Montana State Professional Athletes

Montana State doesn't produce NFL linebackers quietly. Alex Singleton is making sure of that.

The Broncos inside linebacker was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October, the NFL announced Thursday — recognition that caps a remarkable stretch for both Singleton and Denver's resurgent defense. The award arrives on the heels of a four-game Broncos winning streak, a run in which Singleton has been a central force.

The turnaround is striking given how the season opened. By Yahoo Sports' account, the October surge represented a complete reversal from a rough Week 1, with Singleton "balling out" across the winning streak. Sports Illustrated called it "a terrific 2026 campaign" overall for the Montana State product, who has quietly built himself into one of the AFC's more impactful defenders at the linebacker position.

Singleton's most recent contribution came Sunday, Nov. 1, when he registered a sack in Denver's 28–24 victory over Kansas City — a statement win for a Broncos team that appears to have found its footing after an uneven start.

The month wasn't without turbulence, however. The NFL handed down fines to Singleton and teammate Brandon Jones stemming from a game against the Arizona Cardinals, per Heavy Sports — a reminder that physical, sideline-to-sideline linebacker play can carry a price tag. The discipline didn't dim the league's recognition of his October body of work.

Other Bobcats Around the League

Singleton wasn't the only MSU alum active during the week. In Monday Night Football's Bears-Seahawks matchup, both Daniel Hardy (Chicago, DE) and Ty Okada (Seattle, S) suited up. The Bears came away with a 34–17 win over Seattle, giving Hardy's unit a dominant performance on the defensive side. Okada and the Seahawks dropped to the loss column in that contest.

The broader Montana State alumni footprint across the NFL — nine active players spanning both conferences — reflects a program that continues to punch well above its FCS weight. But right now, Singleton is the headliner, a Bozeman-bred linebacker standing atop the AFC's defensive rankings for the month of October.

Montana State Alumni Report | NFL | Oct. 18–24, 2026

Daniel Hardy Is Making the Chicago Bears Think

Montana State's most intriguing NFL story right now isn't about a veteran carving out his ninth season — it's about a Bobcat edge rusher quietly forcing an organizational conversation in Chicago.

Daniel Hardy turned heads this week as the Bears coaching staff finds itself weighing a genuinely difficult question: how do you manage snap counts when a cheaper, ascending pass rusher starts outplaying expectations alongside a high-priced veteran? Hardy recorded a sack in Chicago's 31-23 win over Atlanta on Sunday, Oct. 18, then returned to the field Thursday when the Bears edged New England 30-24. His continued production has the front office and coaching staff openly discussing how his emergence might eat into the workload of veteran edge rusher Montez Sweat.

This is the kind of problem teams want to have — but rarely know how to solve cleanly. Sweat commands a significant role and salary. Hardy, a former small-school prospect out of Bozeman, is simply making it harder to keep him off the field. How the Bears navigate this will be worth watching well beyond Week 8.

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Singleton and Okada Both Hit With Fines

Two other Bobcat alumni had costly weeks — literally.

Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton was fined by the NFL following the Broncos' win over Seattle, marking at least the second time this season the league has handed down punishment to the veteran. Singleton is a team captain in Denver, making the repeated discipline a storyline the Broncos brass would rather not keep revisiting.

The fine wasn't one-sided. Seattle safety Ty Okada, also a Montana State product, was docked money for not one but two infractions that occurred less than a minute apart during the same game — a remarkable, if unfortunate, distinction. The Seahawks are already losing games; now their players are losing paychecks too.

Both fines trace back to the same Broncos-Seahawks matchup, meaning a single game produced disciplinary fallout for alumni on both sidelines. That's a footnote Bobcat fans won't soon forget.

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The Bigger Picture

Three Montana State alumni making noise in a single NFL week — Hardy for the right reasons, Singleton and Okada for more complicated ones — underscores just how deep the Bobcats' pipeline into professional football has become. Hardy's story is the one to watch: if he keeps producing, his trajectory from FCS prospect to legitimate rotational factor in Chicago becomes one of the better small-school emergence arcs of the 2026 season.

Montana State alumni had a week to remember in the NFL — and not entirely for the right reasons. Two Bobcats lined up on opposite sides of the same Thursday night game, with Alex Singleton drawing the wrong kind of attention and Ty Okada making a long-awaited return to the field.

Singleton Faces the Music in Denver

Alex Singleton had a week he'd rather forget. The Denver Broncos linebacker is reportedly facing potential discipline following a rough showing against the Seattle Seahawks in Denver's narrow 17–14 win on October 15. According to Heavy Sports, Sean Payton and the Broncos organization could receive "unfortunate news" regarding Singleton in the aftermath of the game, with the veteran linebacker being publicly called out as scrutiny over his performance mounted.

It wasn't an isolated rough patch, either. Earlier in the week on October 11, Singleton struggled in coverage during Denver's 23–17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers — a Yahoo Sports recap noted he was beaten in coverage, missed a tackle, and surrendered a key first down in the third quarter that helped ignite a Chargers drive. The Broncos escaped with the win, but Singleton's individual performances have put him squarely under the microscope heading into the back half of the season.

Okada Back — Right in Time for a Bobcat Reunion

While Singleton was absorbing criticism, Ty Okada was celebrating a return. The Seahawks safety was activated for Seattle's Week 5 game against the San Francisco 49ers on October 11, marking his first appearance of the season after a hamstring injury sidelined him for the first month. Yahoo Sports confirmed Okada was a full go, with Seattle's secondary finally at full strength for the first time all year.

Then came the coincidence worth noting: Okada and Singleton met on the same field just four days later, when Seattle traveled to Denver on October 15. Two Montana State products — one trying to recapture his footing after injury, the other trying to hold onto his starting role — squared off in what the Broncos won 17–14. The game stats for both players from that contest were unremarkable on paper, but the storyline around Singleton's looming discipline cast a shadow over any feel-good Bobcat reunion narrative.

The Bigger Picture

Montana State's NFL footprint is quietly expanding — the Bobcats have nine active alumni across the league this season, from Troy Andersen with Atlanta to Jaden Smith in Dallas. But this week belonged to Singleton and Okada, two players whose paths crossed at exactly the wrong moment for one and the right moment for the other. Whether Singleton avoids formal punishment or faces a fine, the pressure is clearly on. Okada, meanwhile, will look to build on his return as Seattle navigates a crowded NFC West race.