 2015 Cleveland Brown and 16 who combined 4-28. "That's why they are anonymous and did not say their names. If they want to say it, put their name accordingly. It's them. Whoever it is, that's what it is. But we are going to have Ty's return. I know for a fact that he did not do it selfishly. It may sound like that, but he did not do it selfishly.

Aaron Jones, Montgomery's locker companion, also understood his compatriot's disappointment.

"It's frustrating because we're a team," Jones said. "We should be able to come talk to each other. That's why it's frustrating. Of course, you want to know who says what. We are teammates and we have to stay together at the end of the day. "

After a day off Tuesday, the Packers will switch to game planning for the New England Patriots. Montgomery expects to be part of it and said that he would continue to do what he had asked him to do, as he always did.

But the wound can take a long time to heal.

"The most disappointing thing is that he is now inside," he said. "It's hard for me to trust anyone now. Guys talk about how they can trust me, it's hard for me to trust anyone now. That said, people send messages to my wife. People comment on articles about my son. I get phone calls, people suggest to stay at home (apparently), because apparently, threats are made online.

"I am completely upset by the state of humanity right now. That's all I can really say about it.