Former Princeton football players among those killed, injured in New Year’s Eve attack

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Loved ones, teammates, and coaches are remembering former Princeton football player Martin “Tiger” Bech who was killed in a deadly terrorist attack on New Year’s Day in New Orleans.

Bech, 27, a former wide receiver for the Tigers, was born in Lafayette, Louisiana and had been visiting family for the holidays. He was a trader in New York at Seaport Global Holdings.

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The Princeton University graduate was one of 14 victims killed in the deadly attack by 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, who the FBI now says acted alone, according to reports. Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, was fatally shot by police in a shootout after driving a rented Ford F150 truck around a police barricade speeding through crowds of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

At least 35 people have been injured in the attack by Jabbar, who the FBI says was inspired by the terrorist group ISIS. One of the injured is another former Princeton football player Ryan Quigley, a former running back for the Tigers and a close friend of Bech.

Quigley was with Bech when they were struck by Jabbar, according to a GoFundMe page established by friends of Bech and Quigley to support Quigley’s recovery as he undergoes treatment and honor Bech.

Bech’s younger brother, Jack Bech, a wide receiver for Texas Christian University (TCU), posted on social media site X – “Love you always brother! You inspired me every day now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.”

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Jack Bech described his last phone call with his brother Tiger Bech hours before New Year’s Eve.

“It was another phone call. Like I said that was my best friend, my inspiration, my role model. We talked every day. He was the first person I told about whatever it was – good, bad, indifferent,” Jack Bech said.

“We thought it was going to be another regular conversation. I was just showing him I was at my uncle’s house in Dallas, and he was in New Orleans at my parents’ house eating. I was showing him what we were eating, and he was showing us what he was eating.”

He added, “the last words we ever told each other was that I told him to be safe and that I loved him, and he told me how much he loved me. Hung up the phone and that was last time I ever spoke to him.”

Tiger Bech graduated from Princeton in 2021. While a player on the university’s football team he was a part of the 2016 and 2018 Ivy League Championship teams. He was not just a wide receiver for the team, but a return specialist earning two All-Ivy honors.

In his Princeton college career as a receiver, he had 53 catches for a total of 853 yards and earned three touchdowns, according to Princeton University Athletics and the Princeton football program.

“He was a ‘Tiger’ in every way – a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend,” Princeton football coach Bob Surace said of how appropriate Tiger Bech’s nickname was of any player he coached. “Our last conversation was about how proud I was of the growth he showed during his time at Princeton and the success he was having after graduation. My love goes to the entire Bech family.”

Gov. Phil Murphy on Jan. 2 posted on social media platform X, “Devastated to learn that one of the victims of the terrorist attack in New Orleans was Princeton alum Tiger Bech. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Yale Head Football coach Tony Reno wrote on social media, “Thoughts and prayers from Yale Football are with the Bech and Princeton Football family during this difficult time.”


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