Ty Montgomery spent nine seasons in the NFL bouncing between six teams. Since retiring in 2024, he has been busier. The former running back sat down with PFN's Unguarded Access at Pro Athlete Community's Accelerate Event in Phoenix, a conference built to ease players into life after football. What came out was one of the more honest conversations Montgomery has had since hanging up his cleats, touching on family, faith, venture capital, and a children's book he wrote seven years ago.
Ty Montgomery opens up about growing up in a home filled with more than 20 Foster siblings
Ty Montgomery said the often-repeated figure never fully captured what his mother built at home. According to him, the number of foster siblings his family welcomed was actually more than 20.
“My mom told me it’s really over 20,” Montgomery said of the sibling count. “But that just seemed like a number that was easy for everyone to wrap their brains around.”
The story began when Montgomery was in third grade and asked his mother, Lisa Montgomery, for brothers. What started with one foster child named Lee eventually became a constantly growing household that changed the direction of his life.
What stands out most is how strongly Montgomery rejects the traditional language attached to foster care. He does not describe those relationships as temporary or distant. To him, they remain permanent family ties.
“Even though we don’t have a bloodline, we have a love line,” Montgomery said. “Their kids are my nieces and nephews, my kids are their nieces and nephews, their family is my family.”
That experience now shapes much of his off-field work. Montgomery serves on the board of Connections Homes, a nonprofit focused on helping foster youth transition into adulthood with long-term mentoring families. He pointed to one detail in particular that matters deeply to him.
“For the first time in their life, they get a choice on who they want to live with and who they want to be their family,” Montgomery said.
One moment still stays with him. Montgomery helped fund a trip to Israel for former foster youth, many of whom had never flown before. A letter from one participant later changed his understanding of the impact.
“She literally said in the letter that she was so grateful that this was happening because she didn’t think that she was worthy of something like this,” Montgomery said while trying not to get emotional. “I had no idea that’s the level of impact that I was making.”
What is Ty Montgomery doing after the NFL?
Football no longer defines Montgomery’s schedule, but his post-playing life appears even busier. He said his work now revolves around investing, faith, and writing.
His venture firm, Next Legacy Partners, recently became one of the strategic investors tied to the NFL’s developing professional flag football league alongside TMRW Sports. Montgomery described the company’s interests as wide-ranging and constantly evolving.
“One day it might be a voice AI company,” Montgomery said. “The next day it might be a flag football deal. The next day it might be a health tech company. The next day it might be defense tech company.”
Faith, though, remains central to everything else. Montgomery spoke openly about how it grounded him through nine NFL seasons and continues to shape his decisions today.
“Without my faith, I know I’d be a different man,” he said.
He also confirmed he is in discussions with publishers about releasing a children’s book he wrote years ago. Looking back now, Montgomery believes the message was aimed at himself as much as future readers.
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