Bernard Berrian life and biography

Bernard Berrian is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.

GAMES/STARTS
(regular season, playoffs) 2004 (16/1-Chi.), 2005 (11/2, 1/0-Chi.), 2006 (15/14, 3/3-Chi.), 2007 (16/15-Chi.), 2008 (16/14, 1/1), 2009 (16/15, 2/2). Total- 90/61, 7/6 (32/29, 3/3-Minn.; 58/32, 4/3-Chi.).

• Big-play WR set Vikings record and tied NFL mark with 99-yard TD against old teammates vs. Chicago (11/30/08).
• Impacted Vikings in 1st year with the club in 2008, setting a team record with 3 TDs of 80+ yards in a season.
• Both parents are retired from the US Air Force.

OFF THE FIELD
Majored in communications at Fresno State…Parents, Sallie and Joseph, are retired from the US Air Force where they were jet mechanics…Has a python named Roscoe...Plays drums and is learning piano...Brother, Chris, competed for a berth on US Olympic team as a sprinter…Brother, Tony, was an All-America track athlete at Arizona State, excelling in the 400m…For the past 2 seasons Bernard has donated 500 turkeys for inner-city families as part of his Thanksgiving outreach...Has a daughter, Jayden.

PRO
Notched career-high 7 receiving TDs and added a punt return TD in his debut with the Vikings in 2008...Caught TD passes of 99 and 86 yards and had an 82-yard punt return TD, setting a team record for most 80+ yard TDs in a season...Recorded career-best 4 games with 100+ receiving yards in 2008...One of the highest-regarded free agents in the NFL’s 2008 class, signed by Vikings on 3/2/08 and targeted as a priority entering the free agency period…Started 1st career game and caught 1st NFL pass against the Vikings at the Metrodome (9/26/04)…Is 1 of only 5 players in Bears history with a 100-yard receiving game in the playoffs when he had 105 vs. Seattle (1/14/07) in Divisional Playoff game en route to Super Bowl…Caught 1st career TD on a 49-yard pass vs. San Francisco (10/31/04)…Originally entered the NFL as a 3rd-round pick by Chicago, #78 overall in 2004.

HONORS
NFC Special Teams Player of the Week vs. Atlanta (12/18/05).

2009
Ranked 3rd on team with 618 receiving yards...Caught 55 passes, the 2nd-highest total of his career behind his 71 in 2007...Led team in NFC Championship game at New Orleans (1/24/10) with 9 catches for 102 yards, the 14th time in team playoff history a Vikings player broke the 100-yard receiving mark...His 9 receptions in NFC Championship game were his career playoff high...Ranks tied for 3rd in Vikings history for catches in a playoff game with 9...Caught 4 TDs in a 7-game span during the middle of the season...The Vikings won all 4 games when Berrian had a TD catch...Helped Vikings match an NFL record by having 6 players catch 40+ passes during the regular season...Caught Brett Favre’s 4th TD pass of the game at Green Bay (11/1) in his return to Lambeau Field.

2008
Delivered on expectations of giving the Vikings a big-play threat at WR in his 1st season as a free agent signee with his new club...Tied an NFL record and set Vikings mark with a 99-yard TD catch against his old Bears teammates vs. Chicago (11/30), the play coming on 1st down following a rousing goal-line stand by the Vikings defense...Established new Vikings record for most TDs of 80+ yards with 3- catches of 99 and 86 yards and an 82-yard punt return...In his 1st season with the team, holds the longest and 3rd-longest catches in team history and the 3rd-longest punt return...Broke the 100-yard mark 4 times during the season with the team going 4-0 in those games...Led the NFL with an average of 20.1 yards per catch...Set career highs with 7 TD catches and 964 yards...Broke the 100-yard mark in 3 games that Adrian Peterson also ran for 100 yards- vs. Detroit (10/12), vs. Houston (11/2) and vs. Chicago (11/30).

2007
Posted then-career-best 71 receptions and career-high 951 yards…Played in all 16 games and started career-high 15…Caught 9 passes, his career high, at Seattle (11/18/07)…Led Bears in catches 10 times during the season and in receiving yards 8 times on the year…Ranked 13th in Bears single-season history with 951 yards…His 71 catches were the most by a Bear since 2002…Had 3rd career regular-season 100-yard game with 108 yards at Seattle (11/18/07)…Caught a pass in all 16 games….Had 75+ yards in 6 games on the season…Tied for team-high with 6 catches of 25+ yards.

2006
Notched career-high 6 TD catches in regular season and added 2 more in playoffs…Started for Bears in Super Bowl XLI against Indianapolis, the 1st trip to the title game for the club since the 1985 team won Super Bowl XX with Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier starting at CB…Averaged career-high 15.2 yards per catch in regular season and upped that average to 16.3 during the playoffs…Notched regular-season career-high on a 62-yard catch vs. Buffalo (10/8/06) and posted a 68-yard TD in playoffs vs. Seattle (1/14/07) in Divisional Round game…Became only the 5th Bears player to have a 100-yard receiving game in the playoffs with 105 vs. Seattle (1/14/07)…Tied for team lead with 6 TD receptions during regular season.

2005
Led Bears with an 18.9 average on 13 catches…Led NFL in receiving average among players with 10+ catches…Ranked 3rd on team with 246 receiving yards…Saw 1st career playoff action vs. Carolina (1/15/06) in Divisional Round…Named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for performance vs. Atlanta (12/18) for his punt-return prowess, including a 24-yard return…Had a career-best 37-yard rush.

2004
Saw time in all 16 games and started 1st career game at Minnesota (12/5/04), catching 1st career pass against the Vikings in the Metrodome…Caught 1st career TD, hauling in a 49-yard strike from fellow rookie QB Craig Krenzel vs. San Francisco (10/31/04)…Caught 2nd career TD on a 35-yard pass from Krenzel the following week at NY Giants (11/7)…Caught a pass in 12 of the 16 games he played in…Saw 1st game action of career in season opener vs. Detroit (9/12)…Returned 17 kickoffs with a long of 41 to rank 2nd on the team…Was a 3rd-round pick by 1st-year head coach Lovie Smith.

COLLEGE

Left Fresno State as one of the most dynamic players in school history…Named 1st-Team All-Western Athletic Conference as a redshirt senior and as a junior, while earning 2nd-team honors as a sophomore…Sidelined for original senior year after suffering season-ending knee injury against Wisconsin in season opener…Named All-American by AFCA as a junior when he caught 13 TD passes and set WAC record with 2,776 all-purpose yards…Set school record with 25 TD catches and was 2nd in FSU record book with 199 receptions…Set school record for punt returns (99), PR return yards (1,144) and PR TDs (3)…Established new school mark for all-purpose yards at 5,828…Set FSU mark for career kickoff returns (68), was 3rd in KR yards (1,571) and scored 1 TD.

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