When I was chatting with former NFL Coach Jeff Fisher on Thursday, we got to talking about some of the great Montana guys who had gone on to play in the NFL. Especially in light of the fact that February is Black History Month, it brought to mind the great story of Paul Champlin.

Paul Champlin played quarterback for Eastern Montana College, and then helped break the color barrier as one of the first black quarterbacks in the NFL. In fact, he was the #16 Montana kid with the San Francisco 49ers, before Joe Montana wore #16.

Check out our conversation with Paul Champlin ahead of the 2019 Montana Football Hall of Fame banquet below.

By the way, the next Montana Football Hall of Fame Banquet is coming up soon. Here's the update we got from Rick Halmes:

The fifth Montana Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction weekend is scheduled for June 25 and June 26. On Friday June 25, inductees and friends will golf before Morgan Stanley VIP reception Friday evening. Billings own Brent Musburger plus Marty Mornhinwheg of UofM, Ken Amato of MSU, Dan Carpenter of UofM, Travis Lulay of MSU, Steve Okoniewski of UofM, Victor Lindskog of Roundup, Shane Collins of Bozeman, and Bob Beers of UofM will all be inducted at the banquet on Saturday night June 26 at Billings Hotel and Convention Center. Our website is mtfootballhof.com

Prior Report: AUDIO: MT Football Hall of Fame Inductee Paul Champlin |

 

Courtesy Aaron Flint
Courtesy Aaron Flint
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The Montana football greats are heading in to Billings from across the state and nation this weekend, as the Montana Football Hall of Fame gets ready to present the 2019 inductees.

We got the chance to catch up with one of the Montana football greats- Paul Champlin, who played for Eastern Montana College from 1965-1968. Paul is pictured above next to his son Nathan, who now lives in Billings. Also pictured is Rick Halmes, one of the big organizers of the MT Football Hall of Fame banquet. Rick was a teammate of Champlins back in the day.

Paul Champlin played quarterback for Eastern Montana College, and then helped break the color barrier as one of the first black quarterbacks in the NFL. In fact, he was the #16 Montana kid with the San Francisco 49ers, before Joe Montana wore #16.

So, what did his mom have to say when he told her he wanted to go to Montana for college? Hear that story and much more, in the audio posted below, as Paul Champlin and Rick Halmes joined us on Montana Talks with Aaron Flint:

We also have video of a portion of the interview on our Instagram page:

 


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What a pleasure to have teammates Rick Halmes and Paul Champlin in the studio today, and thanks to Paul’s son Nathan Champlin for stopping by, too. Swipe to see some video of our interview.

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Courtesy screenshot of MT Football Hall of Fame Program
Courtesy screenshot of MT Football Hall of Fame Program
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