Terry Pierce (born June 21, 1981 in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

) is a former

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 wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

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 ...

. He was originally drafted by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

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. T ...

. He played college football at

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

High school

Pierce attended Western Hills High School in

Benbrook, Texas Benbrook is a town located in the southwestern corner of Tarrant County, Texas, 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 in the 2000 Cen ...

College career

Pierce first came to Kansas State University 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 that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

. 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 college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

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 with a year of college eligibility remaining.

Professional career

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, 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 it ...

, but did not record any statistics. The following week, he posted three tackles (two solo) against the New England Patriots. On November 16, Pierce suffered a torn

pectoral muscle Pectoral muscles (colloquially referred to as "pecs") are the muscles that connect the front of the human chest with the bones of the upper arm and shoulder. This region contains four muscles that provide movements to the upper limbs or ribs. P ...

and was subsequently placed on injured reserve, ending his season. In 2004, Pierce was to battle Donnie Spragan and

Jashon Sykes Jashon Karlfred Sykes (born September 25, 1979) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes, and was subsequently signed by the Denver Broncos. He started 11 games during his career with the Bro ...

for the starting strong-side linebacker job. However, Pierce suffered a sprained

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint in humans and other primates. Its primary function is to resist outwar ...

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 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

on separate occasions in October 2005, but was not signed. On January 18, 2006 the Houston Texans 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 People from Fort Worth, Texas American football linebackers Kansas State Wildcats football players Denver Broncos players Houston Texans players