Former NFL linebacker Bill Bergey has died, his son announced on Christmas Day. He was 79.

Bergey, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1974-1980, had been battling cancer for the past few years. His son, Jake Bergey, said his father was an "out right great person."

The South Dayton, New York, native's professional football career began in the late 1960s when he played for the Cincinnati Bengals. 

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"After a long hard 3 year battle, Dad lost his fight with Cancer. The best father, friend, grand father, football player and out right great person in this world. I will truly miss him.  Love you dad," Jake wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

 Bergey recorded nearly 1,200 tackles during his standout tenure with the Eagles. He earned Pro Bowl honors four times during his time in Philly. Bergey received the first Pro Bowl nod of his career in 1969 when he was with the Bengals.

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The former linebacker was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1988. He received another honor in 2011 when he became a member of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2023, Bergey shared some details about his relationship with Buffalo Bills legend Jim Kelly. The former Bills quarterback battled jaw cancer and became one of Bergey's trusted confidants.

"He has kind of been my inspiration," Bergey told the Eagles official team website last year. "He keeps me on the up and up. ‘Just remember,’ he would say, 'You're a football player, you're tough, and you can beat this. You can handle this.'"

Bergey played college football at Arkansas State. After he retired from the NFL, Bergey spent several years contributing to the Eagles' pregame and postgame coverage.

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The NFL and college football had games airing at the same time last Saturday, and the NFL won the ratings war. 

Despite the 12-team College Football Playoff format making its debut, it did not get nearly the same viewership the NFL did.

SMU and Penn State aired at 12 p.m. ET and averaged 6.4 million viewers on the TNT networks.

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The clashing NFL game, a matchup between Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, began at 1 p.m. ET and averaged 15.5 million viewers on NBC.

The NFL and college football clashed again later in the afternoon, as Clemson-Texas was on at 4 p.m. ET while the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens game began shortly after, at 4:30 p.m. ET.

The Steelers-Ravens matchup averaged 15.4 million viewers on FOX, while Clemson-Texas drew 8.6 million viewers on TNT. 

When the NFL wasn’t competing with the College Football Playoffs, the ratings were way up for the other two games. 

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Indiana-Notre Dame, the first game of the new 12-team format, aired on Friday night, and averaged 13.4 million viewers on ABC/ESPN. 

The lone game on Saturday that wasn’t competing with the NFL did well, as Tennessee and Ohio State averaged 14.3 million viewers on ABC/ESPN.

The overall average of 10.6 million viewers for the first round of the College Football Playoffs was higher than all but four college games this season.

College football and the NFL will clash again on Saturday, as the NFL has three games throughout the day against a slate of bowl games.

The Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots play at 1 p.m. ET, the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals play at 4:30 p.m. ET, and the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams play at 8:10 p.m. ET.

One of the notable bowl games on Saturday is No. 18 ranked Iowa State playing No. 13 ranked Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl at 3:30 p.m. ET. 

Another big game is No. 23 ranked Colorado playing No. 17 ranked BYU in the Alamo Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET, where top draft prospects Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are expected to play. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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