Rocky Bernard life and biography

Robert "Rocky" Eugene Bernard, Jr. is an American defensive tackle for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas A&M.

TRANSACTIONS

* Originally a 5th round (146th pick overall) draft choice by the Seattle Seahawks in 2002…Signed by the Giants as an unrestricted free agent on Feb. 28, 2009.

GIANTS NOTES

* Bernard's 30 career sacks rank 2nd among current Giants, trialing only Osi Umenyiora (48.5 sacks).

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

* Has played in 118 games with 55 starts…Career totals include 317 tackles (227 solo), 30.0 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 7 fumble recoveries and 13 passes defensed.
* In 2009, played in 15 games with no starts in his 1st season with Giants…Inactive vs. Philadelphia (12/13)…Contributed 35 tackles (21 solo) and a sack…Had season-high totals of 5 tackles (1 solo) vs. Washington (9/13) and 3 solo tackles at Philadelphia (11/1).
In 2008, started all 15 games in which he played and finished the season with 50 tackles (39 solo), 4.0 sacks, 12 quarterback hits, 1 pass defensed, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery…Had 4 solo tackles and a sack vs. San Francisco (9/14)…Had a career-high 9 tackles vs. Washington (11/23)…Had 2 sacks and forced fumble at San Francisco (10/26)
* In 2007, started the first 14 games of the season and was inactive for the final 2 (groin)…Totaled 35 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries…Sacked Alex Smith on the 3rd play of the game at San Francisco (9/30), forcing the 49ers quarterback to leave the contest with a separated shoulder.
* In 2006, played in 16 games with 15 starts and started 2 postseason games and finished with 36 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Also forced 2 fumbles and had a fumble recovery…Posted 2.0 sacks for the 3rd time in his career vs. Oakland (11/6), a game in which Seattle posted 9.0 team sacks, tied for 3rd-most in club history…Playoff totals included 9 tackles and a sack at Chicago (1/14).
* In 2005, played in 16 games with 7 starts and had 52 tackles and a career-high 8.5 sacks….Posted multi-sack games with 1.5 at St. Louis (10/9) and 2.0 at San Francisco (11/20)…Also had 2.0 sacks in NFC Championship Game vs. Carolina (1/22).
* In 2004, played in 14 regular season games with 1 start and started the NFC Wild Card Game…Totaled 39 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 6 passes defensed and a fumble recovery….Posted 1 sack in each of the first 3 games of the season at New Orleans (9/12), at Tampa Bay (9/19) and vs. San Francisco (9/2)…Started at Arizona for Rashad Moore (shoulder) and tied a season high with 6 tackles….Inactive at Minnesota (12/12) and at the Jets (12/19) with a knee injury…Registered 4 tackles and a sack in wild card game vs. St. Louis (1/8).
* In 2003, played in 12 games and finished with 16 tackles and 2 sacks…Was inactive 4 of 5 games in the middle of the season (San Francisco 10/12, Chicago 10/19, Pittsburgh 11/2, at Washington 11/9), but was a regular in the nickel rotation the final 7 games…Registered 1 sack at Baltimore (11/23) and vs. Arizona (12/21). Declared inactive for NFC Wild Card Game at Green Bay (1/4) with a toe injury.
* As a rookie in 2002, played in 16 games (at the Giants, 9/22 and vs. Minnesota, 9/29)…Became the 1st rookie defensive lineman to start a game for the Seahawks since Sam Adams in 1994…Totaled 49 tackles (34 solo) with 4 sacks….Named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September after leading the club with 4 sacks among his 18 tackles…Got 1st career sack vs. Arizona (9/15) and started the following week at the Giants for John Randle (knee) and Brandon Mitchell (calf) and posted another sack to go along with 5 solo tackles…Collected 2 sacks and season-high 9 tackles vs. Minnesota…Forced 1st career fumble at Arizona (11/10) to stifle a scoring threat on the Seahawks' 1-yard line.

COLLEGE

* Started 33 games…Collected 170 tackles (89 solo) with 12 sacks and 33 stops for loss…Was the only member of the Aggies' defensive line to start every game his final season and posted 69 tackles.

OFF FIELD

* Attended the Champions for Children fundraiser gala benefitting the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation.
* Attended the Giants Kickoff Luncheon benefitting St. Vincent's Medical Center.

PERSONAL

* All-America selection by Super­Prep and Prepstar at Sterling High School (Baytown, Texas)…Earned District 22-5A Defensive MVP honors after posting 102 tackles, 12 quarterback pressures, and 5 forced fumbles…Agricultural economics major…First name is Robert, nicknamed "Rocky."

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