TRUE TIGER: Tiger Bech sprints upfield during his career for the Princeton University football team. Bech ’21, a star kick returner and receiver for the Tigers in the 2016-18 seasons, was killed in the New Orleans truck attack on January 1. Members of the Princeton football program along with his friends and family are remembering Bech for exemplifying his nickname. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

Martin “Tiger” Bech electrified fans as a whirling dervish for the Princeton University football team in the 2017 and 2018 campaigns.

Utilizing his speed, elusiveness, and toughness, the 5’9, 180-pound Bech earned second-team All-Ivy League honors as a return specialist both years while developing into a key receiver.

During Princeton’s historic 10-0 2018 season, Bech’s special teams heroics helped turn the tide in a dramatic 29-21 win over Harvard as he returned four punts for 80 yards, included a long of 39, to flip field position.

After graduating from Princeton in 2021, Bech, a native of Lafayette, La., was on the fast track in the real world, working as stock broker for Seaport Global in New York City.

But in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, Bech, 27, got caught up in tragedy as he was killed in the New Orleans truck attack. He died from internal injuries and head trauma hours after the attack, according to family members.

The terrorist attack killed 14 people and injured dozens after Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group into the New Year’s celebration on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of the city. He steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police, according to news reports.

Bech was in the city celebrating the New Year with former Princeton teammate, good friend, and work colleague Ryan Quigley ’20, who was also injured in the attack. Quigley, a star running back during his Tiger career, was hospitalized with severe cuts to his head and a broken leg and is on the road to recovery.

A moment of silence in honor of Bech, Quigley, and all those impacted by the New Orleans tragedy was observed before Tiger home athletic events last weekend.

Princeton football head coach Bob Surace remembered Bech as exemplifying his moniker.

“There was no more appropriate nickname of a Princeton player I coached,” said Surace in a statement issued last Wednesday. “He was a ‘Tiger’ in every way — a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend. 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.”

As a freshman in 2016, Bech gave glimpses of the talent that would help him grow into an All-Ivy performer, making three receptions for 43 yards and returning nine punts for 111 yards before getting sidelined during the second half of the season due to injury.

In his sophomore campaign, Bech averaged 23.1 yards per kickoff return and 9.1 yards per punt return. He made 40 receptions for 596 yards and two touchdowns, enjoying a career-day against Yale with six catches for 175 yards and a touchdown.

As a key contributor in Princeton’s perfect 2018 season, Bech averaged a league-best 10.8 yards per punt return and made 10 catches for 186 yards and a touchdown.

Bech’s gridiron excellence influenced his younger brother, Jack, who has become a star receiver for TCU, making 62 catches for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns this fall for the Horned Frogs.

“Love you always brother,” Jack Bech wrote on X. “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.”

The matriarch of the family, Bech’s mother, Michelle, had dinner with him in New Orleans on Tuesday night before he went out with Quigley. She told the Washington Post that her son was “on top of the world, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

She added that “his light just knew it was too much, too fast … he was so bright, a really cool kid.”

For those who knew and loved Bech, his light will shine on brightly forever.