Montana record-setter Michael Wortham to play in 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl

MISSOULA — Record-setting Montana receiver and return specialist Michael Wortham has accepted an invite to the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl, one of the nation’s premiere college all-star games and NFL scouting events.
 
This year’s Shrine Bowl is set to be held in Frisco, Texas, in the Ford Center at The Star football facility, owned by the Dallas Cowboys. The week of events starts with practices and interviews on Thursday and culminates with the East-West Shrine Bowl game this coming Tuesday. The game will be televised nationally on the NFL Network.
 
Wortham arrived in Dallas on Wednesday to begin preparations for the week-long event. As of press time, he’s one of only three FCS players invited to play in the game and the only player from the Big Sky Conference.
 
Wortham has been in Nashville training for Montana’s Pro Day since early January when he competed at the inaugural FCS Showcase, an NFL Combine-style event put on by the American Football Coaches Association. He and former UM offensive lineman Liam Brown were two of approximately 50 standouts from around the FCS to interview with and work out in front of scouts from each NFL team.
 
Wortham, Montana’s first finalist for the Walter Payton Award since 2010, etched his name atop Montana's record books with a huge season in his lone year in Missoula. The electric receiver totaled 1,224 receiving yards, 345 rushing yards, and 862 combined return yards to finish the year with 2,431 all-purpose yards. That total broke Hall of Famer Marc Mariani's 2008 record of 2,265 single-season all-purpose yards and finished less than 90 yards shy of a Big Sky record.
 
On the balance he caught 85 passes for 1,224 yards this year, the second-most catches in a season ever at UM (shy of Samori Toure's record by two grabs) and the sixth-most total yards receiving. His 782 yards of kickoff returns are also near a school record as the third most ever at UM and making him one of just five players with more than 700 in a year.
 
Wortham was a consensus All-America honoree after being named to the first team on at least half of the FCS recognized All-America lists published annually, including those by the AFCA, Stats Perform, Associated Press, and FCS Central/Sports Illustrated.
 
An invitation to the Shrine Bowl is one of the best opportunities for future NFL prospects to showcase their talents for pro scouts and coaches, with more than 100 players from last year’s game singed with pro teams in the spring and 70 signed to NFL rosters last season. On average, more than 300 East-West Shrine Bowl alumni populate NFL rosters each season. 
 
Montana has a long history of sending players to the Shrine Bowl. Wortham is now the 13th Grizzly in the last century to be selected for the game since “Wild" Bill Kelly attended in 1926. Linebacker Dante Olson is the most recent Grizzly to earn an invite to the game in 2020.