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Jordan van den Berg's Long Journey to Bears Includes Odd Investment

The Georgia Tech defensive tackle started out in South Africa and playing other sports but quickly found success in a new pursuit.
Gene Chamberlain|
Wake Forest offensive lineman Melvin Siani (71) tries to block Georgia Tech's Jordan van den Berg last season.
Wake Forest offensive lineman Melvin Siani (71) tries to block Georgia Tech's Jordan van den Berg last season. | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

You can never be sure about sixth-round defensive tackles, especially if they come from overseas.

It's not exactly commonplace for NFL quality to come from outside the boundaries of the U.S. unless they're from Canada or are placekickers.

Whether Bears sixth-round pick Jordan van den Berg ever has much of a career in the NFL will depend on numerous factors but he already has a very good story and a decent way to make money after football. Van den Berg's father helped him to use NIL money to buy a laundromat.

"Fortunately, I have my family to thank for that idea," van den Berg said. "My dad has always preached to me that life changing money is only life changing money if you put it to use. So, the first thing we did was, we wanted to look for something that was passive income so I could set up my future. I plan on playing football until I'm 45, but you never know like what can happen to football. So, I just wanted to prepare myself.”

There's more to it than pocket change.

More to it than cash

“I wanted to do something that helped the community," van den Berg said. "We are in a very low-income place and we do a lot of wash-and-fold services for homeless shelters and everything.

"I just take pride in being able to give back to my community and it's also something that's passive, so it's something that's hands off that I don't really have to worry about.”

He comes to the Bears as a 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive lineman who played at both Penn State and Georgia Tech, played JUCO ball, and was a South African resident until the age of 10. He's a great all-around athlete and showed it in the run up to the draft, but that's genetics.

“Yeah, I'm fortunate to come from a really athletic background," he said. "My grandfather was a five-time Mr. South Africa bodybuilder, best bodybuilder in South Africa, competed against Arnold (Schwarzenegger) in the Mr. Universe competition and placed sixth that year.

"Then my grandmother, she was a national swimmer for South Africa. She held multiple South African swimming record and represented South Africa in the Empire Games along with her brother as well.”

Although he was a wrestler and rugby player, he fell in love with American football by watching the movie Invincible, the Mark Wahlberg film about Philadelphia Eagles player Vince Papale making the team as a 30-year-old bartender.

"I had that on DVD, so I'd watch that over-and-over when I was a kid and I really fell in love with the sport through that," van den Berg.

He wasn't always that 310-pound defensive tackle who made 20 college tackles for loss.

His football career began as a sophomore in high school after coming to the U.S. He was a wide receiver, then, middle linebacker, then defensive tackle. 

Considering the ridiculous all-around athletic performance van den Berg gave at his pro day, some of his other accomplishments look less surprising.

“I feel like I’ve got all the traits you need for a defensive tackle," van den Berg said. "I set the all-time Penn State squat record when I was at Penn State. I broad-jumped 9-foot-11 and jumped 36 (inches) and I benched 35 (times at 225). I've always taken pride in the weight room.

"When I was at Penn State, I never broke into the starting spot, but I knew that my opportunity would one day come through. I made sure I did everything I could do in my preparation. I take a lot of pride in my preparation."

The Bears took heat for not moving up to draft a defensive end, but when they finally drafted a defensive tackle they didn't seem to have a problem with moving up to do it by dealing away both of their seventh-round draft picks.

New Bears defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg drags down Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter.
New Bears defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg drags down Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

More to him than athleticism

"Then again, the real cool part of this whole process, you go through your film work, and then you get back from the Combine and then you get some guys that maybe non-Combine guys that do really well at a Pro Day that pop up on your radar," GM Ryan Poles said. "Jordan (van den Berg) was one of them, and as we got his name around the building, and we were working together with the coaches, there’s a level of excitement.

"So, he was a player that we identified that we want to go get, and we didn't want to wait any longer. I don't think he would've lasted to us in the seventh, so we were a little bit more aggressive, and went and got him. You could tell with the energy that came through the building, and especially from our D-Line coaches, they were fired up. So, we were really excited how we finished this draft.”

Bears national scout Brendan Rehor summed up the situation well with van den Berg.

"He's kind of had a unique journey … he took the long road," van den Berg said at Halas Hall. "I think that's a cool story. I think the kid's had a chip on the shoulder everywhere he has been, he’s had to earn everything he's had.

"I think the common theme we've always had in our scouting department is with a new era for NIL and a bunch of these younger kids getting paid early, this is a mature young man that's kind of had to deal with a lot of that stuff."

He’s so mature that he’s used that NIL money for a laundromat.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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