Martine Bercher
Encyclopedia
Martine Bercher was an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...

 for the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...

 Razorbacks
Arkansas Razorbacks
The Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the names of college sports teams at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The term Arkansas Razorbacks properly applies to any of the sports teams at the university. The Razorbacks take their name from the feral pig of the same name...

 football team
Arkansas Razorbacks football
The Arkansas Razorbacks football program is a college football team that represents the University of Arkansas. The team is a member of the Southeastern Conference's Western Division, which is in Division I's Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...

 from 1962-1966
Arkansas Razorbacks football, 1960-1969
-1960:-Schedule:-Cotton Bowl Classic:-1961:-Schedule:-Sugar Bowl:-1962:-Overview:Quarterback Billy Moore was voted an All-American. Moore scored 14 touchdowns, which tied him with Miami University's kicker Bob Jencks in scoring...

. He was a member of the 1964 National Championship team that won the 1965 Cotton Bowl Classic, and was named to the University of Arkansas All Century Team in 1994.

Arkansas

Bercher attended the University of Arkansas from 1962–1966, where he would become an All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...

n. Bercher played under Frank Broyles
Frank Broyles
John Franklin Broyles is a former American football player and coach, athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach the University of Missouri in 1957 and at the University of Arkansas from 1958 to 1976...

 as a defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...

, and was a sophomore on the 1964 National Championship team.

Atlanta Falcons

Bercher was drafted in the sixth round with the 151st pick by the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in the 1967 NFL Draft
1967 NFL Draft
The 1967 National Football League Draft was part of the Common Draft in the first year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players on March 14–15.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:...

. He was with the Falcons for only the 1967 NFL season
1967 NFL season
The 1967 NFL season was the 48th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 16 teams with the addition of the New Orleans Saints. The league's teams were realigned into four divisions: the Capitol and Century Divisions in the Eastern Conference, and the Central and...

.

Minnesota Vikings

Bercher became a member of the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

 for 1968
1968 Minnesota Vikings season
1968 was the eighth year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 49th regular season of the National Football League. Under head coach Bud Grant, the Vikings won the NFL Central Division title with a record of eight wins and six losses, as they qualified for post-season play for the...

. This would be the Fort Smith
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...

 natives' final year of professional football.

After football

Catholic High School hired Bercher as a teacher and assistant football coach in 1969. He moved back to Fort Smith to care for his ill father in law in 1972. Bercher would re-open his father in laws restaurant and operate it for over 30 years until his death in 2005.
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