For his commitment to his team and leadership ability, his high performance as a football player and his ability to battle through what was thought to be a season-ending injury, senior Tyler Bergeron has been named the recipient of the 2022 Vern Marshall Award, given to the Linfield University athlete best representing tenacity.

The former member of the United States Marine Corps was one of several senior Linfield football players to use their extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the Covid-19 pandemic but made as big an impact on his team as maybe any division-III player in the country.

There was little question heading into the season that Bergeron would hold down the starting safety spot for Linfield and would be one of their greatest leaders and top performers, after being named a First Team All-Northwest Conference selection in 2019.

Bergeron recorded 52 tackles on the year in 10 games played in 2022, leading the team in solo tackles with 39, helping lead the team to the NWC Championship. He was eventually named a First Team All-NWC selection once again as well as a D3Football.com Third Team All-Region honoree.

But maybe more important were his contributions as a leader, both on the field and behind the scenes in game preparation.

"Tyler was the heart and soul of our defense this year and was the primary signal caller for us. He knew the game plans so well that he basically became an extension of our coaching staff on the field. As a result, I let him call more defenses and coverages on the field than any other player in my 20-plus years at Linfield," said head coach Joseph Smith.

With the Wildcats rolling through the season and Bergeron playing as well as any safety in the country, both he and the team were dealt a huge blow five games into the season when Bergeron suffered a freak injury during practice heading into Linfield's Oct. 23 matchup with Pacific Lutheran.

It was a torn ACL – an injury that sidelines almost any athlete for the rest of the season, and for most seniors spells the end of a career.

But not for Bergeron.

Although at first he accepted the outcome and shifted his focus to helping coach the team, particularly the younger and less experienced players that would be tasked with filling his role at safety, Bergeron felt a bit stronger as a couple of weeks went by.

By Linfield's Nov. 13 game with Lewis and Clark he was ready to try and play again – taking a risk that he knew could lead to worsening the injury. But he battled through, giving the Linfield locker room a shot in the arm with his resiliency before beginning a playoff run to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Bergeron played as well as any in the postseason, recording 22 tackles, 15 of them solo, with a tackle for loss and two passes defended in Linfield's three playoff games, most notably during his 10-tackle performance in Linfield's 31-28 second-round win at St. John's on Nov. 27.

"Tyler is someone that truly embodies everything that we hope a football player at Linfield will be – tough, resilient, a great teammate, man of action and integrity and incredibly selfless," said Smith.

"I do not believe we have had a player more deserving of the Vern Marshall Award than Tyler Bergeron."

Bergeron is the 11^th member of the Linfield football program to receive the award since it was first given out in 2003.