INDIANAPOLIS – There’s no ‘Nintendo theory’ to Alec Pierce.
The theory, coined by Colts area scout Chad Henry, refers to today’s younger generation with other distractions (i.e. video games) keeping them away from daily trips outside to throw and catch a little bit of everything.
Pierce, though, has a very natural athletic look, which makes sense given his family makeup (Pierce’s mom and dad were Division 1 athletes and both his brothers played/are playing college basketball).
“You can tell he’s done it,” Henry says of Pierce’s innate ability to locate, and come down with, the ball.
“He’s done that playing volleyball. His ball skills are really good that way and his timing, his timing and ability to track the ball, and I think that transfers.
“He’s really competitive. He’s got really good ball skills. He’s like a basketball player on the outside, (with) competitive balls.”
Chris Ballard saw Pierce firsthand making such a play in Cincinnati’s road victory over Indiana last September.
It was the type of play a guy like A.J. Green has made, and that’s a player Pierce likes to model his game after.
Another popular name thrown out in comparisons with Pierce (6-3 and 211 pounds) is former Pro Bowler Jordy Nelson (6-3 and 217)
“Jordy Nelson was mentioned (as a comp) a couple of times, but (Pierce’s) unique in his own was,” Colts Director of Player Personnel Kevin Rogers says. “He’s a vertical guy, go up and get the football. I think he’s probably a little more flexible than Jordy. Jordy was probably a little more polished on the underneath stuff, but we think that Alec will develop in that respect.”
So much of the Colts evaluation on Pierce came back to that background.
From Pierce’s father (Greg, who played football at Northwestern), to his mother (Stephanie, who played volleyball at Northwestern), his older brother (Justin, who played basketball at William & Mary and North Carolina) and his younger brother (Caden, who will be a freshman on the Princeton basketball team this fall), Alec was never going to be one rotting away on the basement couch.
“This guy’s wired to compete,” Henry says of the team’s second-round pick. “It doesn’t matter if he’s going out there with a bunch of schoolchildren playing against the best team in the world, he’s going to try to compete, he’s going to try to win all the time. I think that translates well coming into our league.”
