Howell Central alum Pierre Desir recently finished his rookie season in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns. He was drafted by the Browns in the fourth round, 127 overall in the draft.

While at FHC, Desir was an all-conference, all-district, and all-state selection. He was voted first team all-league player during his junior and senior year, an all-metro selection, was named special teams player of the year in his senior year, and was ranked number 17 in the nation by Tom Lemming in 2007.

Desir went into the draft as a Division II player, a hill that he had to climb in order to be recognized. According to Desir, the hill wasn’t too big.

“I didn’t feel overshadowed, I just felt that they played on a bigger stage. They did have a little bit more experience than I did,” Desir said. “Everyone is mostly coming from bigger schools, I just knew that my time was going to come and I’m very pleased that the Cleveland Browns picked me.”

Desir was activated on Nov. 30 in Cleveland’s game against the Buffalo Bills and played a total of five games this season.

“My reaction to when I first got activated was just very excited, I really couldn’t sleep,” Desir said. “I was just ready to go out there and help my team. I was definitely nervous, I was trying to soak it all in. I took the time to step back and just enjoy that moment.”

According to Desir, he believes that he made a lot of progress in his rookie year, and he thinks that he has adjusted well to NFL play.

“It is definitely a learning process, its a day-by-day thing, and it’s a lot faster than college,” Desir said. “I still have some things I need to work on, but I’m very excited about the progress I made throughout the season, and I’m looking forward to next season.”

Adjusting to a whole new city can be tough for a professional athlete, especially one that is just starting up their career, but Desir finds that moving to Cleveland was an easy adjustment to make.

“The best part of Cleveland would be the fans, there is great food in Cleveland, but I would say the people there are the best,” Desir said.

According to Desir, he’s living nearly every young child’s dream of playing the sport they love professionally and hopes to have a fulfilling career.

“I’m doing what I love, I’m playing football and this is what I love to do,” Desir said. “I don’t consider it as my job, it’s just something I love to do and I hope to continue doing it for a long time. The worst part, I’d say is that every team doesn’t make it to the playoffs. I would definitely love to play a little longer, but there really isn’t any bad parts to it.”

Although the Browns didn’t make it to the playoffs this year, Desir is excited to see what next year brings.

“You can expect a smarter player, I got a year under my belt and now I know what to expect,” Desir said. “I’m ready to go out there and make an impact in the NFL.”