Pokes Football: Best of Colorado

LARAMIE -- No other state has been more of a recruiting hotbed for the University of Wyoming than Colorado.

This list will prove that.

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Numerous UW Hall of Famers, NFL stars and program record holders began their football journey in that square to the south. The Cowboys' top rival, Colorado State, overlooked plenty of these guys. So did CU. Air Force even whiffed a time or two.

Some just flat out picked Laramie over Fort Collins, Boulder and Colorado Springs.

This summer, with the help of some longtime Wyoming football followers, we will count down the Top 25 Colorado products in program history. As always, what these guys did in professional football doesn't matter. This is all about production in Laramie.

11 Oct 1997: Wide receiver Wendell Montgomery of the Wyoming Cowboys runs with the ball during a game against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada. Wyoming won the game 34-30. Mandatory Credit: Todd Warshaw /Allsport

No. 9 - Wendell Montgomery

Wide receiver, 1995-99, Arvada, Colorado

Résumé in Laramie

Wendell Montgomery had big shoes to fill when he arrived on campus. His mentor, Marcus Harris, won the Biletnikoff Trophy in 1996 and was the all-time leading receiver in college football history. He broke the NCAA yards record Ryan Yarborough set in '93. All Montgomery did was snag 181 passes for 2,883 yards. That ranks the Arvada, Colo., product sixth and fourth all-time, respectively. He also caught a ball in 41 consecutive games. Only Dominic Rufran (49) and Jovon Bouknight (47) had a longer streak. Montgomery led the Pokes in receiving for three straight seasons and hauled in 10-career touchdowns, most of which came off the right arm of quarterback Jay Stoner. Montgomery was named to the All-Western Athletic Conference First Team in both of his final two years in Laramie.

About Arvada

A suburb of Denver and the seventh-most populated city in Colorado, Arvada bleeds into two counties and is home to more than 124,000 residents. Hall of Fame pitcher Roy Halladay is from Arvada.

Pokes Football: Best of Colorado series:

No. 25

No. 24

No. 23

No. 22

No. 21

No. 20

No. 19

No. 18

No. 17

No. 16

No. 15

No. 14

No. 13

No. 12

No. 11

No. 10

Pokes Football: Best of Wyoming series

(Cody Tucker and Jared Newland both work for Townsquare Media, which owns 7220sports.com. Kevin McKinney has been a color commentator of Cowboy football for five decades. Ryan Thorburn now works for the University of Wyoming in a sports information role after spending decades in the newspaper industry, most recently at the Casper Star-Tribune. Sally Ann Shurmur, the daughter of former UW football coach Fritz Shurmur, is also a veteran of the newspaper industry, working as a journalist, columnist at the CST for 43 years. She currently writes for Cowboy State Daily.)

University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players

During the summer of 2021, 7220Sports.com counted down the Top 50 football players in University of Wyoming history, presented by Premier Bone & Joint Centers, Worthy of Wyoming.

The rules are simple: What was the player's impact while in Laramie? That means NFL stats, draft status or any other accolade earned outside of UW is irrelevant when it comes to this list.

This isn't a one-man job. This task called for a panel of experts. Joining 7220's Cody Tucker are Robert Gagliardi, Jared Newland, Ryan Thorburn, and Kevin McKinney.

We all compiled our own list of 50 and let computer averages do the work. Think BCS -- only we hope this catalog is fairer.

Don't agree with a selection? Feel free to sound off on our Twitter: @7220sports - #Top50UWFB

Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players