Gerry Bertier
Encyclopedia
Gerry Bertier was a prominent Virginia
high school
American football
player. He is best known for his participation on the 1971 Virginia State Champion T. C. Williams High School
team and their portrayal in the Disney film Remember the Titans
. After the conclusion of the 1971 season, Bertier was involved in an automobile accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Despite this injury, Bertier remained an active athlete, participating in the Paralympics and winning multiple medals. Bertier was killed on March 20, 1981 at the age of 27 in a second car crash. Today, the Gerry Bertier #42 Foundation is dedicated to raising money for research on spinal cord injuries. There is also a gymnasium at TCWHS which bears his name.
He was an extremely educated boy.
, a difficult battle for many members of the team. As a captain, Bertier, along with friend and teammate defensive end Julius Campbell
, supported their fellow teammates through this time of struggle. Even though the team was still struggling with prejudice as the season opener rolled around, the strife was not evident in the way the T.C. Titans began the 1971 season. The Titans went 13-0, including nine shut outs, and went on to win the Virginia State Championship. During the Titans' undefeated season, they also outscored their opponents by a 338-38 margin. Bertier's stats during the season included 193 tackles and 67 sacks. Bertier was named team Defensive Most Valuable Player. He was named National Prep School Football Player of the Year, and received First Team All-Region, All-State, and All-American honors. As he prepared to move to the next level, Bertier received many football scholarship offers from prominent colleges like Notre Dame
.
determined that his lungs had been pierced by his sternum, which went into his spinal column. Because of the severity of his injuries, Bertier initially had to be operated on in the X-ray
room, only moving to the operating room when he was stabilized. Although doctors tried to relieve pressure on his spine to help him regain some feeling, it was unsuccessful. Bertier would live the rest of his life paralyzed from the waist down.
A month after the accident, Bertier accepted an award for being the most outstanding defensive player in the metropolitan area, a ceremony he arrived at in an ambulance. Bertier had difficulty adjusting to paralysis and life in a wheelchair, confessing to assistant head coach Bill Yoast
that "it took him two years to accept the fact from the time of the accident that he would be crippled for life." Once he did accept it, nothing held Bertier back from helping others. Bertier told his mother, "I don't care if I'm paralyzed. God left me with my brain and I'm going to use it to help people less fortunate."
During the next year, Bertier coordinated with Alexandria Junior Colleges to set up a "Walk for Mankind," and encouraged students, adults, company executives to donate. Bertier occasionally met with others who suffered similar injuries, helping them with their rehabilitation. Outside of his hometown, Gerry made speeches across the country for rights for the handicapped. He addressed subjects such as making buildings handicapped accessible. Bertier gained employment with Abbey Medical, selling medical equipment to the handicapped. His position allowed him to attend wheelchair sporting events all over the country.
Paralympics, setting state and national records. He was coached throughout his life by Bill Yoast
, winning gold medals in both the discus and shot put.
. A man from Schulyer, Virginia was charged with manslaughter
and driving under the influence of alcohol in connection with the accident.
by actor Ryan Hurst
. A lot of the film is historically inaccurate, and there are many aspects of Bertier's portrayal in the film that are not completely factual. Certain elements of Gerry's personal life were embellished, while other elements were complete fabrications. One example of this is Bertier's girlfriend: in the film, Gerry has a girlfriend named Emma (played by Kate Bosworth
) who has difficulty accepting Bertier's newfound respect for his black teammates while, in reality, Bertier did have a girlfriend, but her name was Becky. By the time Bertier was transferred to T.C. Williams as part of the consolidation of three local high schools, T.C. Williams had been fully integrated for about six years. Bertier did not enter his first day at T.C. Williams amidst a sea of protestors. Bertier and Campbell were close friends, but not to the degree that they were in Remember the Titans. Their relationship was much like their relationships with any of their other teammates. In the film, Bertier only sneaks Julius in to see him by calling him his brother while in the hospital after his accident, but this treatment was not reserved for Julius. In fact, many teammates were allowed in to see Bertier under the guise of immediate family.
Bertier's on-the-field portrayal in the film, however, is almost entirely correct. As the team's defensive captain, Bertier was a dominating force on the linebacking corps and received All-American honors following the team's championship season. Although heralded as an exceptional leader on and off the football field, Bertier's duties never included cutting fellow players from the team as he was shown doing in the film.
. Proceeds were donated to the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation and Research Center of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCUHS). The 2007 tournament raised approximately $20,000 for donation to the VCUHS.
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player. He is best known for his participation on the 1971 Virginia State Champion T. C. Williams High School
T. C. Williams High School
T. C. Williams High School is a public high school in Alexandria, Virginia, named after former superintendent Thomas Chambliss Williams of Alexandria City Public Schools who served from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s...
team and their portrayal in the Disney film Remember the Titans
Remember the Titans
Remember the Titans is a 2000 American sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. Inspired by real events, the plot was conceived from a screenplay written by Gregory Allen Howard. The film starts as a new coach of the Titans, a football team previously coached by the...
. After the conclusion of the 1971 season, Bertier was involved in an automobile accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Despite this injury, Bertier remained an active athlete, participating in the Paralympics and winning multiple medals. Bertier was killed on March 20, 1981 at the age of 27 in a second car crash. Today, the Gerry Bertier #42 Foundation is dedicated to raising money for research on spinal cord injuries. There is also a gymnasium at TCWHS which bears his name.
Early life
Bertier's parents divorced early in his childhood (around age 7) and he was raised primarily by his mother, until she remarried to Robert Agnew. As a child and young man, Bertier was described as an amiable, goal-oriented individual. Growing up, Bertier frequently discussed his lifetime goal of winning a gold medal in the Olympics, and as an active participant in various athletics, seemed to be on track for this goal.He was an extremely educated boy.
High school career
Bertier began his high school career at Hammond High School and joined the football team. He became a key player, soon becoming the backbone of the defense. As a sophomore, he was starting linebacker, a position for which he won many honors. However, he was only able to play three seasons, when Hammond H.S. was merged with two other Alexandria high schools to form T.C. Williams High School. The consolidation meant there were many new faces on the football team as well as on the coaching staff, which caused racial tension between team members. This new mixture of Titans was forced to come together as a single successful team, dealing with the issue of racial prejudicePrejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
, a difficult battle for many members of the team. As a captain, Bertier, along with friend and teammate defensive end Julius Campbell
Julius Campbell
Julius Campbell, Jr. is an African American former American football player. He played for the 1971 T.C. Williams High School football team.Campbell was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of Hazel , and Julius Campbell, Sr. Campbell attended the Ferrum Junior College where he suffered a bad...
, supported their fellow teammates through this time of struggle. Even though the team was still struggling with prejudice as the season opener rolled around, the strife was not evident in the way the T.C. Titans began the 1971 season. The Titans went 13-0, including nine shut outs, and went on to win the Virginia State Championship. During the Titans' undefeated season, they also outscored their opponents by a 338-38 margin. Bertier's stats during the season included 193 tackles and 67 sacks. Bertier was named team Defensive Most Valuable Player. He was named National Prep School Football Player of the Year, and received First Team All-Region, All-State, and All-American honors. As he prepared to move to the next level, Bertier received many football scholarship offers from prominent colleges like Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
.
Car accident
On December 11, 1971, Gerry Bertier attended a banquet honoring the players of the 1971, T.C. Williams Titans football team for their undefeated season. After the banquet, Gerry borrowed his mother's new Camaro. Bertier lost control of the Camaro and crashed into a bus. The cause of the accident was determined to be a mechanical failure in the motor mount of his engine. Following the accident, Bertier was rushed to the Alexandria Hospital in critical condition. After initially stabilizing him, the doctorsPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
determined that his lungs had been pierced by his sternum, which went into his spinal column. Because of the severity of his injuries, Bertier initially had to be operated on in the X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
room, only moving to the operating room when he was stabilized. Although doctors tried to relieve pressure on his spine to help him regain some feeling, it was unsuccessful. Bertier would live the rest of his life paralyzed from the waist down.
A month after the accident, Bertier accepted an award for being the most outstanding defensive player in the metropolitan area, a ceremony he arrived at in an ambulance. Bertier had difficulty adjusting to paralysis and life in a wheelchair, confessing to assistant head coach Bill Yoast
Bill Yoast
William "Bill" Yoast is an American high school football coach best known for being featured in the 2000 film Remember the Titans. He was portrayed by veteran actor Will Patton.Yoast grew up in Florence, Alabama...
that "it took him two years to accept the fact from the time of the accident that he would be crippled for life." Once he did accept it, nothing held Bertier back from helping others. Bertier told his mother, "I don't care if I'm paralyzed. God left me with my brain and I'm going to use it to help people less fortunate."
During the next year, Bertier coordinated with Alexandria Junior Colleges to set up a "Walk for Mankind," and encouraged students, adults, company executives to donate. Bertier occasionally met with others who suffered similar injuries, helping them with their rehabilitation. Outside of his hometown, Gerry made speeches across the country for rights for the handicapped. He addressed subjects such as making buildings handicapped accessible. Bertier gained employment with Abbey Medical, selling medical equipment to the handicapped. His position allowed him to attend wheelchair sporting events all over the country.
Paralympics
After Bertier recuperated from his injuries, he once again became a competitive athlete. According to his sister, Becky Britt, "During Gerry's childhood he had mentioned being in the Olympics. His long term goal was to receive a gold medal." He decided to occupy himself in Wheelchair Track and Field, the Wheelchair Basketball League, and the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Paralympics, setting state and national records. He was coached throughout his life by Bill Yoast
Bill Yoast
William "Bill" Yoast is an American high school football coach best known for being featured in the 2000 film Remember the Titans. He was portrayed by veteran actor Will Patton.Yoast grew up in Florence, Alabama...
, winning gold medals in both the discus and shot put.
Death
Gerry Bertier spent ten years after his accident with one goal: to make life for others with disabilities easier. His ambition was cut short on March 20, 1981. As Bertier was driving home from a business trip, a northbound car crossed over the center line on Route 20 in Charlottesville and struck Bertier's southbound 1980 Oldsmobile. Bertier died nearly two hours later in the University of Virginia hospitalUniversity of Virginia Health System
The University of Virginia Health System is a nationally renowned healthcare provider based in Charlottesville, Virginia and associated with the University of Virginia. The health system includes a medical center, school of medicine and health sciences library...
. A man from Schulyer, Virginia was charged with manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
and driving under the influence of alcohol in connection with the accident.
Remember the Titans
Gerry Bertier was portrayed in the Disney film Remember the TitansRemember the Titans
Remember the Titans is a 2000 American sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. Inspired by real events, the plot was conceived from a screenplay written by Gregory Allen Howard. The film starts as a new coach of the Titans, a football team previously coached by the...
by actor Ryan Hurst
Ryan Hurst
Ryan Douglas Hurst is an American actor who perhaps most notably starred as Gerry Bertier, an All-American linebacker in Disney's Remember the Titans and as Alison's brother, Michael, in the show Medium. He also played the role of football player Lump Hudson in The Ladykillers, appeared in the...
. A lot of the film is historically inaccurate, and there are many aspects of Bertier's portrayal in the film that are not completely factual. Certain elements of Gerry's personal life were embellished, while other elements were complete fabrications. One example of this is Bertier's girlfriend: in the film, Gerry has a girlfriend named Emma (played by Kate Bosworth
Kate Bosworth
Catherine Ann "Kate" Bosworth is an American actress. Bosworth starred in the television series Young Americans, in which she played Bella Banks. She became known with a leading role in 2002's Blue Crush. The following year, Bosworth played the teenage girlfriend of porn star John Holmes in...
) who has difficulty accepting Bertier's newfound respect for his black teammates while, in reality, Bertier did have a girlfriend, but her name was Becky. By the time Bertier was transferred to T.C. Williams as part of the consolidation of three local high schools, T.C. Williams had been fully integrated for about six years. Bertier did not enter his first day at T.C. Williams amidst a sea of protestors. Bertier and Campbell were close friends, but not to the degree that they were in Remember the Titans. Their relationship was much like their relationships with any of their other teammates. In the film, Bertier only sneaks Julius in to see him by calling him his brother while in the hospital after his accident, but this treatment was not reserved for Julius. In fact, many teammates were allowed in to see Bertier under the guise of immediate family.
Bertier's on-the-field portrayal in the film, however, is almost entirely correct. As the team's defensive captain, Bertier was a dominating force on the linebacking corps and received All-American honors following the team's championship season. Although heralded as an exceptional leader on and off the football field, Bertier's duties never included cutting fellow players from the team as he was shown doing in the film.
Gerry Bertier #42 Foundation
After becoming paralyzed, Bertier became very active in assisting other victims of spinal cord injuries. Bertier frequented the spinal cord injury wards of local hospitals to help victims with their acceptance of the injury and eventually their rehabilitation. After Bertier died in 1981, his sister, Becky Britt, decided to continue his legacy. Her recent creation of the Gerry Bertier #42 Foundation is meant to build upon Bertier's tradition of helping sufferers of spinal cord injuries. The foundation is dedicated to raising money for the research of spinal cord injuries and works with the Virginia Commonwealth University to host annual fundraising golf tournaments. These tournaments draw the support of many Virginia residents, including several members of the 1971 T.C. Williams championship team. The second annual tournament was held September 29, 2007, at the Cannon Ridge Golf Club of Fredericksburg, VirginiaFredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
. Proceeds were donated to the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation and Research Center of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCUHS). The 2007 tournament raised approximately $20,000 for donation to the VCUHS.
See also
Football coaches and team members at T. C. Williams High School:- Herman BooneHerman BooneHerman Boone is a former American high school football coach, most famous for coaching at T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Boone was portrayed by Denzel Washington in the 2000 film Remember the Titans....
(coach) - Bill YoastBill YoastWilliam "Bill" Yoast is an American high school football coach best known for being featured in the 2000 film Remember the Titans. He was portrayed by veteran actor Will Patton.Yoast grew up in Florence, Alabama...
(coach) - Julius CampbellJulius CampbellJulius Campbell, Jr. is an African American former American football player. He played for the 1971 T.C. Williams High School football team.Campbell was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of Hazel , and Julius Campbell, Sr. Campbell attended the Ferrum Junior College where he suffered a bad...
- Petey Jones
- Louie Lastik
- Ronnie Bass