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Butte QB Tommy Mellott Named Montana Player of the Year

Tommy Mellott Butte QB (Keith Demolder / SWX)
Keith Demolder SWX
While Butte quarterback Tommy Mellott couldn’t accomplish his ultimate goal of winning a class AA state title, today the senior earned something just as prestigious: the 2019 Montana Gatorade Player of the Year award. The Bulldogs senior becomes the first Butte High football player to ever earn the prestigious honor since the award was created 34 years ago. Mellott excelled this fall while leading his butte team to an 11-1 record—with their only loss of the season coming in the state championship game to Bozeman. It’s no wonder why the Bulldog quarterback and safety is committed to play football at Montana State in 2020 after he threw for over 2,900 yards with 30 touchdowns and only four interceptions to go along with 1,217 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. Mellott was a 3-time all-state football player in the Mining City, accounting for 102 total touchdowns during his varsity career. But that’s not all, folks. When he’s not scoring touchdowns with the purple and black, Mellott also excels off the field - volunteering in his community on behalf of Special Olympics, local food drives, youth football programs as well as Butte’s Big Brothers, Big Sisters program. “Anything he’s going to do, he’s going to do to the best of his ability. It doesn’t matter if it’s checkers, school work or if it’s a workout or practice, he’s going to go as hard as he can,” Butte head coach Arie Grey said. “The sky is the limit for him and I’m excited to see as he begins his next phase of his journey and it will be a lot of fun to watch him grow and become the young man I know he can be.” Even fellow class AA coaches have taken notice of Mellot’s special abilities. “I don’t think we’ve seen anyone as dominant in Montana as Tommy Mellott for a very long time,” Glacier head coach Grady Bennett said in a press release today. “He’s just at another level, and he can do it all. If you’re even close to being successful at taking away one part of his game, he’ll crush you with another part.”