Ryan Charles Van Bergen, sometimes (mis)spelled Ryan VanBergen, (born March 18, 1989) is an American former

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 ...

player who was a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

following the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

but did not make the roster for the team. As a fifth-year senior for the 2011 Wolverines, he was a preseason Hendricks Award watchlist candidate, and after posting at least two tackles for a loss (TFL)s in each of his final three 2011 Big Ten season games, he was recognized as a postseason honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference performer. He started at

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the 2009 Wolverines before switching to

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. In 2011, he started at end, as well as tackle, and led the team in

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s and

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

for a loss. He was awarded the 2007 Detroit Athletic Club Michigan High School Male Athlete of the Year for his performances in

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 ...

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 ...

, and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

High school

Van Bergen attended Shadow Ridge High School in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

for his freshman year and started on the varsity football team. His family moved to

Whitehall, Michigan Whitehall is a city in Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,909 at the 2020 census. The city is located to the west of Whitehall Township. Montague is its neighbor. History It is located on White Lake (actual ...

for his sophomore season. He was the 2007 Detroit Athletic Club Michigan High School Male Athlete of the Year in recognition of his accomplishments in Football, Track & Basketball for Whitehall High School. He was a scholar in high school who maintained a 3.7 average and was a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

. In track, Van Bergen competed in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

. He went undefeated during the regular season of his junior year and placed 13th at the 2006

Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Assoc ...

(MHSAA) Division 2 Lower Peninsula State championships with a throw of and 5th in the 2007 MHSAA Division 2 finals with a throw of . Entering the state finals he had been seeded 7th as a junior based on a qualifying throw of and 9th as a senior with a throw of . He qualified with these throws as the MHSAA regional champion as both a junior and senior, while also placing in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

. Although Van Bergen only ran a 5.40 second 40-yard dash as a freshman, he got the time down to 4.89 prior to his senior season. Van Bergen attended the 2005 and 2006 Michigan Summer Football Camps. He was ranked as the 8th and 18th best class of 2007

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

by Scout.com and Rivals.com, respectively. Rivals also rated him as the 10th best high school football player in the state of Michigan. ESPN.com rated him as the 13th best

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in the country. Van Bergen was originally a recruit of Michigan head coach

Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season, replacing Gary Moeller. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolve ...

College

Van Bergen made one start as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

freshman for the 2008 Wolverines on October 11 against Toledo. Following the 2008 season, Michigan had to replace three starting senior co-

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

defensive linemen: Terrance Taylor, Tim Jamison and Will Johnson. Van Bergen started every game for the 2009 Wolverines at defensive tackle. He totaled 40 tackles, 6.5 TFs, five

s, one

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

recovery, and four pass breakups as a redshirt sophomore in 2009. He also posted a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

on a fumble recovery against

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

on November 14. His mid 4th quarter sack against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

on September 26, 2009, set up a 3rd and 23, a 4th down punt and the subsequent game-winning drive in the 36–33 victory. As a fourth-year junior, Van Bergen started every game for the 2010 Wolverines at defensive end following the departure of defensive end Brandon Graham. He totaled 37 tackles, 8.5 TFLs, five sacks and one pass breakup in 2010. Van Bergen had two solo TFLs on November 13 against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

and three solo TFLs in the rivalry game against

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

on November 27. He achieved his first seven tackle (five solo and two assist) outing in the January 1, 2011 Gator Bowl against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

. Van Bergen started at both defensive end and defensive tackle in 2011. He was a 2011 preseason watchlists honoree for the Hendricks Award. He was named the Big Ten Conference Co-defensive Player of the Week on November 14, 2011, for his 2.5 quarterback sack performance against the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

on November 12. In addition to the two solo and one assist sacks, he had an assist on a TFL and achieved his second seven-tackle effort (four solo and three assist). Van Bergen also was recognized by the College Football Performance Awards as the national defensive performer of the week and defensive lineman of the week. The following week, he had two solo TFLs against

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. In the regular season finale against

on November 26 he tallied seven tackles one more time (five solo and two assist), including a solo TFL and two assist TFLs. Thus, he concluded his Big Ten career with at least two TFLs in each of his last three regular season games. He was an honorable mention 2011 All-Big Ten Conference selection by both the coaches and the media for the 2011 Wolverines. Van Bergen finished among the conference leaders in several statistics: sacks/game (.42, t-9th), tackles for a loss/game (.96, t-10th) and fumbles recovered/game (.23, t-3rd).

Professional career

Prior to the draft, the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

informed Van Bergen, that they were targeting him with their sixth round pick, but the team picked up two defensive linemen in earlier rounds ( Whitney Mercilus and Jared Crick). Van Bergen signed with the

minutes after the draft ended. Van Bergen's tweet actually came one minute before 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 ...

tweeted Mr. Irrelevant. Van Bergen was informed by the Panthers late in the draft that "he was their No. 1 free agent target". Van Bergen was cut on August 31.

Personal life

Van Bergen is known as a media favorite, according to '' AnnArbor.coms Kyle Meinke. He worked in maintenance in high school at Erdman Machine Co., an aerospace tool manufacturer. At the time of his induction into the Michigan High School Football Association Coaches Hall of Fame, he thanked several members of his extended family including his grandparents Cliff and Gloria Verschueren and Al and Doris Van Bergen. He also mentioned his brother Tyler, who was three classes behind him and went on to play football at

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on ...

. Tyler went on to anchor MHSAA regional champions in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

(2009) and 4 × 200 metres relay (2010). Their parents are Charles and Toni Van Bergen, from

Hart, Michigan Hart is a city and county seat of Oceana County, Michigan. The population was 2,126 at the time of the 2010 census. The city is located within Hart Township, but is politically independent. Hart is also home to the north end of the Hart-Monta ...

. His father, who was raised on a farm, is a retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

veteran. Charles has eleven older siblings who are from the

West Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

region.

Notes

External links

Van Bergen
@ NCAA.org
Van Bergen
@

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

Van Bergen Michigan BioVan Bergen
@

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Bergen, Ryan 1989 births American football defensive ends Carolina Panthers players Living people Michigan Wolverines football players People from Whitehall, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan Players of American football from Las Vegas