Exeter grad Taylor Bertolet makes successful return to pro football

Taylor Bertolet’s return to pro football was an immediate success.

Three days after being signed by the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL the Exeter grad kicked three field goals in a 23-16 win over the Houston Gamblers.

Tuesday he was named the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week

The 29-year-old Bertolet converted kicks of 50, 28 and 45 yards. One attempt was blocked. He accounted for 11 points, converting a pair of PATs.

Bertolet’s first attempt was the 50-yarder, giving the Breakers a 3-0 lead.

Bertolet was a record-setting kicker at Exeter and at Texas A&M before pursuing a pro career. He has been signed by and kicked for the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings of the NFL, as well as with the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football and the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League.

In 2012, as a freshman at Texas A&M, he kicked 13 field goals, made a program-record 67 PATs and, along with Johnny Manziel, became the first freshman in program history to score 100 points in a season.

In 2015 he hit a career-high 22 field goals on 31 attempts, including a 55-yarder. He tied a Southeastern Conference record by making six field goals against Vanderbilt.

He kicked 13 career field goals at Exeter, from 2008-10, including a 48-yarder in 2010 which remains the longest in program history.