Michael Pierce (born November 6, 1992) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

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

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

before transferring to Samford and was signed by the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2016.

Professional career

Pierce was not invited to the NFL combine. At his Pro Day, he ran 10 meter split faster than any DL at the combine (1.67 vs Alex McCalister's 1.68) and performed a broad jump inside the Top 15 for DL.

Baltimore Ravens

On May 3, 2016, Pierce signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. As a rookie in the 2016 season, Pierce appeared in all 16 games and finished the season with 35 tackles, two sacks, and one pass defended. On September 10, in the 2017 season opener against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, Pierce recovered a

Terrell Suggs Terrell Raymonn Suggs (born October 11, 1982), nicknamed "T-Sizzle", is an American former professional outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State, and was recognized as a unanimous Al ...

-forced fumble, which came off of quarterback

Andy Dalton Andrew Gregory Dalton (born October 29, 1987) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Red Rifle", Dalton previously played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, and ...

, in the 20–0 victory. On March 9, 2019, the Ravens placed a second-round restricted free agent tender on Pierce. On May 1, 2019, the Ravens re-signed Pierce.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 25, 2020, Pierce signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. On July 28, 2020, Pierce announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and was placed on the reserve/opt-out list by the Vikings. Pierce returned in 2021 as a starting defensive tackle. He started the first four games before suffering an elbow injury in Week 4. He missed the next four games before being placed on injured reserve on November 13, 2021. He was activated on December 4, 2021. Pierce was released on March 15, 2022.

Baltimore Ravens (second stint)

On March 17, 2022, Pierce signed a three-year, $16.5 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens. He suffered a torn biceps in Week 3 and was placed on season-ending injured reserve on September 29, 2022.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Samford Bulldogs bio

Baltimore Ravens bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Michael 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Alabama People from Daphne, Alabama American football defensive tackles Tulane Green Wave football players Samford Bulldogs football players Baltimore Ravens players Minnesota Vikings players