Former Princeton football player Tiger Bech ’21 died on Wednesday morning after sustaining injuries from a vehicle attack in New Orleans. He was 27. Ryan Quigley ’20, Bech’s friend and former teammate, has also been hospitalized and is currently “undergoing treatment as he begins a road to recovery,” according to a GoFundMe supporting Quigley’s recovery and honoring Bech.
A native of Lafayette, La., Bech was a wide receiver and punt returner for the Princeton football team and a member of University Cottage Club. He earned an A.B. in Sociology. After graduation, he moved to New York, where he worked as a sales representative at LiveAction for two years before working as a trader at Seaport Global Holdings LLC.
The attack happened early Wednesday morning after a man drove a pickup truck into crowds in New Orleans and opened fire. At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured. The FBI is currently investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.
Remaining close to Bech after graduation, Quigley also works at Seaport Global Holdings. At Princeton, he was a running back for the football team and earned an A.B. in History. According to Jack Kelly and Dom Gambone, the organizers of the GoFundMe, “Ryan is doing okay. He is stable and resting in the company of his family and friends.”
Within hours of the start of the fundraiser, almost $80,000 in donations to the families was made, and the GoFundMe has been paused.
“Ryan is a fighter, and his loved ones are rallying around him as he faces this challenge,” Kelly and Gambone wrote on the fundraiser.
Bech earned second-team All-Ivy League honors as a return specialist in two consecutive seasons during his time on the football team. In 2018, he helped Princeton gain the then-highest-scoring offense in Ivy League history, and the team was undefeated in the Ivy League for the first time since 1964. Throughout his career at Princeton, he caught 53 passes for 825 yards.
“There was no more appropriate nickname of a Princeton player I coached,” Princeton football head coach Bob Surace ’90 wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince’. “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.”
Surace also spoke of Bech’s commitment to the team even after graduation.
“There were two or three times we had career nights, and you could call him with a day’s notice, and he came down and shared his experiences as a young professional with our team,” Surace told ESPN.
Bech’s brother, Jack Bech, a wide receiver for Texas Christian University, addressed his brother’s death on social media.
“Love you always brother! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment,” Jack Bech wrote on X. “I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.”
The ‘Prince’ will publish an obituary remembering Tiger in the weeks to come. If you would like to share your memories of Tiger, please reach out to news[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
This article is breaking and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Editor‘s note: This piece was updated on Thursday, Jan. 2 with additional information about Quigley.
Christopher Bao is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Princeton, N.J. and typically covers town politics and life.
Victoria Davies is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Plymouth, England and typically covers University operations.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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