Montana State Professional Athletes

Montana State Alumni Report | NFL | Week of Sept. 20–26

The biggest Montana State story in the NFL this week has nothing to do with a play made — it's about the absence of one Bobcat and the chain reaction his hamstring has set off in Seattle.

Ty Okada and the Seahawks' Safety Crisis

Ty Okada, the Seahawks' free safety out of Montana State, has yet to play a single snap in the 2026 season. The hamstring injury that kept him out of Weeks 1 and 2 showed no signs of relenting heading into Seattle's Week 3 matchup against the Washington Commanders — and the situation only got more complicated when starting safety Julian Love was also ruled out, leaving the Seahawks without both of their starting safeties for the same game.

Seattle's response has been a flurry of roster maneuvering. The team elevated practice squad safety Maxen Hook to the active roster to help fill the void, a move that underscores just how thin the depth chart had become. More notably, Rodney Thomas II — who had been filling in for Okada in the early weeks — played well enough in that audition to earn a permanent promotion: the Seahawks signed him to the 53-man roster. That's the kind of roster consequence that typically follows only when a starter's absence feels open-ended.

A Wednesday injury report from Seattle offered updates on Okada alongside several other players, with the team describing the overall situation as "encouraging" — but Okada's timeline remains uncertain. For a player who was expected to be a key piece of Seattle's defensive backfield, missing the entire opening stretch of the season is a costly development.

Alex Singleton Draws League Discipline

Elsewhere in the Bobcat alumni network, Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton had a different kind of week. The NFL handed down a punishment to Singleton for a hit on Kansas City Chiefs rookie running back Emmett Johnson during Denver's Week 1 game. The specific nature of the discipline was not disclosed in available reporting, but league-issued punishments for hits typically involve fines or, in more serious cases, suspensions. Singleton was on the field for Denver's 20–13 win over Jacksonville on September 20.

The Rest of the Bobcat Alumni

The broader Montana State contingent across the league — Troy Andersen (Falcons), Daniel Hardy (Bears), Lewis Kidd (49ers), Lance McCutcheon (Titans), Tommy Mellott (Raiders), Jaden Smith (Cowboys), and Sebastian Valdez (49ers) — did not generate significant news during the period covered by available sources.

The headlining storyline, though, is squarely Okada's. A hamstring that looked like a week-to-week inconvenience has quietly turned into one of the more disruptive individual injuries on Seattle's roster through three weeks — forcing two external roster moves and reshaping how the Seahawks deploy their defensive backfield. Bobcat fans watching Okada's recovery have reason to hope the Wednesday update signals a return soon, but Seattle isn't waiting around.

Montana State's most prominent NFL names spent the week of September 13 absorbing hits that had nothing to do with touchdowns — one facing a league fine and an agent's public fury, the other ruled out before he could even suit up.

Singleton in the Storm

Alex Singleton's Monday Night Football appearance against the Kansas City Chiefs turned into a week-long headache. The Denver Broncos linebacker was part of a 10-31 loss to Kansas City, and the fallout extended well beyond the box score.

Singleton drew scrutiny for a late-hit penalty during the game, and the NFL wasted little time responding — handing the Broncos starter a hefty fine in the days that followed. The punishment drew a sharp reaction from Singleton's camp: his agent went public with a scathing rebuke of Denver-area media, blasting what he characterized as disproportionate and unfair coverage of his client in the aftermath of a rough Week 1.

The episode put Singleton at the center of one of the week's more combustible NFL storylines — a rare collision of on-field discipline, league punishment, and agent-versus-media warfare that kept a Montana State alum in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Whether the Broncos linebacker can bounce back and quiet the noise heading into Week 2 remains the open question in Denver.

Okada Sidelined in Seattle

On the opposite sideline of the NFL calendar, Ty Okada's week never got started. The Seahawks safety missed all of Seattle's practice sessions due to a hamstring injury and was ruled out ahead of the team's Week 2 road trip to face the Arizona Cardinals.

Injury reports throughout the week offered little encouragement for Okada's prospects. He was a non-participant across multiple practice sessions, and his designation didn't budge even as Seattle got some cautiously good news elsewhere on the injury front — wide receiver Tory Horton was cleared from the injury report entirely, and fellow safety Nick Emmanwori was at least limited in practice.

For Okada, a second-year player still carving out his role in Seattle's secondary, missing game action early in the season carries real stakes. The Seahawks' backend was already navigating uncertainty with Emmanwori's own availability, making Okada's absence a genuine strain on the unit.

The Rest of the Bobcat Roster

Beyond the two headliners, Montana State's NFL footprint remains notable. Troy Andersen is holding down a linebacker role with the Atlanta Falcons, while Daniel Hardy suited up for Chicago's Bears in a 59-37 win over Carolina on September 13. Tommy Mellott is with the Las Vegas Raiders at linebacker, Lance McCutcheon is on Tennessee's roster, and a pair of Bobcats — Lewis Kidd and Sebastian Valdez — are with the San Francisco 49ers. Jaden Smith rounds out the group in Dallas at wide receiver.

It was a week that reminded Bobcat fans how quickly NFL fortunes can swing — one alumnus in the middle of a league controversy, another on the shelf before the season truly found its footing.

Montana State has never been a football factory in the traditional sense, but the Bobcats keep producing NFL contributors — and as Week 1 of the 2026 season arrives, two alumni are drawing attention for very different reasons.

Okada Inherits a Tall Order in Seattle

The pressure couldn't be much higher for Ty Okada. The Seahawks' free safety is entering his first season as a full-time starter, and according to a Sports Illustrated analyst, Seattle is asking him to do something few players are ever asked to do from day one: fill the shoes of two departed starters simultaneously.

That's not a metaphor. Okada is expected to absorb the responsibilities left behind by multiple departures in Seattle's secondary, inheriting coverage assignments and run-stopping duties that were previously split between different personnel. It's a baptism-by-fire moment for the former Bobcat, who now has to prove that what worked at the FCS level — and through whatever developmental runway the Seahawks gave him — translates against the league's best offenses.

Whether Okada rises to the challenge or gets exposed early will be one of the more compelling developmental storylines to track in the NFC West this fall. For Montana State fans, it's also a remarkable thing to witness: a Bozeman product carrying starting-caliber expectations in a major-market NFL franchise.

Singleton Celebrates Joyful News Ahead of Denver's Opener

While Okada is bracing for a high-wire act, Alex Singleton is heading into the season with something even more meaningful than a strong training camp. The Denver Broncos linebacker and his wife Sam announced major family news ahead of the 2026 season — a joyful moment made all the more poignant given what Singleton has already overcome.

The linebacker's comeback from cancer was already one of the more compelling human-interest stories in the NFL. He fought through a serious health battle to return to professional football, reclaiming a roster spot and continuing to contribute for Denver. Now, as the Broncos open their season, he and Sam are sharing a personal milestone that adds another chapter to what has become a genuinely remarkable life story.

Singleton's arc — from Montana State to the NFL, from a cancer diagnosis back to an active NFL roster, and now to this — is the kind of narrative that reminds fans why the sport produces stories that extend well beyond the field.

The Bobcat Pipeline Holds

Okada and Singleton aren't the only Bobcats in the league. Troy Andersen remains in Atlanta, Daniel Hardy is with Chicago, and Tommy Mellott is attempting to carve out a role with Las Vegas — but the opening week spotlight belongs squarely to these two. One is facing the biggest football challenge of his career. The other is stepping into a new chapter of his life.

Montana State doesn't always get its due as an NFL pipeline program. Weeks like this make the case.