Antonio Pierce

Antonio Durran Pierce (born October 26, 1978) is a retired American football linebacker who played in the National Football League for nine seasons. He played college football for the University of Arizona. He was signed by the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent, and also played for the New York Giants. He is currently the head coach at Long Beach Polytechnic High School.

Early years

Pierce played high school football at Paramount High School in Paramount, California. He played two years of football at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California, before transferring to the University of Arizona. As a senior at Arizona, he had three sacks, 77 tackles (ten for losses), two forced fumbles, one interception, and one blocked kick.

Pierce was not taken in the 2001 NFL Draft after his senior year at Arizona because many NFL scouts considered him too undersized to play linebacker in the NFL.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2001. He played in all 16 games as a rookie, with only eight starts. He recorded 52 tackles, one sack, and one interception during his rookie campaign. The interception came against Jake Plummer. Over the next two seasons, Pierce played sporadically, recording only 18 and 15 tackles respectively, during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. It was not until the 2004 season, his fourth in the league, that he played a full season replacing the injured Micheal Barrow. That season Pierce logged a career high 114 tackles, 95 of them solo. He also had one forced fumble, one sack and two interceptions, including a pick off Ken Dorsey returned 76 yards for a touchdown.