Getty Rookie wide receiver Alec Pierce says he had a feeling that he was going to the Indianapolis Colts on draft day.
Wide receiver Alec Pierce is now a member of the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts selected the wideout, who played in college at Cincinnati, with the No. 53 overall pick in the second round.
The pick didn’t come completely out of nowhere for Pierce. He says something on April 29 was telling him the Colts were going to pick him. Then, he received a premonition from a pretty unlikely source.
“I kind of had a gut feeling on the Colts,” Pierce said during his introductory press conference with the media. “I don’t know what it was, and I did have a buddy predict it. He texted me earlier saying, ‘you’re going to the Colts man. I had a feeling.’
“It was awesome. It was really a place I wanted to go. It’s great.”
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Alec Pierce Receives Correct Draft Prediction from Barber
Later in his introductory interview, Pierce said the “buddy” who correctly predicted he was going to Indianapolis was his barber.
“He said he got a message from God,” Pierce said. “He wanted me to go to the Bengals, so he could keep cutting my hair, and he’s been praying for me to go to the Bengals.
“But he said God told him I was going to the Colts.”
After the Colts selected Pierce, the rookie wide receiver says he also received a text message from an unknown number. The message said it was “Matt with the Colts.”
“I was like, is that Matt Ryan or what not? I have a feeling it was him because anyone else would probably be putting their last name on there,” said Pierce.
“He’s a guy that I grew up watching a lot. The Falcons, I loved watching Julio Jones as a kid, so that was really awesome to watch Matt Ryan with him and hopefully I can be like a new Julio for him.”
Assuming that text message was from Ryan, the Colts quarterback congratulated Pierce through a text and on social media. Ryan, with the help of his twin sons, posted a video on Twitter saying he couldn’t “wait to get to work” with the young wideout.
Alec Pierce Also Says He Watched Reggie Wayne Growing Up
In addition to Jones, Pierce added that as a kid he also watched new Colts wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne. Pierce sounds excited about train under Wayne as a rookie.
“Just trying to soak in everything,” Pierce said in regards to what he’s hoping to learn from Wayne. “Learn how to become a great wide receiver like he was and play for that long and be that successful for that long in a career.”
The second-round wideout finished his college career at Cincinnati with 106 catches, 1,851 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. As a senior last season, he posted 52 receptions for 884 yards and eight scores.
Pierce says he models his game after AJ Green and Jordy Nelson. Green was the No. 4 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, but Nelson was also a second-round pick like Pierce.
For the Colts, Pierce will at least provide some much-needed depth at wide receiver this season. It’s also possible that he starts opposite Michael Pittman Jr.
Pierce will unfortunately have to find a new barber in Indianapolis, but from a football perspective, his new city is a great fit. He will have a chance to carve out a major role right away with the Colts.