"I couldn’t been more happy for him to be a Griz," says Ivey, who started at cornerback for the University of Montana during the 1996 season after a drawn-out fight to become eligible. "It doesn’t get any better for him to be playing in front of those fans.
"Those are the best fans in the country. I’ll put them up against any school around the country. The standards are so high. They expect you to play for a national championship."
Ivey later presented that ball to his mother, whose birthday was the day before.
"She still has it under glass,” said Ivey, who plans on coming up for the Nov. 17 game at Montana State.
Asked to rate who is better between himself and his younger brother (they share the same mom), Ivey laughs, "Of course, me."
Ivey adds, “But he’s 2½ inches taller than me, which is huge. He also has a good advantage of learning from me as an older blueprint. What mistakes not to make. He should be better than me when he’s done."
Of his "frustrating" journey to become academically eligible, Ivey, who was a part of the 1994 recruiting class but wasn’t able to play for the Griz until 1996 when the NCAA reversed an earlier ruling, said "God works in mysterious ways. I’ve grown up a lot."
As for the Grizzlies’ loss to Marshall and future NFL star Randy Moss in the Division I-AA championship game, Ivey said he never imagined they would lose.
"Everything that could’ve gone wrong, went wrong," he said. "I really thought we were going to win another national championship. Still, it was an amazing season."
Ivey, who said he still keeps in touch with former players James Caton and Trevor Woods, as well as former defensive coordinator Jerome Souers, praised his coaches for getting players in position to have success.
"The preparation was impeccable. Even to this day with the new staff. The preparation is crazy. They show you the craziest little tendencies of other teams.”
Ivey, who played with vision in only one eye, also knows he isn’t the only defensive back to look futile trying to defend Moss, who burned the Griz to the tune of nine catches for 220 yards and four touchdowns.
Ivey was called for pass interference on Marshall’s first offensive play trying to defend the ultra quick and lanky Moss, who is eight inches taller than Ivey. He also said he wasn’t surprised by Moss’s ability.
"I knew from jump street,” he said. "He’s beyond fast. We all knew."
After his playing days were done, Ivey stayed close to football as a coach. He worked as a defensive coordinator for three years at Nogales High School in La Puente, Calif., and as a defensive backs coach at East Los Angeles College.
Ivey has also been integral in the football development of sons Kendall, a 16-year-old defensive back at Huntington Beach, Ca., and 11-year-old Brae, who plays quarterback.
"They have Griz stuff all over their rooms," Ivey said. "Their grandparents still live in Montana so they get to go to about a game a year.”
The 36-year-old Ivey also has two daughters: Mikah, 5 and Alivia, who turns 1 in September.
As a personal trainer, Ivey believes it’s in his best interest to stay in shape.
"My body is my business card," said Ivey, "Fitness is huge for me. I’m in the best shape of my life. Being an athlete I was always in shape and never really thought about it much. But it makes so much sense to know how the muscles work to maximize your training."
Ivey, who gained his certification to be a personal trainer five year ago, said he enjoys helping people reach their workout goals.
"It’s hard to when you get someone that doesn’t want to be (in the gym),” said Ivey, who is about 20 pounds lighter from his playing weight of 190 pounds. "Fortunately you pick the people you want to train. All my people love to be pushed to their limit.”
A self-described outdoors person, Ivey lives in the small, mountain community of Running Springs, about 15 miles from San Bernardino.
"I love mountain biking,” said Ivey, who also enjoys snow boarding, show shoeing and kayaking. "I used to race but not much recently."
Surprisingly, Ivey, who works as a snow board instructor at nearby resorts Snow Valley and Big Bear Mountain for the past four years, never even skied while living in Montana.
"It‘s cold there," Ivey said laughing. "Missoula winters prepared me for the cold here."
Scott Johnson is a freelance writer in Missoula. If you have idea for a player to be profiled as the subject of a Where are they now?, please contact him at sjohnson2930@msn.com.
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