A look back at Bergey’s journey to the NFL | News, Sports, Jobs

Pictured in the top center is Bill Bergey of the 1962 Pine Valley University football team. Photo courtesy of Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame

Editor’s note: The following article about Bill Bergey was first published in the Observer on April 22, 2020. Following his death on Christmas Day, it was deemed appropriate to retell his remarkable football journey that took him from South Dayton to the Super Bowl. And the points in between. Bergey was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.

Due to the novel coronavirus, everything in the sports world has been canceled or postponed to help us overcome this deadly virus. Fortunately, things like the NFL Draft can adapt and entertain sports fans to some extent by being conducted remotely.

WNBA draft viewership jumped last weekend, and this Thursday’s NFL Draft will likely follow suit as the only live sporting event.

The 2020 NFL Draft is posing as a big draft for the Buffalo Bills to build and rebuild last year’s playoff team, but it will likely be conducted without a first-round pick.

If you look at the history of sports, every year someone falls through the draft board or falls past the second round. A good example is one of the most important drafts in our county’s history. In the 1969 NFL Draft, Pine Valley’s Bill Bergey was selected in the second round by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bergie was selected with the 30th pick after the Buffalo Bills selected running back O.J. Simpson with the first overall pick. Looking back at the 1969 draft, it was Simpson and Bergie who helped make it perhaps the most relevant draft in Western New York history.

Simpson helped raise the Bills’ profile with his play and was the best running back of the 1970s. He was the running back on the 1970s All-Decade Team and received the most votes over Walter Payton and second-team selections Earl Campbell and Franco Harris.

On the other hand, if you’re a football fan and have lived in Chautauqua County for a while, you’ve probably heard the story of Bill Bergey. For those who haven’t, he was a fullback and defensive lineman in high school, switched to linebacker in college and went on to have one of the best athletic careers out of Chautauqua County.

For someone from a small school like Pine Valley, the odds of making it to the NFL are pretty slim. If you go back to the 1960s, the odds fall off a cliff. As expected, Bergey didn’t have any offers or recruitment from big schools as a senior. Adding to the adversity, Bergey was injured during his senior year and was unable to play a full season. Still, Bergey somehow managed to get in touch with the Arkansas State coaches while they were in New York. He managed to give them partial assistance without even watching the play. It would be no exaggeration to say that the gamble paid off.

Bergey played fullback and nose tackle as a freshman before switching to linebacker as a sophomore, which worked out well for him. Bergey led the Red Wolves in tackles for three consecutive years and was named to the All-College First Team in 1968. Bergie’s performance during his senior year earned him a trip to the Senior Bowl and then to the National Collegiate Championships. In 1969, a star player played against the world champion New York Jets. The Jets narrowly avoided a loss to the College All-Stars, 26-24.

Despite his excellent performance and accolades in college, the Pine Valley product fell much further down in the NFL Draft than he should have, being drafted with the 31st pick (then a second round pick) by the Cincinnati Bengals. reached. But Bergy quickly rewarded the Bengals. Bergey started all 14 games in his rookie year and was a key part of the defense. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl and was named AFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Bergey’s first year with the Bengals was his best year on this young franchise. Eventually, his relationship with the Bengals soured, and he attempted to sign a contract with the World Football League, forcing a trade. The Bengals tried to sue Bergey but lost, and instead shipped the young linebacker to greener pastures with the Philadelphia Eagles in a green jersey.

When most people think of Bergie, they think of the hard-hitting linebacker who played for the Eagles in the 1970s. It didn’t take long for Bergie to find his way with the Eagles. In his first year, Bergey played hard defense as a middle linebacker, recording five interceptions and one fumble recovery. In 1974, Bergey became the first Chautauqua County resident to be selected as a first-team All-Pro.

It’s crazy to look back at the 1974 All-Pro team and see a Pine Valley graduate among the legends. On the defensive linebacker side, Philadelphia’s Bergie, Kansas City’s Willie Lanier, Pittsburgh’s Jack Hamm and Green Bay’s Ted Hendricks were named. Of the 17 defensive players named to the first team, 10 were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The following year, Bergie proved that his first year with the Eagles was no fluke and was once again named a first-team All-Pro. The 1975 middle linebacker squad was even more excited to see Bergey’s name listed on the team. The three names mentioned this time were Bergie, Lanier, again from Kansas City, and now Pittsburgh legend Jack Lambert.

Bergey was not selected to the first team All-Pro after the 1975 season, but was selected to the second team from 1976 to 1978, making him a total of five selections during his career. For many, being recognized multiple times as one of the league’s best players may justify induction into Canton’s Hall of Fame.

Perhaps what keeps Bergey away from Canton is the lack of team success and winning a championship. There will probably be one less first-team All-Pro selection. Bergey missed out on the first team in 1976, 1977, and 1978 because only one middle linebacker was selected. It was Lambert who beat him the first time, and Randy Gradishar who was picked ahead of him the last two times.

In the final season of Bergey’s career, the Philadelphia Eagles nearly achieved the unthinkable by winning Super Bowl XV, but ultimately fell short to John Madden and the Oakland Raiders. Bergey described this as a career that almost took him to the top. By the end of his career, there was no doubt that he was a legendary linebacker, and the Philadelphia Eagles honored the Pine Valley alum by inducting him into the Eagles Hall of Fame.

Putting Bergey’s greatness into perspective is difficult for many who didn’t watch him play throughout his career. But if you look at the era he played in, his position was much more valuable than it is now. Football in the 1970s was a different game, where plays were primarily played on the ground and middle linebackers were used as the intimidating center of the defense to stop runs.

So, all in all, Bergey is not only a great middle linebacker in the NFL, but a great player in an era when defenses needed to be tough to stop the elite running backs of the day. It was.