NFL rookie Bergen unfazed by success
12/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
More out of the Mountain Hawks' offense. More out of himself.
So now that
The former Lehigh tight end is nearing the end of his rookie season with the Arizona Cardinals, who host the Eagles today. Has 20 catches for 181 yards in 14 games, seven of them starts in a double-tight end set.
But he is pretty matter-of-fact about this, pretty matter-of-fact about everything.
Ask him about adjusting to the speed of the NFL — the biggest thing for any rookie, much less an undrafted free agent from the Patriot League — and he says, ''It didn't take a terrific amount of time. During training camp I got pretty well-acclimated. It's been a good transition.''
Ask him about his first pro touchdown reception — a 9-yarder from Kurt Warner on Nov. 20 against the Rams — and he says it was ''just a pass to the flat. … It was an easy route.''
Ask him about his welcome-to-the-NFL moment, and he talks about getting ''jacked up'' by a 49ers safety on Dec. 4. Doesn't remember who it was, though. Moreover, he says, ''It looked a lot worse than it was.''
No big deal.
Then again, nothing is.
''He's a very confident kid,'' Rorke said. ''In his mind, there was never any doubt [he would make it]. That's the kind of kid you want.''
''He's a very colorful character,'' Rorke said with a laugh. ''He was fun to coach. There were a lot of moments with Adam, a lot of interesting moments.''
Maybe, Rorke said, he was right.
''Maybe if we would have thrown it to him more,'' he said, laughing again, ''we would have won more games.''
It's not like
By his senior year, the NFL scouts had taken notice. Representatives of every team streamed to
Among those who came away impressed was Cardinals coach Dennis Green.
''He reminded me a lot of Brent Jones, who we had a lot at
High praise. Jones played in four Pro Bowls over his 11 seasons (1987-97).
Green told
''We recruited him,'' Green said.
Not that there weren't any anxious moments.
''The most stressful was the last cut,'' he said. ''You're sitting there waiting, hoping no one comes down [to the locker room] and says anything. That no one comes down and says that Coach Green wants to see you upstairs, in his office … and don't forget to bring your playbook.''
But that never happened, mainly because Green continued to see in
''Excellent hands,'' Green said. ''Big, strong body. Highest character. Loves the game. He's going to be a very good pro.''
And, at this point, we shouldn't be amazed that that's the case.
This article appeared in the Saturday, December 24 edition of The Morning Call. Used with permission.
