Former NFL player Berger forever grateful for late father’s influence
Mitch Berger will forever be indebted to his father — and he’s trying to remember the good times after his dad’s death during an extremely challenging stretch.
The 48-year-old Canadian, who played 16 NFL seasons (1994-2009) as a punter with 11 teams, was twice named an All-Pro and captured a Super Bowl in 2009 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Berger says he owes it all to his father, Donald, who died July 19 at age 80 in Vancouver following a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
“My whole football life, everything I have, is because of my dad,” Berger said in a telephone interview. “We started watching games together when I was four . . . he coached me, he taught me how to kick out of a handbook, he put field goal posts in our back yard.