In his college career, Jared Bernhardt was still considered a promising lacrosse talent before he switched to football and stood out for one season in college as a quarterback without passing skills. Now the 24-year-old has made the cut as a wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons. Memories of Chris Hogan come flooding back.

Munich – Jared Bernhardt’s path to the NFL was not preordained. Nevertheless, the rookie, who was not considered in the draft, made the cut and is now part of the 53-man squad of the Atlanta Falcons.

Just last year, Bernhardt received the Tewaaraton Award. A college award for the best lacrosse player in the country. Comparable to the Heisman Trophy in football.

It was precisely in this sport that the 24-year-old was drawn to last college season. As quarterback of the second-ranked Ferris State University, he stood out above all for his running game.

In the 2021 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game, he ran 14 times for a total of 148 yards and did not throw a single pass in the entire game! Bernhardt and the Bulldogs still won the final game 58-17 over Valdosa State.

It wasn’t until May that he switched positions and has been running wide receiver ever since. And now he can start for the Falcons in the new NFL season.

Falcons WR Jared Bernhardt – who won the Tewaarton Award as the best lacrosse player in the country in 2021 – has made the team’s initial 53-man roster.

He started playing WR in May. One of the coolest stories in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/vZ4ww8AO5T

– Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 30, 2022

Numerous similarities with Super Bowl champion Chris Hogan

NFL and lacrosse in one sports career, what was that? That’s right.

Like Bernhardt, former Patriots star Chris Hogan also played both sports extremely successfully in college, was a top scorer at the renowned Penn State University and later decided to pursue a career in football.

The two are also linked by the position of wide receiver and the fact that both Bernhardt and Hogan found their way into the NFL as undrafted free agents.

The Falcons rookie should certainly have no objections to further parallels in the further course of their sporting careers. After all, Hogan finished his NFL career as a two-time Super Bowl winner.

In his first title in 2017, Hogan contributed four caught passes for 57 yards. Two years later, he won his second ring with the Patriots. In ten years in the NFL, the wide receiver caught 250 passes for 33.37 yards and scored 22 touchdowns.