Lions’ David Montgomery Credits 1 Unexpected Experience for Helping Him Overcome Nearly Season-Ending Injury (Exclusive)

David Montgomery was prepared.

The Detroit Lions running back reflected on the near season-ending injury he sustained during his team’s week 15 matchup against the Buffalo Bills last season, telling PEOPLE exclusively about one past experience that helped him overcome that challenging time: Scouting.

Today, most know him as a former Iowa State standout and current NFL star, but Montgomery is a proud Eagle Scout at the core — and still wears the honor on his sleeve. Not only has it helped him persevere in his own personal and professional life, but now he’s inspiring others to do the same.

“For me it’s a full circle moment,” Montgomery, 28, tells PEOPLE exclusively of his continued partnership with Scouting America as a year-two official recruitment ambassador. “To this day, scouting was a foundational pillar to my life and who I am.”

On Dec. 15, Montgomery suffered a torn MCL in his left knee during a second-quarter play in the Lion’s game against the Bills at at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. Opting for rehab over surgery, he locked in physically — and mentally — to overcome, returning for the playoffs three weeks later.

“My Scout Master was a big firm believer in, ‘Tough times don’t last, tough people do’, ” he tells PEOPLE of the mindset he channeled amid his recovery journey. Rather than “overreact” in the difficult moment, he chose to “take a step back” and reassess.

“I used that moment scouting taught me to kind of be that same way when I was injured,” he shares. “I was like, ‘Okay, it sucks. It’s not ideal. It’s not what I want, but it’s fine. The world goes on.’ You got to keep working and just keep your head down and the cream will rise to the top,” he adds.

And that’s exactly what the pro football player did, and defied the season-ending expectation.

“I was able to come back towards the end of the year, which was super big for me from a mental standpoint,” he shares, crediting his scouting experience — and specifically, the motivational words he remembered from his Scout Master — as his key to overcome.

Understanding how to endure the uncomfortable, the Ohio native says, helps him to “be comfortable” when times get “uncomfortable” in his NFL career.

In his team up with Scouting America, Montgomery strives to teach the youth the importance of showing up, working hard and persevering through challenges. Plus, he hopes to inspire them that scouting and athletes don’t just coexist — but rather, fuel each other.

Montgomery was around seven years old when he first became a Scout.

“My mom introduced it to me when I was younger when I was playing pee-wee football. Crazy my life has kind of looked the same the entirety of my life,” he marvels. “It’s kind of just the same language.”

“I think without it I wouldn’t be able to be who I am standing here today,” Montgomery shares. “It was challenging, but I love scouting and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”