In the stands at MetLife Stadium this Sunday, we shouldn’t be surprised to hear a few words from the local church in French and see several jerseys with the number 65 on them. It’s a veritable invasion of Quebec fans as they prepare to invade New York. Around fifteen buses full of fans came to support Falcons guard Matthew Bergeron against the Jets.
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The heart of this contingent are two buses that depart directly from Victoriaville, the city to which Bergeron remains connected. The idea germinated immediately after the emotional draft evening at Victoriaville Golf Club, when the Falcons made the local hero the 38th overall pick in the second round.
“We were just waiting for the schedule to be published, hoping for a game on the East Coast so that it would be more accessible to the people of Victoriaville than a game in Atlanta,” emphasizes Willy Boivin, whose podcast Premier et les Buts was the initiator of the project .
The first bus filled up in the first 24 hours. Within a week, two more buses, including one from Quebec, were full.
“You have to remember that at that point no one knew Matthew would be ready or even that he would see the field. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” Boivin rightly recalls.
A few months later, there is no doubt that Bergeron’s career is off to a good start. Not only is he a starter and played every offensive play for the Falcons, but analytics site Pro Football Focus just gave him the highest grade (94.9) among all NFL offensive linemen for his game last Sunday against the Saints.
Proud people
Matthew Bergeron received Pro Football Focus’ highest grade of any offensive lineman in the NFL last Sunday. AJ Reynolds/Atlanta Falcons
Guy Désilets, who also helped with the project, was not surprised by the enormous enthusiasm that this trip to New York generated.
“It’s the same thing in Victoriaville! The world quickly became proud of Matthew, as it was of Phillip Danault before him. When people from our area perform there is a great sense of pride.”
“For many people who have never attended an NFL game, this will be a great adventure. We’re going to make sure Matthew sees us from afar in the stands,” he said of the group of 170 people who will storm Section 143 of MetLife Stadium.
Among them will be the mayor of Victoriaville, Antoine Tardif, who wouldn’t have missed the expedition for the world.
“It’s incredibly steep! It shows that Matthew is the pride of Victoriaville, but also of all Quebecers.
“I can’t even imagine the butterflies all the residents of Victoriaville and all the Quebecers present at the stadium will have when we see him enter the field. We’ll have hundreds of us on the offensive line with him to block. “We will experience this Cinderella story from the front row,” he says happily.
People at the fair!
Early in the morning, a bus contingent full of football fans prepared to head to New York. PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARTIN MASSÉ
In the end there will be far more than the 170 people from Victoriaville. These buses are part of an eight-person delegation led by the Rêve Sportif agency.
Then seven more Express Tours buses will arrive in New York with more than 350 Quebecers on board.
“It’s tripping me up!” “It is certain that it was basically a trip to see a Jets game, but we sold everything by talking above all about Matthew Bergeron,” says Martin Massé, responsible for Between 2 Tailgates is behind the trip and acts as a feeder for the hungry.
“We had people on a waiting list and couldn’t offer more buses because we had limited hotel rooms available. I don’t know if it’s just the Bergeron effect, but I’ve never seen that before!” he assures.
Everything is ready for a big football party in New York! PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARTIN MASSÉ
NFL Canada is getting involved
This great story of support even reached the league offices. NFL Canada, hearing about the Quebec epic in New York, decided to send the Falcons tuques and a few Bergeron jerseys to the draw and then have a videographer document the events.
“We’re talking about a big squad, it’s something very special for him and his family. “NFL Canada is asking us a lot of questions about this trip,” said Bailee Weisz of the agency Excel Sports Management, which represents Bergeron.
“The Quebec fans for Matthew are all there. I was in Victoriaville on the night of the draft and quickly noticed. We are very excited. Matthew started training with us around this time last year as he finished his season at Syracuse. He immediately became part of the family and quickly became a leader. Everyone appreciates it,” she continues.
For football Quebec
Matthew Bergeron will wear soccer cleats with the image of Football Quebec, a cause he supports as part of the NFL’s “My Cause, my Cleats” program. PHOTO PROVIDED BY NFL
To perfectly complete the symbolism of this game, Matthew Bergeron will wear special football boots in Quebec colors as part of the “My Cause, my Cleats” program, which aims to support a personal initiative.
In this case, if his shoes are auctioned in addition to the donations collected, the money will be donated to Football Québec for the development of football in the province.