Chase Stewart | Staff Reporter
Posted June 17, 2014; 1:45 p.m.
Photo from lindenwoodlions.com
Former Lindenwood Lions’ standout, two-time Division II All-American and Cliff Harris award winner Pierre Desir signed a four-year $2.63 million contract with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League on Thursday, May 29.
The 23 year-old Haitian native became the first Lindenwood Lion football player ever to be drafted in the NFL’s annual first-year player draft. Desir was selected by the Cleveland Browns on May 10, the third day of the NFL draft, with the 127th overall selection and the 27th pick of the fourth round.
Desir was the first of the Browns’ six draft selections to agree to terms of a contract. Desir’s four-year deal included a $407, 612 signing bonus. However, for Desir, the significance of signing a NFL contract goes much further than monetary value.
“I am very thankful that the Cleveland Browns have given me the opportunity to live out this dream. But now the real work starts, and I am excited to prove to the Browns that I deserve this contract,” Desir said.
The real work has already begun for Desir and other rookies as the Cleveland Browns held rookie mini-camp May 16-18. The mini-camp gives newly acquired rookies the opportunity to begin to learn the Cleveland Browns’ system and get acclimated to the organization before the veterans arrive to practice during Organized Team Activities; simply known as OTA’s.
The Browns began OTA’s on May 20 and they will continue until June 6. The Browns will finish this portion of the offseason with the mandatory veteran player mini-camp June 10-12. The players will continue their offseason training away from the Browns’ facility until the Browns open their 2014 training camp on July 25.
Desir is slated to begin training camp as the fourth cornerback on the Browns’ depth chart and has the opportunity to compete and earn serious playing time in the 2014 season. Desir knows that he will have to put his best foot forward every day in order to earn playing time as a rookie. “There are already some really gifted corners in the building, so I know in order to play as a rookie that I will have to work very hard and play well day in and day out. I am focused on improving as a player and taking it all one day at a time.”
