Kevin Pierre-Louis has been feared on a football field ever since he first put pads on in Pop Warner, but the fourth-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks has a softer side off the field and has stayed humble despite reaching a goal most rarely achieve.
Pierre-Louis said that he works even harder since being drafted, as he doesn't want to prove the Seahakws wrong for believing in him.
"I've seen so many examples of the right things to do, and I just want to be that person for someone else," said Pierre-Louis. The extremely gifted linebacker's ego hasn't grown out of control even though his play has shown what a bright star he was even at a young age.
"My first impression of him the first time I saw him in a Pop Warner football game was they should probably get him off the field before he kills someone on the other team," said Dan Gouin, Pierre-Louis' former high school football coach. Gouin said Pierre-Louis was a really shy kid when he first met him, but he never needed attention, and in many ways that's what made him so special. He attended King Low Heywood Thomas in Stamford, Conn., and despite his incredible play in high school always wanted the spotlight on his teammates.
Pierre-Louis had a strong bond with his high school coach and has seen first-hand the talented players he had helped in the years before. The first school to recruit him was Boston College, and it wasn't until he attended their football camp that he realized he could play at the next level.
Pierre-Louis decided to attend Boston College where he would start all four seasons at linebacker for the Eagles. "I always knew football was going to end one day, and going to a school like King and having the father that I had who always emphasized education, I had singled my college decisions down to Stanford and Boston College," said Pierre-Louis.
The Seahawks linebacker is consistently working to better himself as a player but has told himself he can always make time to learn something new. Pierre-Louis said he always wanted to learn to cook but thought it would be too difficult and decided to try baking. "I am going to find one day a week and I'm going to do everything from scratch," said Pierre-Louis.
The 24-year-old out of Norwalk, Conn., has continued to stay humble and work hard after achieving a dream most rarely accomplish, but that hasn't stopped him from moving forward. The Seahawks' second-year linebacker has 31 combined tackles in two seasons and played his best game against Carolina earlier in the year with 11 tackles and a pass defended. While Pierre-Louis has continued to excel on the field at each level he has played at, he has stayed focused on his future at the same time.
Pierre-Louis graduated from Boston College with a degree in marketing and is already working toward his future during the offseason. The linebacker said he has joined a program through the NFL in which he will go down to the University of Miami this offseason. "I'm starting my MBA this offseason," responded Pierre-Louis when asked about his future plans. "It's an executive MBA program that I am starting this February."
Pierre-Louis has been a Rambler, a Viking, an Eagle, and a Seahawk throughout his football career, but no matter where he has been he has continued to work hard and stay humble and is only at the beginning of his journey with plenty left to accomplish.
