William Earl Bergey (born February 9, 1945) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

who played professionally for 12 seasons, most notably with the

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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 ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals of the American Football League (AFL) in 1969, the year before the

AFL–NFL merger The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, w ...

was completed, and continued to play with the Bengals in the NFL until 1973. Bergey subsequently signed with the Eagles the following year, where he played seven seasons until retiring in 1981. During his career, Bergey was named to five

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

s, was a two-time first-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

, and made one Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XV, his final professional game. He is an inductee of the Eagles Hall of Fame and the

Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame The Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was established in May 2002 to honor individuals and groups who are either area natives who became prominent in the field of sports or who became ...

College career

Bergey was born in

South Dayton, New York South Dayton is a village in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 564 at the 2020 census. The village lies within the town of Dayton by the southwest corner of the town and less than a mile from the border of Chautauqua ...

in 1945, Graduated from Pine Valley Central High School in 1964 and graduated from

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osa ...

(ASU) in 1969 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

. He was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n with the Arkansas State Indians and has been voted by fans the Top Player in Arkansas State history. He was a charter member of Delta Eta chapter of

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia. As of December 2015, the Kappa Alph ...

at ASU. Bergey set ASU records for best tackling average in a season, most fumble recoveries in a season, most tackles in a game, most tackles in a season, and most career tackles. In 1968, Bergey averaged 19.6 tackles per game. He played in three post-season all-star games during his ASU career; he was selected to the All-Southland Conference team three times and to the Southland Conference All-First Decade Team. Bergey's jersey number 66 was retired by ASU.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Bergey was drafted by the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 1969 Common Draft and was an AFL All-Star in his first year. Bergey started for the Bengals for five years.

Florida Blazers futures contract and trade

Bergey signed a personal service contract on April 17, 1974 with Washington Capitols, Inc., the owner of the World Football League's Virginia Ambassadors which would be known as the Florida Blazers once the circuit began play in July of that year. He was to have joined the WFL team in May 1976, after his Bengals contract expired following the 1975 season. The Bengals filed suit against Bergey for breach of contract and a

temporary restraining order An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...

against the WFL and its franchises two days later on April 19. In a

hearing Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds through an organ, such as an ear, by detecting vibrations as periodic changes in the pressure of a surrounding medium. The academic field concerned with hearing is audit ...

that began on April 29 and was adjudicated 15 days later on May 14, the Court concluded that Bergey had not breached his contract and the Bengals' motion for a temporary injunction was denied. Bergey never received anything monetary from the Blazers and was released from his WFL contract. He was traded from the Bengals to the

for a

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

first-round selection (8th overall–

Wilson Whitley Wilson Whitley (May 28, 1955 – October 27, 1992) was a consensus All-American defensive tackle at the University of Houston from 1972–1976 under defensive coordinator Don Todd. He led the Cougars to the Southwest Conference championship in ...

) and first- and second-round picks in 1978 (8th and 35th overall– Ross Browner and

Ray Griffin Raymond Griffin (born June 26, 1956) is a former American football cornerback. He is the younger brother of former two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, and also played college football with the Ohio State Buckeyes and pro football for th ...

respectively) on July 10, 1974. He signed a five‐year contract upon joining the Eagles. The Blazers would not survive beyond the 1974 season, and the WFL itself failed partway through 1975.

Philadelphia Eagles

Bergey played a key role in the Eagles' subsequent rise, culminating in the trip to Super Bowl XV. With the Eagles, Bergey, a four-time

, set the NFL record for most

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s by a

and became the highest-paid defensive player in the league with a four-year contract for $1 million. He earned Eagles MVP status three times. Bergey recorded 233 tackles in a single season with the Eagles. He was a popular player who was the foundation of the "Gang Green" defense that brought the Eagles back to the playoffs in 1978, 1979, and to the Super Bowl in 1980. Bergey had conflicts with guard

Conrad Dobler Conrad Francis Dobler (born October 1, 1950) is a former American football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1972 NFL Draft by ...

of the Eagles' NFC East rival

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, who once spit on him while he was downed and injured. His and Dobler's volatile relationship was ranked by

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at #9 on the

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list of feuds. He retired from professional football in 1981. He was inducted into the Eagles Roll of Honor in 1988. In 2012, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Bergey to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2012.

Personal

During his playing days, Bergey served as a lieutenant in the Army Reserve. Bergey served as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

on Eagles radio broadcasts from 1982 to 1983, and now does pre-game and post-game radio and television commentary for the team during the season. He currently lives in

Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania Chadds Ford is a census-designated place (CDP) in Delaware and Chester counties, Pennsylvania, United States, comprising the unincorporated communities of Chadds Ford and Chadds Ford Knoll. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census ...

, with his wife Micky. He is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. His son Jake Bergey is a retired

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

player for the Philadelphia Wings of the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

and his son Josh Bergey is a retired lacrosse player for the

Chesapeake Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balti ...

of the

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...

. Bill's brother Bruce Bergey was a standout player for the

Portland Storm The Portland Thunder (originally Portland Storm) was an American football team in the World Football League based out of Portland, Oregon. When the World Football League was created in October 1973, the Storm was the original New York franchise. ...

of the WFL.

References

External links

Pro-Football-Reference.Com

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