Griz Wortham headed to Shrine Bowl

Record-setting Montana receiver and return specialist Michael Wortham has accepted an invitation to the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl, one of the nation’s premiere college all-star games and NFL scouting events.  

This year’s Shrine Bowl is set to be held in Frisco, Texas, in the Ford Center at The Star football facility, owned by the Dallas Cowboys. The week of events starts with practices and interviews on Thursday and culminates with the East-West Shrine Bowl game on Tuesday, Jan. 27.  

The game will be televised nationally on the NFL Network. 

Wortham arrived in Dallas on Wednesday to begin preparations for the week-long event. As of press time, he’s one of only four FCS players invited to play in the game and the only player from the Big Sky Conference. 

Wortham had been in Nashville training for Montana’s Pro Day since early January when he competed at the inaugural FCS Showcase, an NFL Combine-style event put on by the American Football Coaches Association. He and former UM offensive lineman Liam Brown were two of approximately 50 standouts from around the FCS to interview with, and work out in front of, scouts from each NFL team. 

Wortham, Montana’s first finalist for the Walter Payton Award since 2010, etched his name atop Montana’s record books with a huge season in his lone year in Missoula. The electric receiver totaled 1,224 receiving yards (on 85 catches), 345 rushing yards and 862 combined return yards to finish the year with 2,431 all-purpose yards. That total broke Hall of Famer Marc Mariani’s 2008 record of 2,265 single-season all-purpose yards and finished less than 90 yards shy of a Big Sky record. 

His 85 receptions are the second-most catches in a season at UM, two shy of Samori Toure’s 87.

Wortham was a consensus All-America honoree by the AFCA, Stats Perform, Associated Press, and FCS Central/Sports Illustrated. 

An invitation to the Shrine Bowl is one of the best opportunities for future NFL prospects to showcase their talents for pro scouts and coaches; more than 100 players from last year’s game signed with pro teams in the spring and 70 signed to NFL rosters last season.  

Three FCS players were on the East Roster as of Wednesday: Linebacker Declan Williams and receiver Jalen Walthall of Incarnate Word; and cornerback Jarod Washington of South Carolina State. 

Notable selections on the West Roster include former South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski, who played last season at Iowa; and former Montana Tech and Idaho rush end Keyshawn James-Newby — the Helena native played at New Mexico in 2025.  

Wortham is the 13th Grizzly in the last century to be selected, going back to when “Wild Bill” Kelly attended in 1926. Linebacker Dante Olson is the most recent Grizzly to earn an invite to the game in 2020.