FLOWERY BRANCH, Géorgie | In the Falcons’ team meeting room in suburban Atlanta, a clock counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. For Matthew Bergeron, a great excitement sets in as the big day approaches, he who will become the first player from Quebec to take his first steps in the NFL as a starter.
• Read also: [BALADO] The Pay Zone: Here we go for another NFL season!
• Read also: It will cost you more to watch the NFL this year
• Read also: NFL season start: Find out who the Eagles’ top predators are in the National Conference
Every day, when the Victorian left guard takes his place in the room and the seconds on the screen pass, his new reality hits him.
“Every time I pass by, I’m like, ‘Tabarouette, it’s getting closer and closer!” Of course I get nervous, but it’s positive. I just can’t wait to prove myself, I’ve been dreaming about it since I was little. It looks big, an NFL game, but for me, it’s a football game like when I played for the Vicas, “he told the Journal, on site in Atlanta for Bergeron’s debut.
“I am happy to represent Quebec. Of course I’m proud of that. I would like that one day, it will no longer be something abnormal to see a Quebecer break through in the NFL and that it becomes like hockey, ”he took care to add.
In the big leagues
The Victoriaville player worked hard in training camp to prove his worth to the Falcons. Jay Bendlin/Atlanta Falcons
His place in the locker room, Bergeron clearly did not steal it. Moreover, as a welcome “gift” for having made his nest among the “Dirty Birds”, the Quebecer must, like all the other recruits, pay an amount of $20 to the veterans, who will invest the sums collected at the end of the season. in a colossal team dinner.
“It’s my rent,” he says, smiling broadly.
This place, he had to get it the hard way. Since the conclusion of his final season at Syracuse University in December, his life has been a rolling fire.
Countless practices, team interviews, the draft, spring training and a demanding six-week training camp that has just ended have quickly immersed him in the bath of the NFL. The days that start in the gym at 6:30 a.m. and end after mid-evening recruit meetings have become his daily routine and far be it from him to complain about it.
“It’s very demanding for a rookie, but I like it when it’s rolling. When I’m not doing anything, that’s when I think and get anxious. I can’t sit still. I thrive in it,” he remarked.
A real shitty day
Yet the NFL’s dream isn’t always idyllic. There are ups and downs, as in any professional field. On the pitch, his coaches expect a lot from him and it’s not often a pat on the back festival.
Bergeron even recounts in an amused tone that at the end of a tough day during training camp, head coach Arthur Smith entered the meeting room and told Bergeron that he had just experienced a shitty day (“dog shit day»). We’ll come back for the white gloves!
“Like everyone else, it affected me at the time, but you have to learn. The day after, I didn’t make the same mistakes and that’s just what my coach wanted to see. The veterans told me he was just doing this to see how I was going to react when I was going to fall in a match situation. He tested me and I reacted well,” he said.
A new stance
Matthew Bergeron saw action in the second preseason game against the Bengals. Kyle Hess/Atlanta Falcons
Beyond Bergeron’s brute force, it is perhaps precisely his phlegm in a crisis situation that has won over his new bosses.
After all, he not only had to make his place in the NFL, but all while learning a new position, having previously evolved as a blocker on the college scene.
“Physically I haven’t changed, but mentally I had to adapt. When you’re on guard, things happen a lot faster than as a blocker. You face bigger guys, so there is less finesse. These guys all want to get into you chest. I had to change the placement of my hands and feet. My athletic side and my natural strength helped me adjust,” explained the man who will face one of the league’s emerging tackles, Derrick Brown, on Sunday.
In the adult world
As if the challenge wasn’t big enough, Bergeron weathered the relentless whirlwind of spring and summer by buying a home in the Atlanta area, with all the responsibilities that come with it and that he discovered on the heap.
“It’s adult life that hits me at 23. I learned how to take care of paying my taxes, shopping for my things, having the house inspected. I had the alarm systems installed and I took care of managing the pesticides because in Georgia, there is an abundant presence of insects. I discovered a lot of business! You make mistakes and there was a moment when I felt like everything was happening at the same time,” he smiled, still in disbelief.
Now that those trying months are behind him, the most important part of the job, but also the most challenging, lies ahead of him. After all, it is on the ground of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Sunday at 1 p.m., that Bergeron will really feel in his element.
“I feel prepared and I think I belong. This is going to be a big test for me. It won’t be perfect, it won’t always be beautiful, but the important thing will be how I react to small defeats to turn them into victories.
This is the start of a great adventure for Matthew Bergeron in the NFL. Shanna Lockwood/Atlanta Falcons
In French please!
FLOWERY BRANCH, Georgia | In initiation fees as a rookie, Matthew Bergeron is far from having experienced the horror stories that have swarmed over the years in different sports. His daily burden was instead to bring food to veterans and transport equipment. The highlight is undoubtedly his interpretation of the Canadian national anthem in front of a crowded room of players. “I would like Quebec to know that I sang in French only. It was funny and everyone liked it”, proudly launched the former Cégep de Thetford Mines and second-round choice of the Falcons.
A dip in action
FLOWERY BRANCH, Georgia | Matthew Bergeron had a good idea from the first weeks of training camp that the Falcons were considering installing him in the chair of starting left guard. Not only has veteran Matt Hennessy fallen in battle and his season is already over, but like the other starters on the team, he has seen very little ground in preseason games. “I was able to get a taste of what awaits me. I played two series against Cincinnati. I am no longer the same player who arrived here on July 18,” he said.
On special units
FLOWERY BRANCH, Georgia | Matthew Bergeron will not only see action on offense on Sunday, but he will also contribute on special teams. Without revealing all of his cards, Special Teams Coordinator Marquice Williams told the Journal that Bergeron would be used as a protector in a precision kick situation, whether on placements or conversions after a touchdown. “He will be our secret punt returner! Probably he would like that!” he joked at a press conference, before praising Bergeron’s “behaviour and professionalism”.
2023-09-07 22:43:36
#NFL #historic #moment #Matthew #Bergeron
