Found on AZCARDINALS.COM
link:http://www.azcardinals.com/press/pressdetails.php?sid=2034
written by Chrissy Mauck
Hanging in defensive end Bertrand Berry’s new locker at the Cardinals training facility is a card that reads, “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” It was a Christmas gift given to him in 2000 and a reminder to Berry of that NFL season when he found himself on the outside looking in on the game that he had loved since his childhood.
It’s hard to imagine that the Denver Broncos sack leader last season, and one of the most coveted pass rushers available during the free agency period this off-season, was passed over by all NFL clubs just a few short years ago, but that is exactly what Berry lived through during the 2000 NFL season.
After a three-year stay with the Indianapolis Colts, moving from linebacker to defensive end and back to linebacker, Berry parted ways with the team which had drafted him out of Notre Dame in 1997 and signed with the St. Louis Rams for training camp of 2000. When Berry was released by the Rams, he felt confident he would be picked up by another team. He became a fervent watcher of the injury wire and spent a few weeks playing in Canada in the CFL. Still, no calls came from any NFL teams and he slowly watched his football career slipping away.
“At first, I really felt confident I would get picked up at some point because injuries happen and people come in and out during the course of the season,” recalled Berry. “But there was a time at the end of the year where it crossed my mind that I might not ever play again and that was probably the lowest point for me. I thought this was it, you can’t be out a whole year and really get another opportunity. The league is constantly getting younger and I almost felt like my opportunity was closing shut on me.”
Berry knew he was becoming a moody individual during the course of that season and watched his relationships with family and friends suffer, saying, “There were times when I didn’t want to be around me, so I couldn’t expect anyone else to want to be around me either.”
Despite a rising level of frustration, Berry continued lifting weights, continued running, and continued believing a return to the NFL was possible.
“I just never gave up on myself. I always felt like I had more to offer football. My body felt good, I didn’t have any injuries. I just felt like I had a lot of football left in me. I guess I just had confidence that if I could just get a shot and get an opportunity to show what I could do that I would be successful. There were times when I know people wanted to say, ‘Have you thought about something else,’ but I didn’t want to talk about it because I never wrapped my mind around the idea that I wouldn’t play football again. That was not an option for me. You can call it stubbornness, or whatever, but I just didn’t feel that way.”
Berry’s new beginning came with an appropriately-timed call on New Year’s Eve from the Broncos.
“I worked out on New Year’s Day and they signed me and I just ran with the opportunity,” said Berry. “They may have just signed me as a camp body, and I don’t know if Denver ever expected me to make their team that year, but I knew I was going to make it.”
Berry did make the 2001 final roster, spending three years with the Broncos where he developed into a consistent pass rusher. His production climbed from 2 sacks in 2001 to 6.5 in 2002 and 11.5 in 2003.
“I think my time in Denver was very beneficial for me because I was able to play defensive end for three straight years and I fine-tuned my skills and my production got better and better,” explained Berry. “I think the most important part of my turn-around has been having the consistency of playing the same position over the last few years. I always had speed, but once I got that comfort level at my position, I was able to incorporate speed and do things off of it. From speed to power, quickness and movement, and then just flat-out run by somebody.”
That development and rise in production earned Berry a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal with the Cardinals. The organization is counting on him to improve a Cardinals pass rush which ranked 30th in the league last season. If Berry doesn’t get the job done, criticism will come quickly, but it is a responsibility he’s thankful to shoulder.
“To think I am in a position now where there is a lot expected of me as far as a leadership standpoint, that is something I’ve always wanted. Coaches always talk about never knowing when your last play is going to be,” explained Berry. “I actually lived it. All of those clichés, ‘you never know what you have until it is taken away from you,’ things like that, I lived that. I think about 2000, every day actually and to go from that to the position I am in now, it amazes me. I think some guys go through practices and think they can breeze by. I don’t ever want to let up like that because I’ve lived through thinking my football days may be over, I don’t ever want to live that again. I know there is a lot expected from me, but I think I expect even more from myself because what I have been through.”
While Berry anticipates a productive year individually, he’s more concerned with the bigger picture.
“Individual accolades are fine, but I play to win,” he professed. “I play to be a champion. I think to bring the state of Arizona a winning team, that is something I would always be able to look back on fondly and say to myself, ‘Hey, I was part of the turnaround.’ In Indianapolis we were 3-13 in 1998 and we went 13-3 in 1999, and so I know it can be done. I look at this team and I don’t see any reason we can’t win. I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this year and for years to come.”
Berry’s hope that the Cardinals become a championship team might seem as far-fetched as the Carolina Panthers believing they’d be in the Super Bowl a year ago, but Berry’s surprising rise from a camp body to featured player certainly proves that anything is possible.
Written by Chrissy Mauck, azcardinals.com
I hope this guy is as good as they make him out to be...
link:http://www.azcardinals.com/press/pressdetails.php?sid=2034
written by Chrissy Mauck
Hanging in defensive end Bertrand Berry’s new locker at the Cardinals training facility is a card that reads, “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” It was a Christmas gift given to him in 2000 and a reminder to Berry of that NFL season when he found himself on the outside looking in on the game that he had loved since his childhood.
It’s hard to imagine that the Denver Broncos sack leader last season, and one of the most coveted pass rushers available during the free agency period this off-season, was passed over by all NFL clubs just a few short years ago, but that is exactly what Berry lived through during the 2000 NFL season.
After a three-year stay with the Indianapolis Colts, moving from linebacker to defensive end and back to linebacker, Berry parted ways with the team which had drafted him out of Notre Dame in 1997 and signed with the St. Louis Rams for training camp of 2000. When Berry was released by the Rams, he felt confident he would be picked up by another team. He became a fervent watcher of the injury wire and spent a few weeks playing in Canada in the CFL. Still, no calls came from any NFL teams and he slowly watched his football career slipping away.
“At first, I really felt confident I would get picked up at some point because injuries happen and people come in and out during the course of the season,” recalled Berry. “But there was a time at the end of the year where it crossed my mind that I might not ever play again and that was probably the lowest point for me. I thought this was it, you can’t be out a whole year and really get another opportunity. The league is constantly getting younger and I almost felt like my opportunity was closing shut on me.”
Berry knew he was becoming a moody individual during the course of that season and watched his relationships with family and friends suffer, saying, “There were times when I didn’t want to be around me, so I couldn’t expect anyone else to want to be around me either.”
Despite a rising level of frustration, Berry continued lifting weights, continued running, and continued believing a return to the NFL was possible.
“I just never gave up on myself. I always felt like I had more to offer football. My body felt good, I didn’t have any injuries. I just felt like I had a lot of football left in me. I guess I just had confidence that if I could just get a shot and get an opportunity to show what I could do that I would be successful. There were times when I know people wanted to say, ‘Have you thought about something else,’ but I didn’t want to talk about it because I never wrapped my mind around the idea that I wouldn’t play football again. That was not an option for me. You can call it stubbornness, or whatever, but I just didn’t feel that way.”
Berry’s new beginning came with an appropriately-timed call on New Year’s Eve from the Broncos.
“I worked out on New Year’s Day and they signed me and I just ran with the opportunity,” said Berry. “They may have just signed me as a camp body, and I don’t know if Denver ever expected me to make their team that year, but I knew I was going to make it.”
Berry did make the 2001 final roster, spending three years with the Broncos where he developed into a consistent pass rusher. His production climbed from 2 sacks in 2001 to 6.5 in 2002 and 11.5 in 2003.
“I think my time in Denver was very beneficial for me because I was able to play defensive end for three straight years and I fine-tuned my skills and my production got better and better,” explained Berry. “I think the most important part of my turn-around has been having the consistency of playing the same position over the last few years. I always had speed, but once I got that comfort level at my position, I was able to incorporate speed and do things off of it. From speed to power, quickness and movement, and then just flat-out run by somebody.”
That development and rise in production earned Berry a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal with the Cardinals. The organization is counting on him to improve a Cardinals pass rush which ranked 30th in the league last season. If Berry doesn’t get the job done, criticism will come quickly, but it is a responsibility he’s thankful to shoulder.
“To think I am in a position now where there is a lot expected of me as far as a leadership standpoint, that is something I’ve always wanted. Coaches always talk about never knowing when your last play is going to be,” explained Berry. “I actually lived it. All of those clichés, ‘you never know what you have until it is taken away from you,’ things like that, I lived that. I think about 2000, every day actually and to go from that to the position I am in now, it amazes me. I think some guys go through practices and think they can breeze by. I don’t ever want to let up like that because I’ve lived through thinking my football days may be over, I don’t ever want to live that again. I know there is a lot expected from me, but I think I expect even more from myself because what I have been through.”
While Berry anticipates a productive year individually, he’s more concerned with the bigger picture.
“Individual accolades are fine, but I play to win,” he professed. “I play to be a champion. I think to bring the state of Arizona a winning team, that is something I would always be able to look back on fondly and say to myself, ‘Hey, I was part of the turnaround.’ In Indianapolis we were 3-13 in 1998 and we went 13-3 in 1999, and so I know it can be done. I look at this team and I don’t see any reason we can’t win. I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this year and for years to come.”
Berry’s hope that the Cardinals become a championship team might seem as far-fetched as the Carolina Panthers believing they’d be in the Super Bowl a year ago, but Berry’s surprising rise from a camp body to featured player certainly proves that anything is possible.
Written by Chrissy Mauck, azcardinals.com
I hope this guy is as good as they make him out to be...
