Ravens' Michael Pierce reveals hilarious reason why he didn't run after INT vs. Browns

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Down 35-10 to the Baltimore Ravens with just under three minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, Bailey Zappe and the Cleveland Brown were looking to get something, anything, going to end the 2024 NFL season with something positive to hang their hats on.

Dropping back on 2nd and 6, Zappe looked right, looked left, and then threw the ball right into the hands of 345-pound Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce, who looked like he might follow in Nate Wiggins’ footsteps from earlier in the night before he promptly dropped to the floor and celebrated his turnover.

What gives? Why didn’t Pierce run with his chance to make NFL history as the latest nose tackle to do something incredible on a turnover? Well, because Pierce didn’t want to become a meme for doing something silly on his all-time great NFL play and ruin what could be a special moment, as he explained to reporters after the game.

“Why didn’t I try for six? So there’s a long history of turning big guy interceptions and fumbles and all that stuff into memes,” Pierce joked with reporters. “So, at the risk of ruining a career play like that for myself, I thought, ‘It’s time to go home.’ So the bus was out of gas, we’re good. I’m glas I caught it more importantly.”

Is Pierce’s fear warranted? Oh yeah, in a major way, as there are plenty of moments where a lineman suddenly flashed back to their Pop Warner days and decided to try to play running back on an ill-advised return attempt. Fortunately, Pierce kept his composure and left the game with a pretty impressive highlight to show for his efforts.

And the best part? It will still be shown all over social media and on Sportscenter, even if it won’t have the same legs as a silly gaffe.

Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Michael Pierce put the Ravens first after Bailey Zappe INT

Asked how it felt to pick off a pass to borderline guarantee his team a trip to the playoffs, Pierce didn’t want to curse. With that being said, he felt pretty freakin’ good about the moment, as he did what his coaches have long told him to do in that exact situation.

“I’m gonna be honest, I don’t want to curse a lot on TV, but oh s-word, you know what I’m saying? Like oh my word, he really threw this football,” Pierce told reporters. “So I’ve got fairly decent hands, I’m glad I caught it, and like I said, coach preaches smart football, and like I said, I don’t want to end up on a meme on Instagram, my wife and everybody laughing at me, so we did the right thing and we got down and kept it moving.”

Unsurprisingly, Pierce’s big play marked his first-ever interception in the NFL, a major accomplishment for any nose tackle, especially one with 102 games in his career, including four playoff contests. While it’s unlikely he’ll do it two weeks in a row, he is at least guaranteed game 103 next week as the AFC North Champions, which is probably more important to the Samford product anyway.

The post Ravens’ Michael Pierce reveals hilarious reason why he didn’t run after INT vs. Browns appeared first on ClutchPoints.

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