(STATS) – He plays on the defensive side of the ball, but Dante Olson was given a handoff this past year.
He took over a former Montana teammate’s pen-pal friendship with a class of underprivileged third-graders at a school in Northern California farm country. His goal is to encourage the students toward a future in college, and last spring he paid a visit to the school, where he was welcomed like a hero.
There’s been a lot for Olson to tell the students about his junior season. The All-Big Sky middle linebacker set the school record with 151 tackles, and his average of 13.7 tackles per game is the high in Division I. He reached double figures in nine of Montana’s 11 games, including an FCS season-high 24 stops in a victory over Cal Poly. The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder also was the national player of the week after blowing up Drake’s offense with 16 tackles, 3½ tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Olson is one of three players who have been invited to the announcement of the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award at the national banquet Jan. 4 in Frisco, Texas. The others up for national defensive player of the year are Southeast Missouri junior linebacker Zach Hall and Sam Houston State senior defensive end Derick Roberson.
“I had an incredible time playing football this season,” Olson said. “It was a blast playing for a group of incredible coaches with awesome teammates. There is nothing like playing in Washington-Grizzly Stadium in front of the best fan base in the nation, and I am so blessed God allowed me to be a Griz.”
Olson’s father Jeff was the head coach at Southern Oregon University for nine years, so Dante grew up in a football family. He considers the day some of his nieces and nephews attended one of his Montana games a highlight in his banner season.
For 2019, plans are in the works to get his pen-pal friends out to a game because the Griz will make trips to California to take on Sacramento State and UC Davis.
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