MISSOULA — The start to Jake Olson's senior season at Montana was unceremonious, as the Butte product began watching from the sidelines with a foot injury.
Normally, there should be excitement for the final ride to come, but for Olson it was apprehension and worry.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
"When I got my injury this summer, I honestly kind of thought like that might have been it right there," Olson said. "But battling back from injury, just all the rehab and stuff I did, once I finally get back, I knew I just had to savor every single moment, every play. Obviously, every single game."
The road to recovery was long, as Olson leaned on his faith and worked his way back.
"You try your darn hardest not to let it completely crush your spirit," Olson said. "I can't speak for everyone, but for myself, being it my senior year, it just kind of devastated me for a while.
"But, I knew I would get back eventually and just kind of tried to keep my spirits up as highly as I can all throughout August and throughout the weeks that I was inactive. Finally, once I got to the stepping stones of that, I was like, this is the last year, you just got to go out and give it everything you can."
After missing the first six games, Olson made his return in mid-October for UM's game against Sacred Heart and has played in every contest since.
Olson grew up dreaming of being a Grizzly, whether that be just school or playing a sport like his father, Bob Olson, who suited up for the Griz men's basketball program. So it's meant everything to him to carve out a career in the football program.
"You don't realize it when you're younger, just how many people care about you," Olson said. "And it's just something that you finally get a hold of when you're older and especially like being a senior now, just how many eyes are on you and just how many people care for you.
"I love representing my state. I also love representing my hometown in Butte. They call it Butte, America for a reason. I got all my friends and family are there for the most part. I love representing my town. The state as a whole, we don't have professional sports. So just being able to represent your state's colleges, it's pretty cool."
As a tight end, Olson cracked the rotation in 2023 and has been primarily used as a blocker to set up others for success.
"There's nothing that fires me up more than just nose-deep blocking someone. All of a sudden you hear the roar of the crowd and you look up and Eli (Gillman) or one of our backs or even a long bomb downfield if we're in pass protection, there's no better feeling than like, yeah, let's go, big play," Olson said. "And it's because of all the guys up front getting the blocks and making it happen.
"It did take a while for me to actually embrace that because I didn't do much blocking in high school at all, strictly pretty much route running. And then once you get here, it changes. You do both, but you do a lot of blocking, especially being a bigger tight end.
"But you got to love the physicality and that gets drilled into you here. You learn to love physicality, you learn to love to hit people. So once that kind of just that kind of just shaped my mentality of just being kind of one of the best blocking tight ends I could be."
Olson has a touchdown to his name after catching the game-winner against Eastern Washington last season. In total, he's played in 40 games.
With his degree in business management and entrepreneurship done, Olson is working toward his MBA which he'll finish in the spring. And with an engagement also in hand, life is formulating for Olson as the final ride winds down.
"I'm kind of proud of myself for not letting anything slip away, kind of just building my life and just building on and building on," Olson said. "Just kind of seeing how it's leading and you know where it's going so far, and I got a lot to look forward to next week, tomorrow, in a couple years from now.
"Just the brotherhood that I'm a part of. I guess all the family members that I've gained throughout my life here. Just the love for the city of Missoula. Playing ball, you know, I love football. So just being being a part of everything that just naturally comes with this program just has meant the whole world to me."
