Troy Joseph Bergeron (born December 3, 1983) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. He also was a member of the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

and

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. He never played college football.

Early years

Bergeron attended Shaw High School. He was a three-year starter at wide receiver in a Wing T offense, that focused on running the football. As a junior in 2000, he contributed to the team winning the state championship, while being named the 2000 ''

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer The ''Ledger-Enquirer'' is a newspaper headquartered in downtown Columbus, Georgia, in the United States. It was founded in 1828 as the ''Columbus Enquirer'' by Mirabeau B. Lamar who later played a pivotal role in the founding of the Republic of T ...

s Offensive Player of the Year. As a senior, he posted 25 receptions for 444 yards and 7 touchdowns. He had one interception in limited duty at

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He missed three games during the season because of surgery to correct compartmental syndrome in his leg. In track, he was part of the Georgia Class 4A state champion

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

team and placed second in the 400 metres as a senior.

College career

Bergeron initially accepted a football scholarship from Auburn University. Before he enrolled at the school, the coaches asked him to switch to defensive back because of a surplus at the wide receiver position, so he asked to be released from his scholarship. He then transferred to

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as well as a college of Postgr ...

, but while he was sitting out as a

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freshman, his fiancée gave birth to their son and Bergeron decided to move to Columbus to be with his family. He later requested to transfer to Troy University, which was closer to his home, but Middle Tennessee wouldn't release him from his commitment. He then opted to sign a professional football contract with the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

’s Columbus Wardogs and never played a down of college football.

Professional career

Columbus Wardogs (af2)

In 2004, Bergeron made the Columbus Wardogs roster and became the youngest player in af2 history at 21. He recorded 77 receptions for 1,220 yards and 26 touchdowns despite missing the team’s first four games. He was only the third Wardog player to reach 1,000 yards receiving. He set a franchise single-game record with 212 receiving yards against the Macon Knights. Three weeks later, he had another record-breaking performance and set three single-game team records with 14 receptions for 216 yards and six touchdowns against the Louisville Fire. He was twice named the af2’s Offensive Player of the Week.

Georgia Force (first stint)

In 2005, Bergeron signed with the

of the

. As a rookie, he was slated to be a backup, until starter and offensive specialist

Scottie Montgomery Scottie Austin Montgomery (born May 26, 1978) is an American football coach for the Indianapolis Colts He most recently was the offensive coordinator at the University of Maryland. Prior to his tenure with Maryland, he was the head football coa ...

was injured in the second quarter of the season opener against the New Orleans VooDoo. Bergeron stepped in, tallying a team-high 6 receptions for 116 yards, a game-high 3 receiving touchdowns and 74 yards on three kickoff returns. He was named Offensive Player of the Game for his first AFL contest and was given the starter position. He played in all 16 games, collecting 105 receptions for 1,372 yards, 31 touchdowns and 57 kickoff returns for 1,058 yards. He had a career-long 51-yard kickoff return and a career-long 37-yard missed field goal return against the

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...

. He was named the 2005 AFL Rookie of the Year and was selected to the 2005 AFL All-Rookie Team. Along with rookie teammate Derek Lee, the duo ended the season as the top receiving touchdown tandem in the AFL with 64 combined touchdowns (Bergeron 31 and Lee 33).

Atlanta Falcons (first stint)

In 2006, he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted rookie free agent. He attended training camp and was released following the final pre-season game.

Buffalo Bills

On December 12, 2006, he was signed to the Buffalo Bills practice squad. He was released on February 14, 2007.

Georgia Force (second stint)

In February 2007, Bergeron re-joined the

. He appeared in all 16 games and recorded career highs in receptions (132), receiving yards (1,736), touchdowns (41), rushing attempts (10) and rushing yards (81), while earning Second team All-Arena honors. He and teammate Wide receiver Chris Jackson became the first receiving tandem in AFL history to record at least 130 catches, 1,700 receiving yards and 40 touchdowns each. He led the team in receptions (13) and receiving yards (194), he also recorded four touchdowns on the road against the

Austin Wranglers The Austin Wranglers were an arena football team based in Austin, Texas. They played four seasons in the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2007 and spent one season in af2, the AFL's developmental league, in 2008. They made playoff appearances i ...

. He also had six kickoff returns for 103 yards and one rush for 10 yards. His 194 receiving yards and 307 total yards set new single-game franchise-highs. He also added two tackles and one fumble recovery on special teams. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, Bergeron recorded 91 receptions for 1,247 yards, 24 touchdowns, 7 carries for 62 yards and 7 tackles. He also added five kickoff returns for 71 yards. The

folded after the season.

Columbus Lions (AIF)

In March 2009, Bergeron signed with the

Columbus Lions The Columbus Lions are a professional indoor football team based in Columbus, Georgia and are a member of the American Indoor Football Alliance. The were a founding member of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2017 season. The Lions were ...

of the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

. He led the team in receiving yards, touchdowns and catches. He contributed to the franchise winning the SIFL championship in 2010.

Atlanta Falcons (second stint)

On April 28, 2009, he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons, only to be released on April 29 after failing his physical with a hamstring injury. He was re-signed by the team on May 10. He was waived during final cuts on September 4, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was then promoted to the active roster on November 14. Bergeron was released November 16 and re-signed to the practice squad on November 18. Ten days later, he was promoted to the 53-man roster again. On December 2, he returned to the practice squad. Due to the release of

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

Verron Haynes Verron Ulric Haynes ( ; born February 17, 1979) is a Trinidadian-born former American football running back. Verron Haynes was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft, following three successful college footb ...

, Bergeron was promoted to the active roster on December 5. Bergeron was waived again by the Falcons on December 7 and added to back to the practice squad on December 9. The Falcons promoted Bergeron to the active roster again on December 15 when wide receiver

Brian Finneran Brian Joseph Finneran (born January 31, 1976) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 1998 and also played for the Barcelona Dragons, Phila ...

was placed on injured reserve. He spent a total of 6 games on the active roster. He was released on September 4, 2010.

Cleveland Gladiators (AFL)

On October 3, 2010, he signed with the

of the

Dallas Cowboys

On December 15, 2010, he was signed to the

' practice squad. In March 2011, because of the NFL labor dispute and lockout decision, he signed with the

of the

. He returned to the Cowboys after the collective bargaining agreement was signed. He was released on July 28, 2011.

Personal life

In 2016, he was hired as a physical education teacher and a football assistant coach at Saint Francis Day School, Inc. He has been teaching football at Saint Francis Day School for 6 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergeron, Troy 1983 births Living people Players of American football from New Orleans American football wide receivers Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football players Columbus Wardogs players Georgia Force players Atlanta Falcons players Buffalo Bills players Dallas Cowboys players Columbus Lions players