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Pierre Strong Jr. (born December 10, 1998) is an American professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...
and
kickoff returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...
for the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). He played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
for the
South Dakota State Jackrabbits The South Dakota State Jackrabbits are the 19 intercollegiate teams representing South Dakota State University that compete in the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I (for football: Football Championship Subdivision). Sout ...
.


Early life

Strong grew up in
Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
and graduated from John L. McClellan High School. As a junior, he rushed 2,248 yards and 30 touchdowns as McClellan advanced to the Class 5A state championship game. Despite his season ending injury that occurred at Little Rock McClellan's final drive of the 2016 regular game against Pulaski Academy, Strong rushed 1,423 total yards and scored 25 touchdowns during his senior year. Overall, Strong had totaled 4,268 rushing yards and scored 57 touchdowns over his final two seasons in McClellan. He was named a Landers Award finalist in his senior year due to his accomplishments. Despite being offered football scholarships from very few Division 1 schools, Strong was ultimately offered a scholarship and recruitment by
South Dakota State University South Dakota State University (SDSU or SD State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota, United States. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest university and is the sec ...
as he made a verbal commitment in January 2017.


College career

Strong
redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...
his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, he rushed for 1,116 yards and 11 touchdowns and was named the
Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the National Collegiate A ...
(MVFC) Freshman of the Year. Strong gained 1,018 yards and scored eight touchdowns on 143 carries during his redshirt sophomore season and was named first-team All-MVFC. As a redshirt junior, he rushed for 707 yards in the spring 2021 season, which was delayed from the fall due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. As a redshirt senior, Strong rushed for 1,686 yards and 18 touchdowns, caught 22 passes for 150 yards, and also completed 4-of-4 pass attempts for 62 yards and four touchdowns.


Professional career


New England Patriots

Strong was selected by the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
with the 127th pick in the fourth round of the
2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...
. On December 12, 2022, Strong scored a three–yard rushing touchdown for his first career touchdown in a 27–13 victory over the
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
. Strong finished his rookie season with ten carries for 100 yards and one rushing touchdown.


Cleveland Browns

On August 27, 2023, Strong was traded to the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
in exchange for Tyrone Wheatley Jr.


References


External links


Cleveland Browns bioSouth Dakota State Jackrabbits bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Pierre Jr. 1998 births Living people American football running backs South Dakota State Jackrabbits football players Players of American football from Little Rock, Arkansas New England Patriots players Cleveland Browns players