Bergen, White shine at UM's Pro Day

MISSOULA — Junior Bergen’s last performance in Missoula on the football field was one for the ages.

After getting his flowers from then-Tennesse State head coach Eddie George, who said he expected Bergen to play on Sundays, the Billings product took the next step toward that dream Thursday, at UM’s Pro Day. 

In Bergen’s actual final athletic endeavor as a Grizzly, the explosive, confident superstar showed exactly why he’s considered the top punt returning prospect in this upcoming NFL draft. 

Bergen opened eyes by pounding out 17 repetitions at 225 pounds on the bench press. He also kept his pro dreams alive by running 4.52 seconds in his best 40-yard dash. And he showed his explosiveness by notching a 36.5-inch vertical jump, a 10-foot broad jump while also recording competitive times in the pro shuttle (4.22 seconds) and the L-drill (7.0 seconds). 

“This was a stressful process for sure, but it was awesome to get out here one last time with all the guys and compete,” Bergen said. “I put out a good couple of months of preparation and I was ready to cut it loose.” 

He and six other Grizzlies — fellow wide receivers Keelan White and Aaron Fontes, offensive tackle Brandon Casey, defensive end Hayden Harris, running back Nick Ostmo and safety Ryder Meyer — worked out for a group of scouts and front office personnel from 13 NFL teams and all nine Canadian Football League teams. 

The Billings Senior product and three-time All-American will still have to overcome questions about his size, durability and offensive upside if he’s going to get on a 53-man NFL roster or a practice squad. It’s unlikely he gets drafted. But he certainly kept his dreams of receiving an NFL phone call as an undrafted free agent alive. 

 “I’m super blessed,” Bergen said. “I just wanted to go out and take full advantage of this opportunity.” 

Bergen trained at X3 in Fort Meyers, Florida training with Jordan Llewellyn. He concentrated on everything from starting fast out of the blocks for the sprints to honing his shuttle work to sculpting his upper body for the bench press. 

“This was a roller coaster because years in the past, you are training for football and this year, you are training for drills, shuttles, 40s, stuff you don’t really work on before this process,” Bergen said. “But it was a good challenge to adapt to something new. Challenge yourself, push yourself, and I had a lot of good guys net to me to help me get better overall.” 

Bergen became a superstar for the Griz during his four seasons in Missoula thanks to his ability to send the Washington-Griz faithful into bedlam with his jaw-dropping return ability. Of his eight punt returns for touchdowns, five came in the playoffs, including a signature punt return score against North Dakota State that helped boost the Griz into the 2023 national championship game. 

He finished his career with 4,468 all-purpose yards and 26 total touchdowns. He had 1,760 yards receiving, which many Griz faithful wished was a higher total. He’ll likely have to prove he can make an NFL roster as a wide receiver in addition to as a punt returner. 

“As a kid, I would fake sick and skip class and watch ‘Path to the Draft’ so it’s been a dream of mine for quite some time to be in this position,” Bergen said. “I’m just grateful a lot of teams came out and were able to come watch. And I was grateful these guys were out here too and we got to compete one more time.” 

Several other Griz on Thursday showed out well enough. 

White, who caught 161 passes for 1,862 yards and 14 touchdowns in his UM career, is a former walk-on from Vancouver, British Columbia. 

The CFL requires half their rosters to be native Canadian, meaning White is an almost sure-fire draft pick in the CFL draft the last weekend of this month. He aided that notion by running 4.60 in his 40, notching a time of 4.10 seconds in the pro-shuttle and 6.78 seconds in the L-drill. He also leapt 9-9 in the broad jump. 

“It’s been a long three months of work so it’s good to see that hard work pay off here,” White said. “And now it’s on to football. I had fun. It’s important to have fun with it. I think it went pretty well for me and I’m happy with all my marks.” 

Harris, a 6-foot-5, 257-pound defensive end who was UM’s Defensive MVP last year, was born in Seattle but his mother hails from Regina, Saskatchewan, giving him Candian Citizenship. He rolled up 21.5 tackles for loss the last two seasons after transferring to Montana from UCLA; on Thursday he had 25 reps on the bench and ran 4.81 seconds in the 40. He also broad jumped 9-7, hit 4.51 seconds in the pro shuttle and had a time of 7.40 seconds in the L-drill. 

“It was so cool to be able to compete out here one more time with the guys,” Harris said. “I think the training paid off and I’m excited for the future.” 

Ostmo also had a standout day, hitting 25 reps on the bench press and running 4.57 seconds in the 40. He also broad jumped 9-11and had a 34-inch vertical. His pro shuttle time was 4.27 seconds and his L-drill came in at 7.12 seconds. 

Meyer, an All-Big Sky safety last year, had to withdraw from the workout after pulling his hamstring on his second 40-yard dash of the day. Cole Grossman, an All-American tight end in 2021-22 before a rash of injuries derailed his career, was expected to work out but could not go because of a torn ACL suffered against SDSU. He hopes to have a pro tryout this summer when he’s back to full strength.