CHENEY – When it comes to passing the so-called “eye test,” Terreal Bierria looks more comfortable in a pair of basketball shorts than football pads.
He is, after all, a lanky 6-foot-3, 211-pounder with arms that seem to touch the sky.
But when it’s time to start knocking people around, the Seattle Seahawks’ strong safety doesn’t plan on dishing out any touch fouls.
“I’ve been playing football since I was 7 years old, and people always say that I looked thin for the position,” the 23-year-old said. “But I’m strong. People underestimate how strong I am until I actually get on them.”
The Seahawks are hoping that Bierria’s sneaky strength and obvious height will be a bonus in the Seattle secondary. Although he still has to beat out rookie Michael Boulware for the official starting job, Bierria is likely to work with the No. 1 defense when the Seahawks face Green Bay in Monday night’s preseason opener.
“He might look thin to (outsiders) maybe, but we’ve seen him in the offseason,” cornerback Bobby Taylor said. “He’s a guy that will stick it in there and get his face a little dirty.”
Bierria’s frame leads many to believe he’s a basketball player, which is why the coaches at Salmen High School in Slidell, La., tried to convince him to play on the hardwood. He tried it for a short period of time before going back to his first love.
“I love contact,” Bierria said. “That’s why basketball wasn’t the No. 1 sport for me, because I’ll foul out too fast. I love the aggression of football.”
In addition to sticking out height-wise, Bierria made his presence known for Salmen, amassing 111 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions as a senior. The University of Georgia came calling, and he was in the starting lineup by his sophomore year.
Bierria started 21 games for the Bulldogs before opting to leave school following his junior season.
“I was a little disappointed when he left early because I thought he could be a tremendous player,” said Georgia secondary coach Willie Martinez, who coached Bierria during his junior year. “… He played his butt off for us. He was a productive player .”
Bierria claims to have run the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds in front of NFL scouts, raising his draft stock in the process. The wiry safety also bench-pressed 225 pounds 19 times.
But Bierria was seen as a raw prospect, lasting until the second day of the draft. The Seahawks selected him in the fourth round and knew they would have to be patient with his development.
“I don’t ever look back,” Bierria said of entering the draft early. “I made that decision, and that’s the decision I was happy with and am still happy with.”
An ankle injury slowed Bierria down during his rookie year, but he did play in 14 games as a special teamer. Last summer, with a chance to work into the rotation at either free or strong safety, Bierria got bit by the injury bug again.
A shoulder injury suffered in the third preseason game landed him on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
“Unfortunately, injuries are a part of the game,” he said. “But being out of the game last year, it really brought that appreciation back. Cherish the moment while you’re playing.
“That really brought me back down to earth.”
Defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes had liked what he had seen of Bierria during the previous summer, so he decided to give the lanky safety a crack at the starting lineup this training camp.
“He never really got a chance to show what kind of a football player he could be,” defensive backs coach Teryl Austin said. “We’re going to make sure that we can find out what he can do. I just want to see what he can do, make it out of this camp and into the season, and then we’ll see.”
Bierria fits the Seahawks’ prototype because of his size. Seattle’s other three top safeties – Ken Hamlin, Damien Robinson and Boulware – are all 6-foot-2 and at least 210 pounds. That kind of build helps prevent passes from getting over the secondary.
“I’m tall and rangy,” Bierria said, “so that always was an advantage.”
That kind of height comes in handy on the basketball court, too. But don’t mistake Bierria for a hoopster. He’s one guy who can never get enough of the gridiron.
“The film doesn’t lie,” he said. “After I get out there and start hitting, people are going to see that I can hit.”
Just because he’s skinny, Bierria doesn’t shy away from contact.
“Who cares how you look? It’s more important what you do in between the lines,” said Taylor, a 6-3, 216-pound cornerback for the Seahawks. “You can be a big guy and be able to run; you can be a slim guy and hit hard.
“That whole perception of having the big muscles and looking like a body builder? Most of those guys couldn’t bust a grape.”
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