Buck Pierce Buck James Pierce ( born November 15 , 1981 in Hutchinson , Kansas ) is a professional Canadian football quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League . Pierce signed with the Blue Bombers for the 2010 CFL season after he was released by the BC Lions , the team he spent the first five years of his professional career with . He played college football at New Mexico State from 2001 – 2004 , starting at quarterback for most of his senior year . High school . The son of Tim and Connie Pierce , he attended Del Norte High School , in Crescent City , California . He was a three - year starter at Del Norte , guiding the Warriors to a 16 - 4 record as a junior and senior . He passed for 2 , 225 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior in 1999 , earning Big 5 Conference Most Valuable Player honors for the second consecutive season . He broke the school ’ s single - season and career records for both passing yardage and passing TD ’ s in 1999 . Buck threw for 2 , 010 yards and 19 TD ’ s as a junior in 1998 and 1 , 180 yards and 10 TD ’ s as a sophomore in 1997 . He was voted to the Times Standard North Coast California All - Century team . He qualified for North State meet as a long jumper , leaping better than 22 feet as a junior . He also led DNHS to a pair of league titles as a starting guard on the basketball squad . College career . Pierce attended New Mexico State University , in Las Cruces , New Mexico where he majored in kinesiology . In 2001 , on his first run from scrimmage as a college player , Pierce ripped off a 75 - yard run against Louisville . He did not throw an interception in 2001 and did not throw one in 2002 until the fourth quarter against North Texas ( 11 / 16 ) in the next to last game of the season . Wearing the # 11 jersey , he started seven games as a sophomore , and took the top job in 2004 as a senior . He consistently posted high efficiency ratings as a college quarterback . Professional career . BC Lions . Pierce signed a free agent contract with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League on May 16 , 2005 after being passed over by the Saskatchewan Roughriders . Pierce began the season as the third string quarterback , making his CFL debut on Aug 19 , 2005 versus Hamilton . In this game , he completed all three of his passes and also threw his first CFL touchdown pass , to running back Antonio Warren , in a 39 - 15 win over the Tiger - Cats . After injuries to starter Dave Dickenson and backup Casey Printers , Pierce earned his first career start in Week 16 at Winnipeg ( Oct 10 / 05 ) , a 44 - 23 loss , completing 12 - of - 22 passes for 133 yards . After Casey Printers left for the NFL in 2006 , Pierce was elevated to the backup quarterback position behind Dave Dickenson . Once Dickenson was injured in week 8 against the Edmonton Eskimos , Buck was again elevated to starter status , this time for two straight games and earned his first CFL win as a starter as the team won both games . Dickenson returned only to leave the Sept 24 game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders with post - concussion symptoms , leaving Pierce to start the next game against the Tiger - Cats , also a win . He started each of the next three games until playing poorly in the third game against Hamilton where Dickenson reclaimed his starter ' s position . Pierce went 5 - 1 as a starter as he led the CFL in completion percentage ( 73 . 7 % ) and had the second highest quarterback rating ( 109 . 0 ) . . At the conclusion of the season , Pierce shared in the Lions championship , playing for a few snaps in the 94th Grey Cup . In 2007 , then - starter Dave Dickenson suffered yet another concussion , in week 3 , and Pierce stepped up to assume the role of starting quarterback . By mid - August , Pierce was hobbled by injuries to his ribs , toe , hand , and shoulder , but he persevered in the starting role until finally relinquishing the role to third - stringer Jarious Jackson , who performed well himself . The Lions finished a team record 14 - 3 - 1 , but succumbed to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West Final . Due to his frequent injuries , Pierce has been referred to as the Lions ' " walking bruise " . As of the end of 2007 , he had started 11 games as a Lion , compiling a mark of 7 - 3 - 1 . With Dave Dickenson being released in the off - season , the starting quarterback ' s position was up for grabs for the 2008 season . Following the 2008 pre - season and a tough competition with back - up Jarious Jackson , Pierce was named the BC Lions starting quarterback . Because of an injury in the regular season opener , he acted as the back - up until Jackson ' s ineffective play led to Pierce returning as the starter against Montreal on Labour Day Weekend . After manhandling the Roughriders in the West Semi - Final , he led the Lions to the West Final against Calgary where they were defeated for the fourth time that season . The 2009 season saw Pierce struggle with concussions and shoulder injuries . He was sidelined with the former in week 7 on August 14 in a game against Toronto . He returned to play for the first time in week 12 on September 19 , starting again against Toronto , after Jarious Jackson was injured in the previous game against Montreal . But again , Pierce was besieged with injuries and left the week 16 match - up with Winnipeg , leaving third stringer Travis Lulay to carry out a victory . With Jackson sitting out the rest of the season , head coach Wally Buono opted to sign former CFL MOP Casey Printers . In the Winnipeg game , Lulay had also injured himself towards the end of the game , forcing Buono to start Printers for the final three games of the regular season . When Printers was knocked out of the finale against Edmonton on November 6 , Pierce came in , in relief , and was again knocked out with a shoulder injury . At season end Buono stated that not all five quarterbacks would be back in 2010 . On March 9 , 2010 , Buck Pierce was released by the BC Lions making him a free agent . Winnipeg Blue Bombers . Pierce signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League on April 12 , 2010 . He started Winnipeg ' s opening game of the 2010 CFL season against Hamilton on July 2 , 2010 . Pierce fought through an injury - plagued season , making only five starts with only three of those coming consecutively . Despite backup Steven Jyles playing well in his absence , the Blue Bombers showed their confidence in his progress in the off - season by trading Jyles to the Toronto Argonauts in May 2011 , leaving Pierce the undisputed starter . The 2011 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season began with significant optimsim as the team hoped to make the playoffs after failing to qualify the last two seasons . One of the major questions regarding the teams potential was the health of their starting quarterback Buck Pierce , who had missed 13 games the previous year due to injury . Throughout the season Buck Pierce ' s health would prove to be a minor concern despite taking some viscous hits by defenders . The Blue Bombers jumped out to a 7 - 1 record to start the season , leading the Eastern Conference . After Labour Day Weekend the Bombers began to struggle losing 6 of 9 games entering the final game of the season with a record of 10 - 7 . Statistically Pierce did not have a great season , but he proved that he was a sufficiently healthy quarterback who could win games . The 2012 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season began with a great deal of optimism following the teams trip to the 99th Grey Cup in the previous season . Pierce sustained a leg injury in July which caused him to miss multiple games . In only his second game ( Sep 29 , 2012 ) back from injury Pierce took a violent hit to his head , from which he received a concussion .