BOBCATS 125: Val Glynn
5/19/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
A staunch end on the gridiron and star on the hardwood and the diamond, Val Glynn may be the best multi-sport athlete in Bobcat history
Leading to the 2022 season, the 125th anniversary of Montana State's first football team, we will look at 125 of the greatest Bobcats. You can find details here and a directory here.
Val Glynn, E, 1924-26
ALL-TIME TEAM: 1933 Exponent 1st Team, 1969 Billings Gazette All-Time Team
HONORS: 1st Team All-Rocky Mountain Conference in 1924 and 1926, 2nd Team All-Rocky Mountain Conference in 1925, 1st Team All-State in 1924 and 1925 (1926 team not located)
A CLOSER LOOK: One of the legendary figures in Montana State University history, Val Glynn was an athletics star on the Bozeman campus to the extent that he was presented a special gold 'M' award upon his graduation in 1927. He was a first team All-Rocky Mountain Conference choice in football in 1924 and '26, and landed first team honors on the hardwood as a senior as well. His arrival was trumpeted during his freshman season in 1923-24, drawing notice for excellent play when coach Ott Romney led the Cats in a split of an important two-game set against a Utah State team coached by Ott's brother Dick Romney. Glynn's best sport may have been baseball. He pitched professionally in the years following his Bobcat career, twirling for the Logan Collegians in 1927 a three-season run pitching for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League and the Salt Lake City Bees. He combined for an 18-14 record with the Class C Logan and Salt Lake City, but was 2-9 with the Seals. He compiled a 1.29 ERA in 21 innings in the PCL in 1928. Glynn was a Montana native, having been born 200 miles east of Bozeman at Fort Keogh on the banks of the Yellowstone River in 1903, to Irish immigrants William Henry Glynn, a soldier, and his wife Delia Agnes Garvey. The Glynns, who lived around the world at various times, eventually moved to Salt Lake City where Val matriculated through what Bozeman attorney and historian Paul Wylie called 'venerable East High.' Val Glynn starred for his future Bobcat coach Ott Romney at East, before Romney recruited him to Bozeman in the early '20s. Two-and-a-half decades later, in 1947, Glynn returned to his alma mater as Dean of Men. In the ensuing years he positively impacted many lives, and his popularity was reflected in the 1947 Montanan, which proclaimed: "If the day ever comes when your house burns down, your family is stricken with Black Death, your fiance marries your best friend, your teeth fall out, your checking account evaporates, and you hit yourself on the thumb with a forty pound sledge hammer, go see Val Glynn. If he can't do anything else, he'll at least sympathize with you. And if it's a situation that calls for a little more sympathy, you'll get cooperation with a capital 'C'. He can pull more wires than a marionette director."
FROM 1933 EXPONENT: "He lacked only one vote of getting unanimous choice for the mythical eleven. Along with Worthington he was hailed as one of the greatest ends ever to enter Montana State. Val was also a good ball carrier but due to his super ability at end he was put in the line. Glynn was chosen on the all conference team. Standing six feet four inches and weighing a little over 190 lbs; there were few men able to get around his end. There is no better man for this position."
Val Glynn, E, 1924-26
ALL-TIME TEAM: 1933 Exponent 1st Team, 1969 Billings Gazette All-Time Team
HONORS: 1st Team All-Rocky Mountain Conference in 1924 and 1926, 2nd Team All-Rocky Mountain Conference in 1925, 1st Team All-State in 1924 and 1925 (1926 team not located)
A CLOSER LOOK: One of the legendary figures in Montana State University history, Val Glynn was an athletics star on the Bozeman campus to the extent that he was presented a special gold 'M' award upon his graduation in 1927. He was a first team All-Rocky Mountain Conference choice in football in 1924 and '26, and landed first team honors on the hardwood as a senior as well. His arrival was trumpeted during his freshman season in 1923-24, drawing notice for excellent play when coach Ott Romney led the Cats in a split of an important two-game set against a Utah State team coached by Ott's brother Dick Romney. Glynn's best sport may have been baseball. He pitched professionally in the years following his Bobcat career, twirling for the Logan Collegians in 1927 a three-season run pitching for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League and the Salt Lake City Bees. He combined for an 18-14 record with the Class C Logan and Salt Lake City, but was 2-9 with the Seals. He compiled a 1.29 ERA in 21 innings in the PCL in 1928. Glynn was a Montana native, having been born 200 miles east of Bozeman at Fort Keogh on the banks of the Yellowstone River in 1903, to Irish immigrants William Henry Glynn, a soldier, and his wife Delia Agnes Garvey. The Glynns, who lived around the world at various times, eventually moved to Salt Lake City where Val matriculated through what Bozeman attorney and historian Paul Wylie called 'venerable East High.' Val Glynn starred for his future Bobcat coach Ott Romney at East, before Romney recruited him to Bozeman in the early '20s. Two-and-a-half decades later, in 1947, Glynn returned to his alma mater as Dean of Men. In the ensuing years he positively impacted many lives, and his popularity was reflected in the 1947 Montanan, which proclaimed: "If the day ever comes when your house burns down, your family is stricken with Black Death, your fiance marries your best friend, your teeth fall out, your checking account evaporates, and you hit yourself on the thumb with a forty pound sledge hammer, go see Val Glynn. If he can't do anything else, he'll at least sympathize with you. And if it's a situation that calls for a little more sympathy, you'll get cooperation with a capital 'C'. He can pull more wires than a marionette director."
FROM 1933 EXPONENT: "He lacked only one vote of getting unanimous choice for the mythical eleven. Along with Worthington he was hailed as one of the greatest ends ever to enter Montana State. Val was also a good ball carrier but due to his super ability at end he was put in the line. Glynn was chosen on the all conference team. Standing six feet four inches and weighing a little over 190 lbs; there were few men able to get around his end. There is no better man for this position."
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