Peter Samuel Pierson (born February 4, 1971) is a former

NFL 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 major ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

who played seven seasons with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He was selected by the Buccaneers in the fifth round of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

. Pierson was released by the Buccaneers as a rookie in 1995, and was signed by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. After approximately one week one the Chiefs practice squad, he was released and subsequently re-signed by the Bucs. He remained with the Bucs for the season, but did not play in any games (at least part of this time was on the Bucs' practice squad). Pierson spent the 1995 season as a backup right tackle (12 games, four starts), but moved mainly to the left side when the Bucs hired Tony Dungy in 1996. Stuck behind one of the NFL's upper echelon left tackles,

Paul Gruber Paul Blake Gruber (born February 24, 1965) is an American former football offensive tackle in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fourth overall in the 1988 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wisconsin. ...

, Pierson played in 57 games with two starts from 1996 to 1999. When Gruber suffered a broken left leg in the season finale of the 1999 season, Pierson started the Bucs' playoff contests and made 15 starts in 2000 with Gruber unavailable (the injury led to Gruber's retirement). In 2001, Pierson shared time with George Hegamin at left tackle, appearing in 15 games. Pierson was released by the Bucs in August 2002. He signed with Dungy and the Colts, and appeared in two games as a reserve in his final NFL season. In his nine-year career, Pierson appeared in 121 games and made 21 starts.

References

1971 births Living people American football offensive tackles Washington Huskies football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Indianapolis Colts players Players of American football from Portland, Oregon David Douglas High School alumni {{offensive-lineman-1970s-stub