Mitchell Shannon Berger (born June 24, 1972) is a Canadian former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 1994 NFL draft.
 Berger in 2009. | |||||||||
| No. 17 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | June 24, 1972 Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 228 lb (103 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | North Delta (Delta, British Columbia) | ||||||||
| College: | Colorado | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1994 / round: 6 / pick: 193 | ||||||||
| CFL draft: | 1994 / round: 1 / pick: 12 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Berger has also been a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos. He won Super Bowl XLIII with the Steelers against the Cardinals.
Early life
editBerger attended North Delta Senior Secondary School in Delta, British Columbia and was a letterman in football and basketball. In football, as a senior, he won All-Provincial honours as both, a kicker and as a punter, and was also the team's starting quarterback. In basketball, he won All-Provincial honours. Mitch Berger graduated from North Delta Secondary School in 1990.
College career
editBerger attended Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas and won honorable mention All-American honors as a sophomore. He finished his college career by transferring to the University of Colorado.
Professional career
editPhiladelphia Eagles
editBerger was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 1994 NFL draft.[1] He was also drafted in the first round of the 1994 CFL Draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Minnesota Vikings
editPerhaps Berger's best seasons came as a member of the Minnesota Vikings in the late 1990s. He was most noted for his booming kickoffs, which often sailed into the end zone for touchbacks; afterwards, he would take a bite of a Snickers bar that he would keep in his spare shoe on the sideline.[2]
Pittsburgh Steelers
edit
Berger was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers after an injury to punter Daniel Sepulveda to compete with signing Paul Ernster. Berger won the job as Ernster was released on August 30 during final cuts.[3] After experiencing hamstring problems, Berger was released by the Steelers on November 5 and the team re-signed Ernster.[4] Following three poor performances by Ernster, Berger was re-signed by the Steelers on November 24. Berger developed into a great tackling punter, as evidenced by his five tackles in the 2008 season. He had two key touchdown-saving tackles.
Berger won his first Super Bowl with the Steelers at Super Bowl XLIII in which he had three punts for a 46.3 yard average and one inside the 20 yard-line.
Denver Broncos
editBerger signed with the Denver Broncos on October 26, 2009, after they waived Brett Kern. He was released after the 2009 season.
Personal life
editBerger owns a set of nightclubs and restaurants in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.[5] He appeared on Millionaire Matchmaker on March 12, 2013, and is now married to Bambi.
References
edit- ^ "1994 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "New Punter Has Hold On Job". Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- ^ Brown, Scott (August 10, 2008). "Steelers' Hampton practicing". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on August 12, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- ^ "The Sports Network - National Football League". www.sportsnetwork.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
- ^ NFL Journeyman Berger Eyes Super Bowl, Winter Olympics Yahoo Sports, January 29, 2009
External links
edit
- Arizona Cardinals bio Archived February 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Pittsburgh Steelers bio