As Jack Bech scored his first NFL touchdown for the Las Vegas Raiders’ first points of the season on Sunday, he made sure to carry the memory of his brother with him.
Tiger Bech was killed last year in the New Orleans truck attack on New Year’s Day, with the former Princeton football standout’s life cut short at age 27.
There was joy when the Raiders drafted Jack Bech out of TCU in the second round of the NFL draft four months after his brother’s death. There was more of it after the wide receiver scored a meaningful touchdown on a 15-yard pitch and catch courtesy of Kirk Cousins. Bech got up in the end zone and celebrated by extending the thumb and pinky on his right hand.
“I just hit a little, ‘Call God and call my brother,’ just saying that with them … with Tiger and the Lord, we can do all things and nothing is impossible,” Bech told reporters.
In the end zone, Bech held the ball, pointed toward the sky and said, “I love you, Tiger.”
After the Raiders defeated the Miami Dolphins 27-13, he wore a sleeveless shirt that read, “Long Live Tiger.” He said his girlfriend, UNLV basketball player Marley Washenitz, made various shirts for him.
“I try to wear one every game in commemoration of my brother just knowing that a big part of something here — just in sense of today and every day and just being able to live this life — a huge part of that, the main part of it is my brother and the Lord above,” Bech said.
Bech opened his second NFL season with three catches for 23 yards. The 23-year-old could see his role grow after a rookie season in which he didn’t reach the end zone and recorded 20 receptions for 224 yards, citing how he has a better understanding of being a receiver in the league.
On Sunday, Bech came open as a target for Cousins.
“It was one of those routes where you’ve got to win, you’ve got to get your eyes around quick,” Bech said of his first-quarter touchdown reception. “That’s what we did. Kirk threw a perfect ball. If I wouldn’t have caught it, it would have hit me right in the middle of my face mask. It probably would’ve gotten stuck in the face mask.”
Moments like those are what Bech has been working toward in the Raiders’ new offense under coach Klint Kubiak,
“We’ve done a lot to be able to do all these things — all the little details, all the hours that we’ve just been grinding,” Bech said. “It’s awesome to see it all pay off.
“The amount of detail that we use each and every day that these coaches instill in us every day from the O-line to the running backs to the tight ends to the quarterback to the receivers, how hard they are on us because the amount of care they have for us has really been something I’ve never really seen or felt before within the organization.”
