| Position: | Forward |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 0 |
| Weight Lb: | 225 |
| League: | NCAA |
| Team: | Salisbury |
| Former Nll Teams: | Philadelphia Wings |
| Former Mll Teams: | Rochester Rattlers Baltimore Bayhawks |
| Nll Draft: | 38th overall |
| Nll Draft Year: | 1997 |
| Nll Draft Team: | Philadelphia Wings |
| Birth Date: | May 4, 1974 |
| Birth Place: | Covington, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Career Start: | 1998 |
| Career End: | 2008 |
Jake Bergey (born May 4, 1974) is an American retired lacrosse player. He played ten seasons for the Philadelphia Wings in the National Lacrosse League. Bergey is the son of former NFL star Bill Bergey,[1] and brother of fellow lacrosse player Josh Bergey.[2] His uncle is former football player Bruce Bergey.
Bergey came to the Philadelphia area as a child when his father was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles,[3] and grew up in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.[4] He began playing lacrosse at Upland Country Day School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, where he also played soccer and ice hockey.[5] Bergey went on to attend the Tatnall School in Wilmington, Delaware, where he won two state titles with the lacrosse team – earning All-American honors as a senior after scoring 89 goals – in addition to earning first-team all-state honors as a defensive back on the football team.[5] [6]
Bergey was a four-time letterwinner in lacrosse at Salisbury State University from 1994 to 1997.[7] As a freshman, he helped the team to an undefeated season and scored five goals in the championship game of the 1995 NCAA Division III tournament.[5] Bergey then scored three goals in the 1996 title game for their second consecutive national title.[8] He was a first-team All-American in 1995, 1996, and 1997 at Salisbury.[7]
Bergey was inducted into the Salisbury Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2007.[7]
Bergey joined the Philadelphia Wings in 1998. Bergey quickly became a fan favorite, wearing #66, the same number his father wore with the Philadelphia Eagles where he was a star linebacker. He was a member of both the 1998 & 2001 National Lacrosse League Champion's Cup Wings teams. Bergey was an alternate captain for the Wings from 2001 to 2007 and was Captain for the 2004 season. At the end of the 2007 season, Bergey was the second leading scorer in Wings history.
After playing 10 years for the Wings, Bergey was chosen by Boston coach and former teammate Tom Ryan in the 2007 National Lacrosse League expansion draft.[9] Subsequent to the draft, Boston put the "franchise tag" on him to retain his rights for the 2008 season.[10] Boston drafted Bergey even though he had off-season knee surgery and was considering retirement.[11]
Bergey has stated that he has no intention of playing outside of Philadelphia. In the Philadelphia Daily News, Bergey was quoted as saying
During the 2007 Entry Draft, Bergey was traded back to the Wings in exchange for two late round draft picks.[12]
After the Blazers sat out the 2008 season, another expansion draft was held, and again Bergey was chosen by Boston. However, in February 2009, he was traded back to the Wings for a conditional draft pick so that he could retire as a member of the only team he had ever played for.[13]
On February 8, 2014, Bergey's No.66 jersey was retired by the Wings.[3]
In 2001 & 2002, Bergey played in Major League Lacrosse for the Rochester Rattlers.[1] In 2003, he was limited to one game with the Baltimore Bayhawks due to injury a knee injury that also forced him to miss the entire 2003 NLL season.[14] He has not played in the MLL since.
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | ||
| 1998 | Philadelphia | 12 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 35 | 33 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 6 | ||
| 1999 | Philadelphia | 12 | 31 | 39 | 70 | 52 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 2000 | Philadelphia | 12 | 27 | 35 | 62 | 67 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2001 | Philadelphia | 14 | 43 | 43 | 86 | 90 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2002 | Philadelphia | 13 | 30 | 30 | 60 | 56 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | Philadelphia | 11 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 39 | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2005 | Philadelphia | 15 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 46 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2006 | Philadelphia | 16 | 27 | 28 | 55 | 43 | 11 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2007 | Philadelphia | 15 | 22 | 25 | 47 | 60 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2008 | Philadelphia | 13 | 29 | 31 | 60 | 89 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| NLL Totals | 133 | 256 | 301 | 557 | 577 | 122 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 39 | 8 | |||
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | G | 2ptG | A | Pts | LB | PIM | GP | G | 2ptG | A | Pts | LB | PIM | ||
| 2001 | Rochester | 14 | 15 | 0 | 10 | 25 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2002 | Rochester | 14 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2003 | Baltimore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| MLL Totals | 22 | 22 | 0 | 18 | 40 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Season | GP | G | A | Pts | PPG | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||
| 1995 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||
| 1996 | 15 | 57 | 18 | 75 | -- | |||
| 1997 | 14 | 39 | 19 | 58 | -- | |||
| Totals | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||