INDIANAPOLIS — While the NFL world breathlessly debated Alec Pierce’s future, while talking heads on TV kept throwing out figures about how much he might make on the open market and fans around the league dreamed of putting the Colts free agent in their team’s offense, he was home.
Home. Hanging with his father in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Driving past the field where he played football in third grade, bumping into his high school football coach for a conversation.
By the time he made his decision, Pierce felt a sense of peace.
He knew where he was going to be.
“I knew (Indianapolis) was ultimately the end goal,” Pierce said. “As soon as I knew they were going to be competitive with other teams … it wasn’t going to have to be deciding between somewhere I didn’t necessarily want to be as much, but just a better scenario. As soon as I knew that, it made the decision easier.”
He’d whipped Colts fans into a frenzy the week before.
Pierce made an appearance on the “Up and Adams Show” with Kay Adams on YouTube days before the opening of free agency, sounding to all the world like a wide receiver who was ready to sign with whoever the highest bidder might be.
Truth be told, he didn’t sound like the Alec Pierce who normally keeps a low profile in Indianapolis. There have been times during his Colts career that Pierce could have begged for targets or thrown his quarterback under the bus, but he’s never taken those opportunities.
Free agency requires a different approach.
“It was definitely playing the game a little bit,” Pierce said.
But there was some truth in what Pierce said.
Pierce badly wanted to be in Indianapolis, and he badly wanted to play with Daniel Jones, the quarterback he bonded with quickly on golf courses around central Indiana last summer. For Pierce, a return to the Colts required Jones under center, and the quarterback’s own contract uncertainty left his No. 1 receiver a little worried.
Indianapolis placed the little-used transition tag on Jones, a tag that seemed to leave the quarterback’s future uncertain.
“I was a little confused there for a while,” Pierce said. “I talked with the agents, talked with Chris a little bit, they were like, ‘It’s going to be OK. We’re going to get something done.’ Because I thought it was like, any team can come take him. That had me a little stressed there for a while.”
Pierce also wants to be a No. 1 target.
For most of his career in Indianapolis, he’s been the big-play threat, the wide receiver who can do what few others in the NFL can do: Beat a secondary deep even when everybody knows that’s where he’s going.
But Pierce has always wanted more, and that’s why he’s spent long hours with legendary Colts assistant Reggie Wayne, talking through releases, through separation, through setting up defensive backs and all the nuances necessary to become a complete receiver.
Pierce broke out with 47 catches for 1,003 yards last season, a feat of explosiveness that simply does not happen in the modern NFL, a league where defenses are designed to take away the big play.
He wants to be more.
“That’s something that I know I can do, I believe in it,” Pierce said. The opportunity is now, and it’s there for me to take it. That’s going to be something that I knew was going to come with getting this type of contract, and that was probably the biggest thing I was excited about. Not necessarily, like – the money and all that is great, but I know with that comes the opportunities and the chances to get more balls thrown to you and just affect the game even more.”
The Colts believe Pierce is right, that he can be a true No. 1 receiver, the kind of receiver who’s asked to do everything.
That’s why they handed him a four-year deal worth up to $116 million, a deal that includes $60 million fully guaranteed and $84 million in guarantees overall.
“The intermediate stuff, the way he’s coming in and out of breaks at the top of routes, the comebacks, the one-on-ones on the outside, running in-breaking stuff, he’s made a lot of strides in all those areas,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said.
All Pierce needed to know was that the Colts wanted him.
And that they were going to bring back his quarterback. His agents knew Pierce wanted to be in Indianapolis, and even though there was at least one team offering him more money to go elsewhere, they knew where he wanted to be.
“They kept telling me, they said, ‘We’re not going to let you get out of Indy,’” Pierce said. “’We want you to be a Colt.’”
A process that seemed so complicated was essentially over for Pierce in two days.
He’s back in Indianapolis, back doing what he loves to do.
Play football. Work hard. Hang with the guys.
“I love OTAs,” Pierce said. “Favorite time of the year, because you have these little half-days, you’ve got all this time on your hands in the afternoon. Everyone’s in town, so I try to do something every day.”
That’s how he got to this point.
Pierce built his relationship with Jones in OTAs, built his relationship with Wayne, kept getting better until his importance to the Colts was undeniable. There were times early in his career when Pierce wasn’t getting the ball, when the fan base wasn’t sure they wanted him around, that he could have let his confidence be shaken.
Pierce kept his head down and kept working.
Because even when he felt like he wasn’t on schedule, he could always think back to his hometown, to his family, to playing sports with his brothers, Justin and Caden, who weren’t home this week because they’re playing 3-on-3 together with Team USA in Thailand.
“It’s really special to look back,” Pierce said. “That’s something I always try to do, because I feel like sometimes you get caught in such a growth mindset. … That’s when you can get kind of down. You’re like, ‘Oh, I know I want to be here, and I’m no quite there yet, and I need to do this, do this, do this.’ … But sometimes you’ve got to look back and look at how far you’ve come.”
Pierce has come a long, long way.
Far enough that he’s earned the right to stay right where he wants to be.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Playing the game, transition tag and targets; why Alec Pierce is still with Colts
Reporting by Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
