Every time Alec Pierce wears painted cleats, he scores a touchdown.
Against the Dallas Cowboys in 2022, his rookie season? Touchdown, and a season-high 86 receiving yards.
Against the Tennessee Titans in 2023? Touchdown, and his first game with 100 receiving yards.
Week 13 against the New England Patriots in 2024? Touchdown, setting up the game-winning two-point conversion.
All three games were that season's "My Cause, My Cleats" game. And so, in each game, Pierce wore custom-painted cleats to represent a cause the wide receiver holds close to his heart.
His rookie year, it was the We Play for 3 Foundation in honor of his close friend, Ally Sidloski, who was a soccer player at the University of Cincinnati who passed away in 2021. In 2023, it was the Riley Children’s Foundation, in honor of his friend Peyton for whom he constantly wears a pink rubber bracelet.
In 2024, Pierce again changed the foundation he wanted to represent; this time, it was for his mother, Stephanie.
When Pierce was in middle school, Stephanie was diagnosed with breast cancer. She survived the cancer and is now in remission, and her courage has been a constant source of inspiration for Pierce ever since.
The cleats he donned for the Colts' game against the New England Patriots were pink, for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, with the lettering "SKP8" near the heel. SKP, of course, being Stephanie's initials, and the number eight in honor of the number she wore when she played volleyball at Northwestern University.
Perhaps it was fate, then, that Pierce's touchdown set up an eight-point play, as the Colts went for the two-point conversion instead of the PAT, beating the Patriots 25-24.
Before Pierce took the field on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, he made a joke with his quarterback about the success he's had the past few years. Anthony Richardson remembered it.
Now, of course, the fact that Pierce was the one to score the touchdown that set the Colts to win Sunday's game was more due to his speed separating him from Patriots safety Kyle Dugger than anything.
But that doesn't mean it meant any less.
"It was pretty cool to see him score a touchdown," Richardson said.
"We know we've got fast guys that can run away from defenders, and I just trusted AP and Pitt (Michael Pittman Jr.) to get across the field," the quarterback added, explaining the play call. "And I was just waiting for one of those guys to pop open and I threw it to AP."
Pierce felt Dugger behind him and knew he had to "step on it" to put enough distance between the two of them to give Richardson the confidence to throw the ball. He did, and Richardson got the ball out in front of Pierce, allowing the wide receiver to stretch out and come down with the ball. But he also came down with Dugger right on top of him, so he did the only thing he could think of: he just laid there on his side, eyes shut and arms tightly wrapped around the football, not moving until his teammates came over and got him up.
"I just didn't want to lose the ball," Pierce said. "His hand was trapped in there, so I didn't want to flip it out and then you go to review and – I wanted there to be no doubt."
After all, he couldn't break his streak of scoring in special cleats; it was sort of a thing now.
"It's always a pretty special thing," Pierce said with a wide smile. "It brings a little bit of – it feels like they're with me."
Entering the 2024 season, Pierce had four career touchdowns. His touchdown on Sunday marked his fifth of this season.
From Week 1, when Richardson connected with Pierce for an eye-popping, jaw-dropping 60-yard touchdown, Pierce's skills as a deep-ball receiver have been on display. But as the weeks have passed, Pierce has continued to work hard every day to make sure that's not the only thing he's known for. Now, he's proven he's as much of a threat for three-yard touchdown passes as he is for big plays downfield.
"He's taken advantage of the opportunity that's given to him," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. "He hasn't had a game where he had a whole lot of receptions or targets, and he's made those opportunities count. And he just approaches each and every day ready to work. He always talks about when he gets his opportunity he's going to make the most of it, and he does."
Of course, Pierce doesn't have to wear custom cleats to have a good game. His normal, nondescript white ones work perfectly fine. But there's something about those special cleats that, for the last three years, has given the wide receiver just a little bit of added motivation to succeed while wearing a reminder of his loved ones.
That was exactly what the Colts needed on Sunday.
