Mitchell Shannon Berger (born June 24, 1972) is a Canadian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a punter in 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). He played

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 ...

for the Colorado Buffaloes and was selected by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

in the sixth round of the 1994 NFL draft. Berger has also been a member of the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, St. Louis Rams,

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. He won Super Bowl XLIII with the Steelers against the Cardinals.

Early life

Berger attended North Delta Senior Secondary School in

Delta, British Columbia Delta is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and part of Greater Vancouver. Located on the Fraser Lowland south of Fraser River's south distributary, arm, it is bordered by the city of Richmond, British Columbia, R ...

and was a letterman in

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. 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 The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. In basketball, he won All-Provincial honours. Mitch Berger graduated from North Delta Secondary School in 1990.

College career

Berger attended Tyler Junior College in

Tyler, Texas Tyler, officially the City of Tyler, is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the population is 105,995. Tyler was the List of municipalities in Texas, 38th most populous city in Texas (as well as the m ...

and won honorable mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors as a sophomore. He finished his college career by transferring to the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Berger was drafted by the

in the sixth round of the 1994 NFL draft. He was also drafted in the first round of the 1994 CFL Draft by the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

Minnesota Vikings

Perhaps 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 Snickers (stylized in all caps) is a chocolate bar consisting of nougat topped with Caramel#Candy, caramel and peanuts, all encased in milk chocolate. The bars are made by the American company Mars Inc. The annual global sales of Snickers is ...

bar that he would keep in his spare shoe on the sideline.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Berger was signed by the

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. After experiencing hamstring problems, Berger was released by the Steelers on November 5 and the team re-signed Ernster. 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

Berger signed with the

on October 26, 2009, after they waived Brett Kern. He was released after the 2009 season.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Berger owns a set of nightclubs and restaurants in his hometown of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia.NFL Journeyman Berger Eyes Super Bowl, Winter Olympics
Yahoo Sports, January 29, 2009 He appeared on Millionaire Matchmaker on March 12, 2013, and is now married to Bambi.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bio

Pittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Mitch 1972 births Living people American football punters Arizona Cardinals players Canadian expatriate American football people in the United States Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals players Colorado Buffaloes football players Denver Broncos players Indianapolis Colts players Minnesota Vikings players National Conference Pro Bowl players New Orleans Saints players Sportspeople from Delta, British Columbia Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Sportspeople from Kamloops St. Louis Rams players Tyler Apaches football players Green Bay Packers players Players of American football from British Columbia