Former North Dakota State edge Greg Menard has a difficult decision to make on Saturday when the Bison kick off against Air Force in the Mountain West Conference opener.
Menard, who played for the Bison from 2014 to 2018, has a younger brother, Antonio, on the Air Force roster. The former Bison standout gave a shout-out to his former team and his brother’s team amid NDSU’s Mountain West debut.
“Wheels down in CO! Proud big bro moment today, get to watch my brother play for the Air Force against my alma mater NDSU,” Greg Menard posted on X.com on Saturday. “Gonna be awesome!”
Antonio Menard is a 6-foot-1 junior defensive end for the Falcons out of Lakeville North in Minnesota. A mechanical engineering major, Menard is the youngest of four, and he is second of the four to play Division I college football. He didn’t play his first two seasons in 2024 and 2025, but he competed in the defensive end position battle during spring practices this year.
Greg Menard Helped Bison Dynasty
Greg Menard played a key role in NDSU’s title run with championships in 2014, 2015 and 2018. He tallied 165 tackles, 33.5 sacks, two pass deflections, four forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries in 58 career games.
Menard earned All-American honors three times, and he finished fourth in career sacks and fifth in career tackles for loss by the end of his collegiate career. He made the All-Missouri Valley Football Conference first team three times, and Menard helped the Bison win five conference titles
Menard sustained a season-ending knee injury in 2017, another year NDSU won the FCS crown. He bounced back for his final season with 40 tackles and 9.5 sacks in 2018.
Menard also helped the Bison upset then-No. 13 Iowa in 2016, a 23-21 victory for the Herd. He had 1.5 sacks and two tackles, as the Bison limited Iowa to 231 yards of total offense.
It was also a big win in the Menard family since Greg and Antonio’s father, Ronald Menard, played for Hawkeyes rival Iowa State in the 2002 and 2003 seasons. The Hawkeyes and Cyclones split their rivalry series during the elder Menard’s time there.
Greg Menard now works as a transmission line engineer for Barr Engineering in Minnesota.
Najee Nelson Followed in Greg Menard’s Footsteps
Bison junior corner back Najee Nelson became the latest former Lakeville North star to join the Herd in 2023, following in Menard’s footsteps. Nelson played with Antonio Menard in high school before they went off to their respective colleges.
In three seasons with the Bison, Nelson has an interception, four pass deflections and eight tackles in 19 career games. Nelson has appeared in the first two games for the Bison this season.
He is the younger brother of former NDSU standout RaJa Nelson. The older Nelson played for the Bison from 2020 to 2025 as a wide receiver, and he had 118 receptions for 1,306 yards and 10 touchdowns.
NDSU had a void at receiver with former players such as Nelson gone, but the Bison have developed key wide outs in the past two weeks with Jackson Williams, Jordan McCants and Mekhi Collins stepping up. Nelson had NFL looks this year after his NDSU career, but he didn’t land with a team after the draft.
Former NDSU Star Sends Heartfelt Message Amid Close Air Force Connection