Meet the Griz: Former Griz #37 Marcus Welnel On The Legacy Number & How He Got Involved In The NIL World

Meet the Griz is a series where we tell the stories of Montana Grizzlies athletes, coaches and contributors.

Meet Marcus Welnel - Griz Football's 2022 Legacy #37 Player & Good Ol' Grizzlies General Manager

We've gone back-to-back weeks on Meet the Griz, highlighting a former Griz #37. Last week was Trevin Gradney, and this week is Marcus Welnel.

After Gradney shared the story of how he passed the #37 to Clay Oven (It's a great story that you can read with this link), I had to ask other 37's their stories about receiving/giving the Legacy #37 jersey.

Jace Lewis to Marcus Welnel

Jace Lewis was #37 in 2021 and passed it to Welnel in 2022.

"I don't think I'll ever forget that conversation," began Welnel. "He invited me over to the Mo. Club to get a burger. I didn't really think much of it at the time. There was probably a little bit of me, you know, 'He might bring up something about 37. We'll see, I don't really know."

"I won't share exactly what he said, but we talked about it, and then all of a sudden, he asked me if I wanted to wear the number. Of course, I said yes, and it was a really cool moment and something I won't ever forget."

Marcus Welnel to Levi Janacaro

When it was time to pass the 37 jersey on to Levi Janacaro, Welnel's plan worked to perfection.

Janacaro had no idea Welnel was about to hand off the 37 legacy on a summer day in Missoula, once again at the Mo Club. Janacaro was officiating Welnel's upcoming wedding, so it was a perfect disguise to get Janacaro to the Mo. Club.

"I wanted Lexy, my wife, fiancée at the time, we all wanted to meet together, get lunch, talk about the wedding, because we hadn't yet."

The cover was laid. Janacaro and Welnel met at the Mo Club and did, in fact, talk about the upcoming wedding.

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But Marcus had a big surprise on top of it.

"Towards the end of our conversation, I said, 'Hey Lee, you know, I wanted to talk to you about wedding stuff for sure, but that's not the real reason I brought you here.' The minute I said that, he knew what I was talking about."

READ MORE: Sacramento State Set To Leave Big Sky Conference

The Mo Club: Warm Beer & Cold Burgers & Home of Passing of the #37 Legacy Jersey

Good Ol' Grizzlies

The other part of our conversation centered on Good Ol' Grizzlies, the NIL Collective for the University of Montana.

Welnel said he is "very fortunate" to be able to work with the NIL Collective because he thinks of his playing days when he couldn't even get a hot dog handed to him.

"I don't want to say I was THE first one, but I was one of the first ones at the campus to go out there and try to find some deals [for Griz athletes]," said Welnel.

He was on the ground floor and put in a lot of work for UM athletes. In the end, Welnel was charged with running the ship.

To listen to his full story on NIL and the #37 Legacy, listen to the Daily Drive with Ace Sauerwein podcast below.