Q&A: Butte native, former Montana State QB Tommy Mellott on getting drafted by Las Vegas Raiders

BOZEMAN — At about 3:15 p.m. Mountain time Saturday, Tommy Mellott’s phone rang.

The caller was Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek, informing Mellott that the Raiders were about to select him in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft . Life has been happily hectic for Mellott since then. The Butte native is preparing to make a team led by several famous football figures.



The former Montana State quarterback is hoping to make the league that currently includes former MSU teammates Troy Andersen, Daniel Hardy, Lance McCutcheon and Ty Okada. Mellott, who’s planning to be a wide receiver and returner for Las Vegas, might catch passes from Cam Miller, a former North Dakota State QB who helped the Bison beat the Bobcats three times during their college careers and finished second to Mellott in 2024 Walter Payton Award voting. The Raiders drafted Miller two picks after Mellott .

Mellott talked about all of that and more in a phone interview with 406 MT Sports on Monday. Former Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott warms up during MSU's pro day Friday, April 4 in Bozeman. NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity, clarity and grammar.

TM: The three months leading up to the pro day , it was a great time to train and get after it, but it was very quiet. There was a lot of time to think to yourself. Going through the past probably year and a half, there's a handful of guys I know that seemed like they had a lot of people reaching out, agents reaching out, training facilities reaching out.

For whatever reason, if it was just bad communication by me or if I didn't pursue it the right way or what, I really didn't feel like I had a whole lot. So going through the training stuff, it was really quiet. I really didn't know how everything was going to roll.

I certainly signed with an agent. I was super excited to work with him and try to give myself an opportunity. I definitely felt like I was a unique prospect and just believed I was going to be able to do it, but there was very little hype around my name.

Obviously, I knew I could perform well at the pro day, and I performed as well as I thought I would. Then, yeah, these last few weeks have been a whirlwind. There's been a lot of media representation for me, which has really been amazing, from people in Montana and national news as well, so I'm extremely grateful for that.

...

But with how all this rolls, you don't know if anybody even pays attention to that within the (NFL) facilities. There was obviously all the speculation that I could possibly be drafted , and so I was extremely excited, but I wasn't going to have my hopes up if I didn't get drafted. I knew that I was — at least I thought I was — going to get an opportunity, so I was just pumped up for whatever came.

The seventh round was coming up, and I felt like I was going to be possibly a late sixth round, seventh round guy. Sitting there with my family, we were starting to get a little bit excited and anxious and all those emotions. I was looking at all the teams that I talked to and that had shown interest and was waiting for their time to come up.

Then I got a random phone call. That was the first one of the day, and it was just unbelievable. Got to talk to the GM, Coach Spytek, and then he handed the phone over to (head) coach (Pete) Carroll and got to exchange a few words.

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It's a short conversation, and your head's definitely not where you'd like it to be to have that big of a conversation. Your emotions are rolling. I don't really remember what I said.

It was a crazy day. Since then, all the support specifically from Montana has just been amazing. There are so many people that wish you luck and would love for you to succeed, and it's a beautiful place because of that.

Going down to California for a little bit, nothing against Californians or anything, but I felt like it was a lot of all to yourself. It's really amazing the support Montana has given me. Obviously I owe so many people so much here — coaches and players and people in the community and everything.

I'm very blessed to have the support that I do. Montana State’s Tommy Mellott runs out with the Montana flag next to Brody Grebe (41) and head coach Brent Vigen (left) at the start of the FCS championship against North Dakota State on Monday, Jan. 6 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

TM: When I talked to the GM, Spytek, I didn't even catch his name to begin with. All I heard was "Las Vegas Raiders" after he announced his name. Someone told me that you should prepare for people to call you within an organization and they kind of gauge your desperation, to some extent, so that they know whether or not to draft you.

If you get multiple calls that say you're going to be drafted, then you don't get drafted, expect that. This was the only one I got. Like I said, I don't really remember exactly what I said, but I know that they were, like, "How would you like to be drafted in the next pick?" I wanted to, like, jump out of my skin.

I was so excited. Then I was able to talk to Coach Carroll, and at that point, when I knew I was talking to Pete Carroll, I was like, "Wow, this has to be real. This is probably not one of those random calls.

" So, yeah, I was fired up. They mentioned that they have a great plan for me and they're excited for me to get down there and that the (draft) picks are all very important to them. I know competition is a big thing within their culture, from just what I heard from Ty Okada when he was with Coach Carroll with the Seahawks.

Former Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott talks to reporters after the Bobcats’ Pro Day on Friday, April 4, 2025, at the Bobcat Athletic Complex in Bozeman. TM: Every team does it differently, from what I've heard, in how much they actually present their interest. I would say that there was a little bit of interest here and there, but I wouldn't say they really stood out among a lot of other teams.

One thing that I kind of forgot — and I'm extremely excited about — is to work with Coach Tom McMahon . He's a Helena native (who graduated from and coached at Carroll College). He's the special teams coach there.

After I got drafted, I was able to get on the call with him and talk to him. I just can't wait. TM: Pete Carroll, I've heard nothing but great things about him, specifically from Ty, who played for him.

He just loved him, so I can't wait to go get to know him and go work for him. As you mentioned, Chip Kelly's there. I know a handful people that have interacted with him, and I'm fired up.

I think he's got a brilliant offensive mind. From watching him at Oregon to Philadelphia to San Fran to UCLA and then last year at Ohio State, you can tell he's got this brilliant mind from the product that he puts out on the field and from week to week how diverse they are, so I'm excited to see if there is a direct plan for me within his mind. I'd love to, obviously, go prove that I could be a great utility guy for him and an asset to their offense.

I know that he's a guy from University of New Hampshire, which played UT Martin in the first round of the (2024 FCS) playoffs. We would’ve played them at MSU if they would’ve beaten UT Martin. He went to school there, played there, so he's an FCS guy at heart.

I've heard great things about him. Coach Beatty, I'm fired up to get to know him a little bit more. I know that their entire staff really is a lot of first-year guys with Coach Carroll coming in, so it's a fresh start and very excited for it all.

I know (Beatty’s) had a lot of success. He's worked with a lot of big games in the wide receiver room — Keenan Allen, Percy Harvin — so I'm very excited to start making that transition. Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott dodges a tackle attempt by North Dakota State defensive end Loshiaka Roques (56) during the FCS championship game Jan.

6 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. TM: I can't wait. Those guys always set a great standard within Montana State football.

They're great representatives of Montana and obviously our program at the next level. It's also pretty prevalent that a lot of guys that actually get an opportunity, they make it — the guys from Montana State — and they make it for a long time. I don't think I'm going to look too far ahead right now and say that's anywhere near guaranteed for me because I know that's how they went in and that's how I'll go into it as well, that none of it's guaranteed.

But I'm fired up to be possibly playing against them. ..

. I might have an opportunity to play with them at some point as well. You never know how it all works with the NFL.

Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott (16) and linebacker Troy Andersen react in the locker room after beating South Dakota State 31-17 in the FCS semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. TM: I never would’ve expected it, but I also didn't really expect that I was going to be going there.

But I'm fired up, to be honest with you. From every interaction I've had with him, it's been positive. I think he's a competitive person, and, unfortunately, their team's gotten the better of us a handful of times now.

But I think it just speaks to who he is. There's — especially now that we got kind of drafted together, within two picks to the same team — this invisible string that's kind of attached to us. It's kind of odd to imagine at this point.

With his story, as a freshman to start playing over a transfer quarterback [Qunicy Patterson] who came in and to ultimately go to the national championship game and win it — in his second season with North Dakota State because they played that spring — then playing him again in his fourth season, then this last year we played again in the national championship game. So it's a crazy connection we have. With me going to wide receiver, I’m ready to work with him.

Regardless, I've always respected him. He's a super competitive person. I’m fired up to get to know him a little bit more and, rather than be a competitor, be a teammate.

Montana State's Tommy Mellott sits next to fellow Walter Payton Award finalist Cam Miller of North Dakota State (right) during the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Banquet on Saturday, Jan. 4 in Frisco, Texas. TM: I'm fired up for it, for sure.

I've always been an athlete who's played quarterback. It's obviously gotten to a point where I've had quite a bit of success playing the quarterback position. But I think I'll be very well equipped to start making that transition.

I don't think it'll be this smooth, easy transition. I've heard from people that it was a couple-year process for Julian Edelman. As much as there's the success story at the end of it, it's not as clear cut as it seemed.

I'm fired up for just the opportunity to go chase it. I know that it's going to be a lot of growing pains and there are going to be a lot of uncomfortable times, but I really can't wait. There's going to be a steep learning curve, but I definitely believe in myself and I know I can do it.

I think my athleticism will be maxed out, and it will have to be in the NFL. I'm excited to go see what that means. Victor Flores is the Montana State Bobcats beat writer for 406 MT Sports.

Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter/X at @VictorFlores406 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!.