The Texas A&M Aggies can now add a fourth name to their list of former players currently in the United States Football League (USFL) after 29-year-old Taylor Bertolet signed as an undrafted free agent with the New Orleans Breakers on May 5, 2022.
Bertolet, a 5-foot-9, 188-pound kicker from Reading, Pennsylvania, has a plethora of professional experience and has spent plenty of time on numerous NFL rosters (more on that later).
As a redshit freshman at Texas A&M in 2012, Bertolet played in 13 games for the Aggies and racked up 13 field goals and 67 PATs (career high 106 points); as a sophomore in 2013, he once again saw action in all 13 games but mostly moved to kickoff specialist duties and finished the season with two field goals and 23 extra points.
In his junior year with the Aggies in 2014, Bertolet was the team’s kickoff specialist in all 13 games — averaging 63.1 yards per kickoff with 40 touchbacks on 78 kickoffs (57.1 touchback percentage).
In 2015 for Texas A&M, the senior kicker made a career-high 22 field goals on 31 attempts (71 percent) while also racking up 38 PATs.
Despite going undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft, the former Aggie spent the next few years on multiple NFL teams (Los Angeles Rams in 2016, Denver Broncos in 2018, New York Jets in 2018) before landing with the Salt Lake City Stallions in the Alliance of American Football (AAF) league in 2019.
After the AAF folded due to bankruptcy, Bertolet had brief second stints with both the Broncos (April 2019) and Jets (Aug. 2019) prior to signing with the Carolina Panthers practice squad on Oct. 24, 2020 (he was released on Dec. 1, 2020).
Bertolet’s next two jobs landed him with the Minnesota Vikings practice squad on Dec. 19, 2020 (his practice squad contract expired after the conclusion of the 2020 season on Jan. 11, 2021) and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League (CFL) on June 29, 2021 (he was later released on Nov. 15, 2021).
Bringing us to 2022, where Bertolet is four of five on field goals (long of 50 yards) and a perfect 100 percent on PATs (16 points in two games played) for the Breakers. He was also named USFL Special Teams Player of the Week after his week four performance (three of four on FGs with a long of 50 and a perfect two of two on PATs).
Fun facts: Bertolet tied both an SEC and Texas A&M school when he notched six field goals against Vanderbilt in his senior year with the Aggies (2015).
Up next for Bertolet and the New Orleans Breakers (3-2, 2nd place in South): a battle against the Pittsburgh Maulers (1-4, 4th place in North) on Sunday, May 22 at 11 am Central Time on FS1.
Due up next in a series of USFL profile snapshots: a closer look at the former Texas Longhorns currently playing in the league.
