Montana State Northern Lights & Skylights Athletics

Sam Nelson, a multi-year letter winner in football, played both offense and defense during his four years at Northern, serving as co-captain in 1967 and 1968. He was the starting offensive center and defensive middle linebacker, earning MVP, all-conference and all-division honors for three years. A dual sport athlete for Northern, Nelson played baseball for four years also. After graduating from Northern in 1970, he taught Physical Education, Industrial Arts, and Driver's Education and coached football, basketball and track for 28 years in Bozeman, Montana, retiring in 1997. He now owns an antique business and builds custom furniture.