FORT WORTH, Texas — The 2025 NFL Draft produced a family group hug that Jack Bech, now a second-round pick of the Las Vegas Raiders, will never forget.
“My mind was racing, my heart was racing,” Bech said Wednesday back at TCU when talking about what it felt like to become an NFL player. “It was definitely a surreal moment, a moment I played back every day since the draft. I’m so thankful God put me in the position to be able to play the game I love for a living. I’m just excited to get up there tomorrow morning and meet everybody, start learning all the new faces and get to work.”
Just months earlier, Bech’s older brother, Tiger, a former Princeton football player, died on New Year’s Day when a driver smashed his car into a crowd of people celebrating on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Tiger, according to FBI surveillance footage, pushed a girl out of the way from the oncoming car, sacrificing himself to save her in the midst of the terrorist attack. That’s why the family coming together as Bech lives out his NFL dream will always remain in his mind.
“We had a group hug. It was me, my mom, my dad, my two sisters, and then I just know my brother [Tiger] was right there in the middle of us,” Bech said. “We just hugged, and they just said, ‘We did it. We’re here.’ That will definitely be a moment I’ll never forget.”
However, he made sure his family knew the NFL dream didn’t just stop on draft day.
“I don’t just want to get to the NFL. That’s my dream, yeah, getting there, but I want to excel,” Bech said. “I want to go out there, and I want to work hard every day. I want to separate myself from the pack. So that’s where my mind is focused right now, and that’s what I’m determined to go out there and show.”
Bech never worried about where he was going to fall in the draft because of his faith in God and his brother Tiger looking out for him from above. Teaming up with quarterback Geno Smith, 2024 first-team All-Pro Brock Bowers and 2025 sixth overall pick Ashton Jeanty will certainly ease the rookie wide receiver’s transition to the pros.
“I knew a lot more work had to be done to go and be where I wanted to be, so really just tried to keep my head down, not really worried too much about [my draft slot], just knowing that God and my brother were gonna put me in the exact perfect spot, which they did,” Bech said of his thought process throughout the last year as a Horned Frog.
“I’m going to the Raiders, and it couldn’t be a more perfect spot with (head coach) Pete Carroll, (offensive coordinator) Chip Kelly, Geno Smith at QB. Learn from a guy like (wide receiver) Jakobi Meyers and have (tight end) Brock Bowers and (running back) Ashton Jeanty, (wide receiver) Dont’e Thornton, a bunch of playmakers all around. So, I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity that’s ahead. I knew I was in the perfect spot because I knew my brother and that God were going to put me in the exact perfect spot. So I really just didn’t even try to worry too much about any of that external stuff.”
All of the coverage of Tiger’s death has been helpful for Bech to heal and work through his emotions, but his big brother tragically dying at the age of 27 will stick with him for the rest his life.
“Some days are super hard, some days are easier. I still sometimes find myself crying, staying up late at night about the whole situation. It’s gonna be feelings I’ll have the rest of my life. I lost my best friend, my biggest fan.
“Throughout this whole process, it’s been good … to just let everybody know, especially just the platform God has given me that keeps getting bigger, every morning I just thank God for giving me this platform because not only do I get to bring people closer to God and the gospel and his mercy and his goodness, but I also get to live on my brother’s legacy. I get to tell everybody about my brother and his story, the way he lived, the way he lived life, the way he did different things. It’s been not only really good for me, but it’s been good for my family to be able to tell just everybody so that the whole world knows Tiger Bech’s name, my brother’s name.”
Creating an NFL legacy in Las Vegas
Bech will now get to catch passes from one of the NFL’s most accurate quarterbacks in Smith, whom Las Vegas acquired in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks this offseason. Smith’s 68.5% completion percentage since becoming Seattle’s starting quarterback in 2022 is the third-best in the entire NFL, trailing only Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (69%) and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (68.9%).
“He’s one of the most accurate pass throwers in the NFL, so it’s gonna be fun,” Bech said of Smith. “Even though I’ve had Josh Hoover (at TCU), who is like that, too. [Smith] hits you in the helmet every time you run the route, so it’s always nice whenever you know that you have a quarterback that, not only he can trust you, but you can trust him to put the ball in the right place. I’m super excited, just to get up there and meet him to start picking his brain. To start putting in some extra work with him, get on the same page, and we’re going to have an explosive offense this year, so I’m just getting very excited for it.”
New Raiders head coach Pete Carroll will be the oldest in NFL history when he turns 74 years old on Sept. 15, but the Super Bowl champion’s presence has Bech fired up just before he gets to meet him in person on Thursday. The second-round wideout reported to Las Vegas to check in ahead of the Raiders’ rookie minicamp that runs Friday to Sunday.
“Yeah, one of the GOATs. Pete Carroll is one of the best coaches to ever coach the game of football, so to be able to play under him, that’s one of the things I’m most excited about,” Bech said. “I literally get a Hall of Fame coach in my first year in the NFL. I’ll be able to learn so much from him. Everyone I’ve heard from and I’ve spoken to, all the players love him. He brings the juice, like he’s very interactive with the players. So I just couldn’t be more excited about that.
“Then, I have (offensive coordinator) Chip Kelly, who’s one of the best play-callers in the National Football League. … Coach Beatty, who’s my receivers coach, he’s been in the league. He’s coached a bunch of guys, Keenan Allen, who’s a guy I’ve watched a lot, Rome Odunze, dudes like that, so not only has he coached vets, but he’s coached young guys. He has an awesome way of coaching us and helping us learn the information.”
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