Former Browns draft pick Pierre Desir finally found a home in Indianapolis

Pierre Desir

Former Browns draft pick Pierre Desir has found a home with the Colts. (John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer)The Plain Dealer

INDIANAPOLIS -- It’s easy to look back now, but Pierre Desir has learned to be thankful that he got cut by the Browns in 2016.

Desir was a fourth-round pick in 2014. His path to the NFL, becoming the first player ever to get drafted out of Division II Lindenwood University, was tough enough. What has happened ever since might be just as unlikely.

The Browns waived Desir on roster cutdown day prior to the 2016 season. He appeared in 19 games with the Browns and started seven. It was a difficult two years. Grading website ProFootballFocus.com gave him a season-long grade of 47.3 in 2015 and a coverage grade of 42.2. He was playing safety at times during his 2016 training camp.

That first experience in the NFL -- getting drafted by a team and then cut within two-and-a-half years, was a wakeup call to the realities of the league.

“I learned firsthand that it’s a business and that there’s some things that, as a player, you have to be aware of because it’s a business,” Desir said in an interview Thursday with cleveland.com, “but, at the end of the day, you have to worry about your job, what you can control and take it day by day.”

Things really got interesting for Desir after the Browns cut him. He signed with the Chargers on September 4, 2016, only to be waived on October 22 and re-signed on October 25. He was waived four days later and signed to Seattle’s practice squad on November 2. The Seahawks signed him to a reserve/futures contract the following January.

The Seahawks waived him on September 2, 2017.

That’s cut four times, including twice by the same team, in just under a year. Desir remained determined the whole time.

“I wasn't going to quit until I found somewhere to stick,” he said.

Pierre Desir

Pierre Desir has found a home with the Colts. (AP Photo, AJ Mast)AP

He didn’t have to wait long. The Colts claimed him the day after the Seahawks cut him. He has been with them ever since. He played in 9 games with 6 starts in 2017. He appeared in all 16 games last season, including 12 starts. This offseason, he signed a three-year extension worth $25 million, including $12 million in guarantees.

Landing with the Colts was a culmination of learning experiences for Desir. What he discovered after the Browns cut him is that, while it’s easy to blame someone else, sometimes you have to look in the mirror and figure out what you’re doing wrong. He had to learn to be a professional football player, how to watch film, how to take care of his body, how to take criticism and take advice.

Even though he never got on the field for them, he credits his time spent with the vaunted Seahawks secondary for getting his career pointed in the right direction. Being around players like Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor helped him understand the game better.

“Being around those guys really gave me a new outlook on how to play the game,” Desir said. “I got that fire back on wanting to play, look at the game differently. I loved it there, just talking so much as a player and as a person and eventually I just took that with me and kept it running.”

More simply, they gave him something he needed.

“When I was in Seattle I was around some great guys that believed and put a sense of confidence in my game that I took with me,” he said.

Even with the extension in hand, Desir knows the NFL is a day-to-day league. They’re always looking to replace you, he says. But all those times losing his job and waiting for the next call have made him hyper aware of the business side of the game. He goes back to one of those classic NFL sayings (and a favorite of his first coach in the league, Mike Pettine): Control what you can control. Let the rest take care of itself.

Desir is currently listed as a starter on the Colts unoffical depth chart. Listed right behind him: second round pick Rock Ya-Sin. That’s how it is for Desir. The battle for his NFL survival never really ends.

“Yeah, (I’m) just a little bit of survivor,” he said, “but I love this game and I wasn’t going to stop until I found a place and I found a home.”


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