SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — When it came time to take a group photo at Sunday’s Missouri Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony inside the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds & Event Center, Webb City resident Jeff Montgomery took his place on the back row. His father Rich stood beside him.
It was a proud moment for Montgomery, a local State Farm Insurance agent who also is the public address announcer at Webb City High School’s home basketball games.
Montgomery is a longtime member of the Mizzou Football Chain Crew, a group that was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for their longtime dedication to the football program they love.
“When you talk about the names Derrick Thomas, Dayton Moore, Mark Lamping and John Roderique, does a chain crew belong in the same breath,” Montgomery asked before the induction ceremony. “Not most of the time. But there’s going to be a gentleman from Fulton here tonight (Claude Menefee) who went into the Mizzou athletic director’s office in 1957 answering a call for students to help. That’s kind of how it all started. There are 15 guys here tonight that have been a part of it. It’s very humbling and we’re excited to be a part of this. It’s a great honor.”
Montgomery makes the nearly four hour drive from Webb City to Columbia up to seven times each fall to take part in the chain crew, which handles the down markers and chains on the sideline at Faurot Field.
For Montgomery, all the travel is worth it.
Simply put, Montgomery is keeping a family tradition going.
Rich Montgomery was part of the chain crew for five decades. Jeff and brother Mark have been involved since the 1980s and ’90s.
“I remember being at the games as a 9 or 10-year-old,” Jeff Montgomery said. “My job back then was to pick up cups for the guys.”
Montgomery played football for Missouri, joined the chain crew after he graduated college, but took a break from the group when he was on the Mizzou coaching staff and when he lived out of state.
After a move to Webb City in 2000, Montgomery began once again making his regular trips to Columbia in order to rejoin the chain crew group.
“We’ve done it full-time ever since we’ve lived in Webb City,” Montgomery said. “Some nights, when my girls were Redettes, we’d leave after the high school game and get to Columbia at 2 in the morning.”
The 10 current members volunteer their time at each home game because they love Mizzou and its football program.
“We have guys from Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia…that’s what we do,” Montgomery said. “We do it for the love of the game and it’s been awesome.”
For their dedication and love of Mizzou’s football program, the chain crew is now in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
MORE INFORMATION: Hall of Fame welcomes Class of 2021 – Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (mosportshalloffame.com)
