The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Making all the major tackles
Norwalk native Pierre-Louis is finding success on, off the field
The words came through the phone with all the ferocity of one of Kevin PierreLouis’ 167 career regularseason tackles in the NFL.
The Norwalk native and Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year as a senior at King followed up a successful collegiate career at Boston College with a three-year run with the Seattle Seahawks. After his final season in Seattle in 2016, Pierre-Louis had one-year stints with Kansas City, the New York Jets, Chicago Bears and this season with Washington.
His home base happened to be whatever city he was playing in. That all changed a couple of weeks ago when Pierre-Louis and his wife closed on a home in Fairfield County.
“I’m staying close to know what I know. It’s going to be great to call that home again,” Pierre-Louis said.
Pierre-Louis, who is second on Washington with 39 tackles, just may have
found a professional football home as well. Playing for his fifth NFL franchise in the last five seasons, the 29-year-old needs three tackles in Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys to set a season high for tackles, and the season won’t be even halfway over. After starting once in his first 68 NFL regular-season games, Pierre-Louis could make his 10th consecutive start against the rival Cowboys. The first three came in place of the injured Roquan Smith with Chicago in 2019 before signing with Washington in March.
The move didn’t make front-page news, but with 22 solo tackles and 17 assists through the first six games, Pierre-Louis has the chance to be one of the best freeagent signings in 2020.
“When I watched the tape last year, I saw a guy that, to me, looked like a light had kind of gone on,” Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said. “He looked very comfortable in the snaps he played later in the year. He played with certainty and he played with explosiveness. I was drawn to that. We added him and he’s been everything I hoped he would be. He’s been terrific. He’s bright. He works at it, he’s really got explosive speed, can really run and he’s been a good fit in the defense with the things we’re asking him to do. I’m very happy with the way he’s been working.”
Pierre-Louis had four tackles as Washington topped Philadelphia in the season opener for the lone win of the season. The following week he set career highs with 10 solo tackles, 16 total tackles and 75 defensive snaps played. He had four games in his first five NFL seasons when he was on the field for at least half of the defensive snaps. Now that he’s been on the field for all but three defensive snaps in the first two games for the first time in his career, he was viewed as more than just a specialteams performer who can spell one of the starting linebackers.
So is this what he was envisioning?
“You’re never really sure,” Pierre-Louis said. “This is my seventh year, I’ve seen a bunch of things happen where you’re going into OTAs (organized team activities), you’re in one position and you go into camp and they’ll switch your positions. I just wanted an opportunity and I wanted to do what I can to make sure I’m part of the choices that are being made out there. I can’t say that I assumed things would be the way they are but I knew there was going to be an opportunity.”
Pierre-Louis capped off a brilliant college career with 108 tackles and six sacks as a senior at Boston College in 2013. The Walter Camp Connecticut Player of the Year was the 132nd pick in the 2014 NFL draft, and five linebackers picked ahead of him are out of the league. Pierre-Louis is playing the best football of his career at the age of 29.
At first glance, it might appear as if the annual change of NFL teams might indicate he was on the verge of bidding adieu to the NFL. However, in most cases, he was a player who was valued by his current squad only for him to be the one to make the move.
“It’s easier going to different teams being my choice, but the tough part is different schemes,” PierreLouis said. “You play the same defense but the technique is different on certain things so there may be times when how I play the technique somewhere else and not how they want me to do that at some other place.”
Pierre-Louis has faced and seemingly overcome bigger and more important challenges than anything thrown at him on the field.
The Feb. 22, 1996, edition of the Norwalk Hour has the details of Kevin’s mother, Tabatha Rowley, shooting his father. Twenty years later, Pierre-Louis went public with not only how he dealt with that incident as a 5-year-old but facing his battle with depression in a story in the Seattle Times.
Four years later, he believes that was the right time for him to let the world in on what he has dealt with behind closed doors.
“It changed my life,” Pierre-Louis said. “It went a lot better than I assumed it would. Once I was able to open up, secretly people would come to me, sometimes fellow teammates, staff members, people outside of organizations let me know how great it was to come out and it was good for them to see. They had struggled with certain things and with me being open, maybe they weren’t able to talk to other people, they were nervous and, ‘OK, now I know what he’s going through is something similar to me so I want to know how he copes with all of this.’
“Being able to talk to others has been a blessing because there are a lot of people that struggle in their own way. Sometimes we think we’re alone and sometimes you want to talk to somebody else and once you start talking to other people, now people realize that this person next to you is going through similar things that I’m going through.
“I felt like it was the right time. You’re kind of in denial; I was taught that everything was mental so this is what I had to go through (in) stages and when I was finally able to be honest with myself, that’s when I knew I could talk about this because I could just be real about what I’m feeling instead of hiding it, so the right time was the right time.”
There are plenty of stories about the pandemic wreaking havoc on people with depression. PierreLouis has been able to come through these trying times with a positive frame of mind.
“At this point, I know what it is and I just have to do what I have to do to stay on top of things,” PierreLouis said. “If I realize that there’s a lower point than normal, I need to talk so I’m not afraid to reach out, so during these times it’s making sure I’m not afraid to speak up. That’s the biggest thing, some people are alone, unfortunately, but my wife is at home so I have somebody to talk to, but some people don’t have somebody at home, so you can’t be afraid to speak up.”
Pierre-Louis, the Fairfield County athletic prodigy who first found success on the basketball court, was contemplating joining the Marines out of college. That all changed as he emerged into an NFL prospect.
But he never envisioned being a face or a sounding board for those suffering from depression or dealing with other mental health issues.
“It’s humbling to know that I might be a light for that person,” Pierre-Louis said. “I might be a person who might take a little bit of those feelings away.”
Mental health advocate, starting NFL linebacker and a Connecticut homeowner — it hasn’t always been an easy path but Pierre-Louis is making things work, even during a chaotic, COVID-dominated year.