James Pearce Jr.

Early life

Pearce Jr. was born and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended Julius L. Chambers High School in Charlotte. As a senior, he had 14.5 sacks and two interceptions. He helped lead his team to back-to-back North Carolina 4AA state championships in 2019 and 2020. A four-star prospect, he committed to the University of Tennessee to play college football.

College career

As a true freshman at Tennessee in 2022, Pearce Jr. played in all 13 games and had five tackles and two sacks. He returned to Tennessee for his sophomore year in 2023. During the 2023 season, he tied with two others in the SEC for the most sacks with ten and fifth in the SEC regarding tackles for loss. In the Citrus Bowl against Iowa, he recorded a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Legal issues

In December of 2023, Pearce was arrested in Knoxville and charged with speeding, driving on a suspended license, failure to present insurance, registration improperly displayed and improper window tinting, which were all labeled as misdemeanors. Pearce’s charges were dropped on December 12, 2023, and the license, insurance and window tinting charges were dismissed while the speeding charge was dismissed after Pearce paid costs of $278.

On February 7, 2026, Pearce was arrested in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on two charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of aggravated stalking, with the victim being WNBA player Rickea Jackson. He was also charged with fleeing and eluding police officers, aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence to his person.

On April 8, 2026, Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said that Pearce would not be with the team at the start of the voluntary offseason workout program as a result of his ongoing legal issues.