CULBERTSON, Mt. — Former Griz offensive lineman Terry Falcon was inducted into the Montana Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Falcon, who hails from the small town of Culbertson, is the only alumnus from Culbertson High School to have made it to the NFL.

Reflecting on his journey, Falcon recalled his early days playing for the Culbertson Cowboys high school eight-man football team.

“When we started quite a while ago we had leather helmets. Everybody joked about that, and said ‘What, did you have leather helmets?’ Well, yes we did,” he said.

Falcon’s football career took a significant turn when he attended Minot State, initially recruited for track.

“Riley Wilson was the track coach at Minot. He showed up and said ‘Hey, want to come and do track?’ ‘That’d be great, but can I come and try football?’ ‘Yeah, you can try, a lot of people try and don’t make it, but you can do it,’” Falcon recounted.

At Minot, Falcon was transitioned to a tackle position, a role unfamiliar to him from his eight-man football days.

“The offensive line coach said, ‘You’re going to be a tackle now.’ I went, ‘OK, I’ll be a tackle.’ Eight-man doesn’t have a tackle, they have a center, two guards and two tight ends, and I was one of the tight ends,” he said.

Falcon excelled in his new role, leading Minot State to a 7-1 record in 1974. He later transferred to the University of Montana, where he played for the Griz and earned All-Big Sky Conference honors for two consecutive years.

During the NFL draft week, Falcon received a life-changing call.

“I was sitting in my dorm room in Miller Hall, I was getting a little agitated because all you could do is sit there with the landline. Finally it rang and it was the secretary for New England, and they were looking for me, and they said I was being selected in the eighth round to play for the New England Patriots,” he said.

Falcon’s NFL career included stints with the Patriots and Giants, followed by a period in the USFL. He eventually returned to Montana, where he coached high school football for several years before retiring as a school administrator.

Reflecting on his career, Falcon said, “I love Montana, and being able to represent Montana was the biggest thing in my life.”

Now, as an inductee into the Montana Football Hall of Fame, Falcon continues to inspire young athletes to pursue their dreams.