He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft, spending eight seasons with the team.

[3] Bernard was recruited by many schools and first committed to Notre Dame,[4] but ultimately decided to play for the University of North Carolina.

[7][8] Bernard recovered from the injury and became the starting tailback for the Tar Heels in the 2011 college football season.

[9][10][11][12] He became the first North Carolina running back to rush for at least 100 yards in five straight games since Ethan Horton in 1984.

[14] In mid-October 2011, Bernard was added to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, presented annually to the best player in college football.

[15] During the 2011 regular season, Bernard's 1,222 rushing yards ranked 20th among NCAA Division I FBS players.

[14] Bernard was the first running back to eclipse the 1,000-yards plateau at North Carolina since Jonathan Linton did it in 1997.

[18] He led Carolina in scoring for the second year in a row and averaged 198.1 all-purpose yards per game, third in the country behind two receivers.

He was satisfied with his performance and decided to only participate in positional drills at North Carolina's Pro Day.

[31] On September 16, 2013, Bernard scored two touchdowns in a 20–10 Monday Night Football win over the Bengals' division rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

[40] After the Bengals drafted running back Jeremy Hill in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft[41] and Green-Ellis was released at the end of the preseason,[42] Bernard was named the Bengals' starting running back to start the season.

[47] Bernard entered training camp competing with Jeremy Hill to be the Cincinnati Bengals' starting running back.

[48] On September 20, 2015, he had 20 carries for 123 rushing yards after taking over for Hill after he was benched for ineffective play during a 24–19 win over the San Diego Chargers.

[49] In Week 5, the Bengals pulled off the second biggest comeback in franchise history, rallying from 17 points down to defeat the two-time defending NFC-Champion Seattle Seahawks in overtime, 27–24.

[50] On December 20, 2015, Bernard got his first start of the season against the San Francisco 49ers, rushing for 33 yards on 14 carries in a 24–14 Bengals' win.

[52] In the Bengals' 18–16 playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round, Bernard was injured on a hit by linebacker Ryan Shazier.

[60] On November 20, 2016, Bernard suffered a torn ACL during a 16–12 loss to the Buffalo Bills and was placed on injured reserve, ending his season.

[63] In the 2017 offseason, the Bengals drafted Joe Mixon, adding another player to a crowded backfield.

[84] Bernard suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 of the 2022 season and was placed on injured reserve on September 21, 2022.