MISSOULA — Life in the last couple of months has been coming up all Drew Deck.
The senior for the Montana Grizzlies caught his first career college touchdown pass in the opener against Central Washington, and nearly had a punt return score as well that was called back due to penalties.
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But over the summer, Deck also got engaged to his fiance, McKinlee Mihelish, showing life currently, and down the road, is taking shape.
"Very exciting. Pretty crazy. With all that, another blessing in life," Deck said. "So looking forward to that here in the future. She comes from a big football family, so this time of year, she kind of knows that it's football season. So that makes it easy. It's great, super excited, very blessed."
As for the first touchdown, it was a moment he'll never forget.
"Big moment. I was joking around, like a weight off the shoulders," Deck said. "It's special. It's pretty much all I can say about that. You put in all that time and all that work. To start to see it pay off is awesome."
It's been a big stretch lately for Deck, a Kalispell product who was a standout football player and track and field athlete at Glacier High School before joining the Griz.
A lifelong UM fan and Montana born and bred product, it's been a dream come true to wear maroon and silver.
"Playing here, playing for something bigger than yourself, playing for all the guys in the locker room, the great coaching staff that we have here, then the state of Montana," Deck said. "It's so much bigger than playing for yourself. I remember being a little kid, a Griz fan, just loving the Griz. So, you're playing for all those kids in the state of Montana. So it's just so special."
Deck's story is an inspiring one, too, for future Griz athletes from the Treasure State.
He cut his teeth the hard way, biding his time waiting for playing opportunities in what's been a consistently loaded wide receiver room at Montana.
The playing time has been scarce until last year, when Deck began to get more involved both on special teams and in the offense, a testament to his work and patience paying off.
"Kind of just putting your head down, going to work, showing up every day, competing, battling through injuries and stuff like that," Deck said. "It's those relationships that you build with the guys and you're all going through it together, so definitely just battling through those days. But when you got such a great group of guys in the locker room, it makes that kind of stuff easy.
"Looking back, very grateful. The coaches here and a lot of it being the players that have been before me, learning so much from them. There's been such great players for me back when I was younger. But the coaches for sure and just kind of them building me into the player that I am today."
Now a senior leader for the Grizzlies, Deck is already making his presence felt, as he works toward maximizing everything he's worked for this fall.
"The friendships that you have and the relationships that you build throughout those years with the guys," Deck said. "You just don't want to have any regrets looking back on it later in life. So one last ride, leave it all out there type mentality."
