NFL Legend Passes Away On Christmas Day

Bill Bergey, the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer who played with the team from 1974 to 1980, died on Christmas Day. He was 79.

News of the former player’s death was passed on to the New York Post by his son, Jake Bergey, who said his father was an “outright great person.” He explained that Bergey had been battling cancer for the past few years. “After a long hard 3-year battle, Dad lost his fight with Cancer. The best father, friend, grandfather, football player and out right great person in this world. I will truly miss him. Love you dad,” Jake wrote on X.

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After a long hard 3 year battle, Dad lost his fight with Cancer. The best father, friend, grand father, football player and out right great person in this world. I will truly miss him. Love you dad. pic.twitter.com/RTLln3UA8o

— Jake Bergey (@Bergey66) December 25, 2024

After an exceptional collegiate playing career at Arkansas State, Bergey signed as a linebacker with the Cincinnati Bengals of the American Football League where he played for four seasons before joining the Eagles. His career highlights include five Pro Bowl appearances and a career-ending appearance in Super Bowl XV where the Eagles lost to the Oakland Raiders. He finished after playing 159 games and completing nearly 1,200 tackles, and he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame and later the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2023, Bergey shared that he and Buffalo Bills legend Jim Kelly had bonded over similar cancer struggles. The former Bills quarterback had begun battling jaw cancer years earlier. “He has kind of been my inspiration,” Bergey told the Eagles’ official team website last year. “He keeps me on the up and up. ‘Just remember,’ he would say, ‘You’re a football player, you’re tough, and you can beat this. You can handle this.’”

He continued: “I was going to my dentist, and my dentist didn’t like what he saw. He wanted me to go to Philadelphia, to the Penn Center, and have it checked out. And when they checked it out, they saw that cancer had started in my jaw. I didn’t give it the old, ‘Why me?’ or anything like that. I just thought that I had to fight it just like I would fight anything else that I needed to fight.”

He told members of the Eagles nation to not skip going to the doctor if they feel something out of place. “If they feel like there’s anything wrong, go check it out and make sure that you stay on top of it, because the quicker you can do it, the quicker you’re going to be in good shape,” Bergey says. “How do you know that you have cancer if you don’t know if you have cancer or not? Have it checked out. If there’s anything that’s bothering you, I would give it an all-in on that one.”

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