Terry Pierce (born June 21, 1981) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

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

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for the

Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The School colors, official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are gener ...

and was selected by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the second round of the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

Early life

Pierce attended Western Hills High School in

Benbrook, Texas Benbrook is a town located in the southwestern corner of Tarrant County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Fort Worth. As of the 2010 United States census, the population was 21,234, reflecting an increase of 1,026 from the 20,208 counted i ...

College career

Pierce first came to

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

and was redshirted. He played in all but one game in 2000, including the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...

. After racking up 38 tackles (six for a loss) and three pass break-ups, he was named the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

Defensive Freshman of the Year. In 10 starts in 2001, Pierce recorded 68 tackles and three sacks while earning Academic All-Big 12 honors. His junior season, he posted 104 tackles and five sacks. He subsequently declared for the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

with a year of college eligibility remaining.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Pierce was chosen by the Denver Broncos in the second round (51st overall) in the

. On July 25, he signed a four-year, $2.7 million contract that included a $1.32 million signing bonus. During his rookie season in 2004, Pierce was inactive for the first seven games of the regular season. He made his NFL debut on October 26 against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

, but did not record any statistics. The following week, he posted three tackles (two solo) against 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 ...

. On November 16, Pierce suffered a torn pectoral muscle and was subsequently placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

, ending his season. In 2004, Pierce was to battle Donnie Spragan and Jashon Sykes for the starting strong-side linebacker job. However, Pierce suffered a sprained

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), also called the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint and occurs in ...

in August, losing his chance at the job. He was able to recover in time for the regular season opener, but played primarily on special teams during the season and recorded just five tackles in 15 games. Pierce was moved from inside to outside linebacker in the 2005 offseason, and worked there throughout the preseason. However, he was waived on September 3 at the conclusion of the preseason. He worked out for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

on separate occasions in October 2005, but was not signed.

Houston Texans

On January 18, 2006 the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

signed Pierce to a future contract. However, he was released on July 14 before training camp began.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Terry 1981 births Living people Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas American football linebackers Kansas State Wildcats football players Denver Broncos players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen