Former 100 Thieves mid laner Søren ‘Bjergsen’ Bjerg has publicly apologized to the organization’s founder and CEO, Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag, for the way he handled his retirement reveal.
Bjergsen’s career in the LCS has been a long and storied one since being imported from the LEC by TSM in 2014. With multiple LCS titles under his belt, he’s considered one of LCS’s greatest mid-laners.
As a result, his recent retirement came as a shock to fans and players alike, because of its timing and method of delivery. Included in the surprised group, however, was his very own organization, 100 Thieves.
In a recent episode of 100 Thieves Podcast, the founder and CEO talked about how Bjergsen’s sudden retirement affected the organization as they were only informed of the decision an hour before his announcement video came out.
“We were at the golf course when I got the text, and it was basically Jacob, our head of esports, saying, ‘Bjergsen just informed us that he’s retiring and he’s going to release a statement within the next hour,’” Nadeshot said of the moment.
However, Nadeshot says, his feelings towards Bjergsen are much more complicated. He first empathized with the mid laner, saying that, as a former esports player himself, Bjergsen needed to “look out what’s best for him.”
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But he also says he wished that Bjergsen had handled it better. “When I watched the video I think that’s when I got a little bit more upset. Just because he had a DSLR, mic’d up, production quality through the roof, he knew what he was doing.”
However, though said he understands why he did that as Bjergsen didn’t want his retirement to leak. “He wanted to handle his goodbye the way he wanted to handle it,” he said.
I totally get it and agree I could have handled it differently while still likely not having it leak. I'm sorry about that.
Still happy and proud to have ended my playing career with you guys.
— Bjergsen (@Bjergsen) April 12, 2023
And in a tweet from Nadeshot addressing the conversation shortly after the podcast went viral, Bjergsen responded to his comments on his retirement, apologizing for his handling of it all.
“Leaks are never fun and a player with such a rich and storied history like Bjergsen deserves to deliver his goodbye the way that he feels is best,” Nadeshot added. “Doesn’t change the fact that 100T and myself were personally affected by the decision so we talked about it candidly and briefly on the show. Nobody is hurt, we’ll be fine. Bjergsen is the GOAT and it was a pleasure and an honor to have him wear our jersey and play underneath our banner even if it was only for a split. Forever grateful.”
“I totally get it and agree I could have handled it differently while still likely not having it leak. I’m sorry about that,” he said. “Still happy and proud to have ended my playing career with you guys.”