History and tradition are essential parts of college athletics. It’s why Montana State’s football homage to World War II has caught on so quickly.
And it’s why the Montana Build Group has such a deep connection to the Bobcats that wear No. 41. The No. 41 football jersey not only is a tip of the cap to the 1941 MSU Bobcats’ football team that suffered significant losses during the second world war, but it’s also a nod to the fact that the state of Montana was the 41st state to join the union back in 1889.
That reverence for history is important at Montana State. And it’s why the Montana Build Group helped establish an endowment scholarship at MSU to help the No. 41 tradition continue to sustain.
“College athletic traditions are what make college athletics what they are because they connect the history with the present,” Montana State athletic director Leon Costello said in the spring of 2025. “Even as college athletics is changing rapidly, these traditions help to differentiate between professional sports, in my opinion. I really like legacy number traditions, especially in this case, because these are players that wore the number that are continuing to support the program through a special connection like a jersey number. To me, it shows how important and special their time was at MSU and they are trying to pay that forward. It is a brotherhood.”
Grant Collins and Brayden Konkol, two founding members of the Montana Build Group, are part of that brotherhood. Collins and Konkol are former standout Montana State football players who helped spearhead the No. 41 legacy more than a decade ago. 
Montana was the 41st state in the union when it joined the United States in 1889. The university also suffered devastating losses during World War II. Among those who died in the war were 14 men who played on the Bobcat football teams between 1935 and 1941. That number did not include the entire starting lineup from the 1941 team, as was misreported in later years, but three of them played in 1941, and each of the “Golden Ghosts,” as national sportscaster Bill Stern called them, hailed from the Treasure State. One of those men, Al Zupan from Sand Coulee, played for the ’Cats from 1934-36 and died in the war in 1943. His brother Bill played on the 1941 team and was the only pre-war Bobcat to return to the field afterward.
Collins was technically the first No. 41 to pass the legacy number down to a teammate, although Brad Daly wore No. 41 before Collins did, meaning there was 10-year history of Montana-made defensive standouts wearing the jersey.
So Choate decided to create a legacy number at Montana State. And he deemed that to be No. 41. Collins, a Bozeman native, passed the jersey down to Konkol, a Belgrade native. After an All-Big Sky Conference campaign as a senior in 2019, Konkol and Choate passed on the number to Troy Andersen, one of the greatest Bobcats of them all. But Andersen, a Dillon native now a starting inside linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons, never wore the number as the 2020 season was called off due to the global pandemic.
Since then, Helena’s Chase Benson, Dillon’s R.J. Fitzgerald, Nolan Askelson of Billings and Brody Grebe of Melstone have proudly wore No. 41 for the Bobcats.
This year, Paul Brott will dawn the legacy number. The senior defensive tackle from Billings is the third Brott brother to play for the Bobcats, joining Wilson (a tight end and offensive tackle 2014-2018) and Mitch (an All-American offensive tackle from 2015-2019) as MSU letterman.
Montana State head coach Brent Vigen said after the Sonny Holland Spring Classic that the younger Brott has come by his love of Montana State University and its football program naturally.
“I think his passion for this program, obviously being the third in line after Wilson and Mitch, is evident,” he said. “He loves his place and I know he’s poured everything into becoming a really good player and leader for us.”
In addition to the honor of wearing No. 41, Brott received a $5,000 No. 41 Legacy Scholarship from the Montana Build Group, 
“I think that the 41 legacy is important because it’s a number that represents the state through this football program,” said Brayden Konkol, a former All-Big Sky safety who wore No. 41 in 2019 and is now one of the faces of the Montana Build Group. “That Montana pride is wrapped into the 41 and into wearing that number, and the legacy and history it adds makes this program that much more rich.”
Paul Brott played in all 16 games during his junior season for the Big Sky Champion Bobcats, logging 49 total tackles, including six for a loss, with three sacks. He forced an Eastern Washington fumble and hurried opposing quarterbacks twice.
Brott said the list of players that wore 41 before him makes the honor significant.
“Since I was a young guy, I’ve been looking up to guys like Grant Collins, (Brayden) Konkol, Chase (Benson), RJ (Fitzgerald), Nolan (Askelson), Brody (Grebe),” he said. “Part of what makes it so special is the people that have worn it, I was just super excited and proud to represent this state and this team.”
Konkol said attaching a scholarship to aid those that wear No. 41 achieve their academic goals in addition to contributing to Bobcat football was important.
“At our end-of-the-year meeting we talked about plans and goals for our company, and one of the things that came up was giving back to the community,” he said. “This football program has done so much for me, and I think Grant would say the same, and it’s going to continue to do so much for anyone that’s part of it. He wore 41, I wore 41 my senior year, it made a lot of sense to honor the number 41.”
https://msubobcats.com/news/2025/4/25/football-forty-one-paul-brott-chosen-to-wear-msus-legacy-jersey-no-41-in-2025.aspx
The tradition of the legacy jersey in college football dates back decades. Schools that have honored their history with legacy numbers include Texas A&M (12), Syracuse (44) and Michigan (98).
A huge part of the accentuating this tradition is an endowment that goes along with a scholarship that accentuates the presence of No. 41 ev- ery year on the Bobcat roster, Costello said.
“Having donors and supporters that “get it” is very important. The Collins’ family has been involved with sports their entire life and they and their kids have enjoyed the benefits that brings,” Costello said. “I think that is why this scholarship is so meaningful. They are showing others a way to support the program but are also saying thank you for what the program did for their family.
“They are a shining example of the circle of life of an athletic department. Donors supported scholarships for Grant to be a student-athlete, that scholarship and department funding supported Grant thought his career, now they are supporting the next generation. We can’t operate the way we do without our donors and are thankful for their generosity.”
For the Montana Build Group, it’s an honor to be involved in such a burgeoning, yet already rich lineage.
“Creating the endowment for No. 41 was deeply meaningful to us because it honors Montana athletes who embody the grit, resilience, and dedication it takes to succeed in sports,” the Collins family wrote. “Growing up as an athlete in Montana comes with its own set of challenges— on the national stage, you’re often overlooked. Montana kids have to push even harder to rise above the anonymity that comes from being in a state that doesn’t typically attract attention from recruiters or scouts. This legacy scholarship is a tribute to their perseverance and a celebration of the spirit they represent—the very best of who we are.”