Gerry Bertier; August 20, 1953 – March 20, 1981) 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 by a drunk driver,
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 T. C. Williams which bears his name.
Early life Bertier's parents divorced early in his
childhood 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.
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 prejudice, a difficult battle for many members of the team. As a
captain, Bertier, along with friend and teammate defensive end Julius Campbell,
supported their 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 357-45 margin. Bertier's stats during the season
included 142 tackles, 42 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 and University
of Alabama. Car accident
On December 11, 1971, Bertier attended a banquet honoring the players of the
1971, T.C. Williams Titans football team for their undefeated season. After the
banquet, Bertier borrowed his mother's new 1971 Chevrolet Camaro. Bertier lost
control of the Camaro and crashed. 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 doctors 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
as a paraplegic. 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 [from the waist down]. God left me with
my brain and I'm going to use it to help people [who are] 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 worked at Abbey Medical, selling medical equipment to
the handicapped. His position allowed him to attend wheelchair sporting events
held nationally. As of 2015, the 71 Original Titans,
established by the Coaches, Players, and Cheerleaders from the 1971 Virginia AAA
State Champion Varsity Football Team of T. C. Williams High School, is a
nonprofit organization dedicated to helping High School Students pursue
post-secondary education. 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 States Paralympics,
setting state and national records. He was coached throughout his life by Bill
Yoast, winning gold medals in both the discus throw and shot put.
Death On March 20, 1981, Bertier was killed in
a car accident while returning home from a business trip. Driving alone, his
southbound 1980 Oldsmobile collided with a northbound car, which crossed over the
center line on Route 20 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Bertier died
nearly two hours later in the University of Virginia hospital. A man from
Schulyer, Virginia was charged with manslaughter 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 Titans 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 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. 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, Virginia. Proceeds were donated to the Spinal Cord Injury
Rehabilitation and Research Center of the Virginia Commonwealth University
Health System. 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 Boone Bill Yoast
Julius Campbell Petey Jones
Louie Lastik Ronnie Bass
References