Catching up with Craig Ochs

As much as it pains me to do this, I'll try and keep good tabs on the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats on this blog. As an Eastern Washington University graduate, I have to say that this seems very foreign to me so please forgive me if my occasional sports loyalties bleed through the writing.

The Missoulian just released this feature on former Griz quarterback Craig Ochs. He came to Missoula by way of transferring from the University of Colorado and had two successful years for Montana.

From the story by Bill Schwanke:

Once he completed a stellar, but short, career at Montana, Ochs took a shot at pro football and wound up playing on a championship team in NFL Europe. It looked like it would set him up for at least a roster position with the Buffalo Bills, the team that sent him overseas.

But a major injury to his throwing shoulder produced yet another crossroad. Would he rehab the injury and continue trying to make it in pro football or would he just move on?

Ochs chose the latter, taking a coaching position on Bobby Hauck’s staff at UM. By then he was married and had a young daughter. The job didn’t pay all that well, and Ochs felt the pull to do something that would make the future brighter for him and his growing family.

Back to Colorado he went, originally planning to attend law school. Instead he went through a masters-through-the-law program at the University of Denver, specifically in natural resources law with a heavy natural gas and oil emphasis.

You can read the full story at Missoulian.com, I highly recommend it.