Rudy Noorlander uses his survival of a grizzly bear attack to fuel a historic college football rivalry in Montana.
Noorlander was attacked by a grizzly bear in early September while searching for deer, and he didn’t have time to grab his gun or bear spray, according to ABC News. The bear tore off his jaw and Noorlander had to spend five weeks in a Utah hospital.
He now hopes to see his dog, have a root beer and maybe attend Montana/State of Montana match in November. Although he has trouble speaking and needs a whiteboard to answer questions, he appears to be in good spirits and now has a whole new reason to despise the Missoula Grizzlies.
“And he developed a whole new hatred towards the University of Montana” daughter Katelynn Noorlander Davis said during a recent press conference as she discussed her recovery, according to the same ABC News report.
It’s true, friends. The man had his jaw torn off and one of the main priorities in his life is for his family to let people know that the rivalry is at the forefront of his mind.
The “Brawl of the Wild” is a major college football rivalry.
The Grizzlies vs. Bobcats is one of the most underrated rivalries in all of sports. It doesn’t get the attention it deserves because it’s FCS, but it’s a brutally heated rivalry known as “Brawl of the Wild.”
This might come as a shock to OutKick readers who know me as a Wisconsin guy, but I spent my freshman year in Bozeman, MT. It’s been a year of chaos like you can’t imagine, and one day the photos from over a decade ago may become public. Let’s hope not, but maybe! You can email me at [email protected] and I will share some Bozeman stories with my fellow Bobcats fans.
What I can say is that you don’t have to spend a lot of time in Bozeman to know that “Brawl of the Wild” is a huge deal. It’s burned into your head. Rivalry is deeply rooted in people’s souls.
How do we know this is true? Rudy Noorlander was attacked by a grizzly bear, may have died, is on the road to recovery and is now focused on playing in the November game. His daughter took advantage of the press conference to attack the Missoula team.
It’s a football family if I’ve ever heard of one. These are the kind of people we love here at OutKick, and as an MSU alumnus, I encourage him.
Finally, if you’ve never been to Bozeman, I can’t recommend it enough. I haven’t been back in a long time, but it’s such a great town, full of great local people. Don’t tell me about the people who come from the coasts to Montana. That’s a topic for another day, but Bozeman and Montana as a whole are awesome. For those of you visiting Montana, give me your best tips and stories at [email protected].
