Ravens’ Michael Pierce explains why he avoided a chance to return an interception for a touchdown

Baltimore Ravens defensive end Michael Pierce intercepted the first pass of his career Saturday in the team’s dominant win over the Cleveland Browns.

Pierce’s layup of Bailey Zappe ended the game for good. Pierce caught the pass and appeared to have a gap if he wanted to try to return it for a touchdown. But after scrambling six yards, the 355-pound player surrendered with a slide and celebrated instead.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS REPORTS ON FOXNEWS.COM

Pierce was asked why he didn’t return the ball.

“There’s a long history of turning big guy interceptions and fumbles and all that stuff into memes,” he said, via NFL.com. “At the risk of ruining my career like that, it’s time to go home. So the bus is out of gas. We’re good.”

Pierce joined the Ravens in 2016 as an undrafted free agent. He became the starter in 2017 and played one season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2021 before returning to the Ravens. Saturday’s game was his 99th in his career.

BENGALS DEFENSE STRENGTHENS TO KEEP PLAYOFF CHANCE SMALL IN SEASON FINALE

I’m glad I caught him, more importantly, he added. “I’ll be honest — I don’t want to swear a lot on TV — but oh man, you know what I’m saying? Oh my God, he really threw this football.

“I’ve got pretty decent hands. I’m glad I caught it, and like I said, the coach preaches smart football, and like I said, I don’t want to end up on an Instagram meme, my wife and everybody laughing so we did the right matter and continued on.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Baltimore won the game 35-10 (view, professional).

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports broadcast on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.