Matthew Kambolambi Bergeron (born February 26, 2000) is a Canadian professional

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

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). A native of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, he moved to the United States to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

Early life

Bergeron was born in

Victoriaville Victoriaville () is a town in south-central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, on February 26, 2000, to a Congolese father and Quebec-born mother. He grew up as a native speaker of French, learning English in school. Bergeron attended

Cégep de Thetford Cégep de Thetford is a College of general and vocational education (CEGEP) in Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 671 boulevard Frontenac Ouest. It was established in 1969. The Cégep de Thetford welcomes international students t ...

and played for their

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

team before enrolling at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

to play

for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East ...

. He graduated with a degree in social work from the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

College career

Bergeron played in 46 of Syracuse's games played through 4 seasons, with 39 starts between right tackle and left tackle. He played in all 12 games as a freshman with five starts at right tackle. He started all 11 of the Orange's games during his sophomore season, beginning the year at right tackle before moving to left tackle for the last eight games. Bergeron was named honorable mention All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) in 2021. He was named a team captain entering his junior year in 2022, being voted second-team All-ACC by the end of the season. He also attended the 2023 Senior Bowl, playing as a guard.

Professional career

The

selected Bergeron with the 38th overall pick in the second round of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. He was also ranked the #1 Canadian prospect ahead of the 2023 CFL Draft, but ultimately went undrafted. He is the first NFL–draftee from his hometown of

Victoriaville, Quebec Victoriaville () is a town in south-central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of A ...

. As a rookie, he started in all 17 games in the 2023 season.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bioSyracuse Orange bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergeron, Matthew 2000 births Living people American football offensive tackles Black Canadian players of American football Black Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate American football people in the United States Canadian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Francophone Quebec people Players of American football from Quebec Syracuse Orange football players Atlanta Falcons players David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics alumni