Pearce Spurlin III
Pearce Spurlin III is an American college football tight end, a four-star Georgia signee whose career was halted by a heart condition in 2024 before he returned with Colorado State in 2026.
Sourcing: strong 4 news · 1 official · 2 reference · 3 social
Pearce Spurlin III is an American college football tight end.[1][2]
Recruitment and Georgia
Spurlin played high school football at South Walton High School, and Colorado State lists his hometown as Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.[3] He was in the class of 2023. 247Sports ranked him the No. 2 tight end in the nation, the No. 18 player in Florida and the No. 72 player overall.[2] Sports Illustrated, citing composite rankings, gave the same rankings and called him a four-star prospect.[4] Colorado State's roster biography calls him the No. 3 tight end recruit of his class.[3] He said a viral recruiting video drew attention to him. He committed to Georgia about two months after it offered him a scholarship and gained about 70 pounds, going from 175 to 245 pounds.[1]
As a true freshman in 2023 he played in six games as a reserve tight end and caught three passes for 60 yards.[4][5]
Heart condition
In February 2024 doctors told him he could no longer play football because of a congenital heart condition.[2] He stayed with the Georgia team and on scholarship, without playing, for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.[2] On March 12, 2024, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart announced that Spurlin would take a medical designation because he was "too much at risk."[1] In August 2025 he had surgery at the Cleveland Clinic to repair his aortic valve, which was expected to let him live a normal, unrestricted active life.[2][4]
Colorado State
NCAA medical-retirement rules did not allow him to return to Georgia's roster, so Spurlin entered the transfer portal.[2] He announced his transfer to Colorado State on January 15, 2026, joining Jim Mora's first Rams team.[6][2] The Rams' new offensive coordinator, Pryce Tracy, had been an assistant tight ends coach at Georgia from 2022 to 2024.[2] Colorado State lists him at No. 18 on its 2026 roster. His roster biography says he took part in spring practices in 2026, and it showed no 2026 statistics as of September 24, 2026.[3]
Online presence
Spurlin's public Instagram account, @pearcespurlin19, had about 16,000 followers. Its bio lists him as a tight end for Colorado State (CSU) football.[7] His X account, @PearceSpurlin, had about 5,000 followers.[8] Recruiting reporter Hayes Fawcett posted on X that Spurlin, a transfer tight end from Georgia, had committed to Colorado State. The post said he played in eight games as a freshman in 2023, was ranked as the No. 2 tight end in the 2023 recruiting class, and had two years of eligibility left.[9]
Additional information
Sports-Reference's college football database lists Spurlin's 2023 Georgia season as six games, three catches and 60 yards.[5] A post by recruiting reporter Hayes Fawcett, quoted above, gave the number of games as eight.[9] He shares a first name with the 1930s minor league first baseman Al Spurlin (Alton Pearce Spurlin) of Atlanta. No source consulted connects them.[10]
See also
- Notable Spurlins · People strong
An index of notable people surnamed Spurlin, with related Spurling-surname figures listed separately as variants. - Al Spurlin · People strong
Alton Pearce "Al" Spurlin (1914–2000) was an American minor league first baseman from Atlanta who played for the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1935 and the Columbia Senators in 1936. - Caleb Spurlin · People strong
Caleb Spurlin is an American former college football defensive end from Galax, Virginia. A three-time state champion wrestler, he walked on at Appalachian State, where he tied the school record of 66 career games (2017–2021). - Max Spurlin (American football) · People strong
Max Leland Spurlin (1923–2001) was a guard for the University of North Carolina in the 1940s who also played for the 1944 Great Lakes Navy team and was on the 1949 roster of the Charlotte Clippers, a minor-league professional team. - Spurlin on Reddit and online forums · Culture weak
Where the Spurlin name comes up in online discussion: Reddit threads about Spurlin athletes, a band director and a dog breeder, long-running genealogy message boards, and a few other platforms that were checked. - Spurlins in college athletics · Culture mixed
A roundup of adult college athletes and coaches surnamed Spurlin listed on official college athletics rosters, in sports from basketball and volleyball to track and football, plus college and high school hall-of-fame inductees. - Spurlins in sports · Culture strong
An overview of people surnamed Spurlin in sports: college and minor league baseball, college football, wrestling, softball and basketball coaching, with links to each article and a note of the professional leagues and databases searched. - Spurlins on Instagram and X · Culture weak
Public Instagram and X (Twitter) accounts connected to the Spurlin name. They belong to musicians, a chef, an athlete, a minister, a consultant and local businesses.
References
- ↑ ↑ ↑ Georgia Head Coach Says Pearce Spurlin Will Have to Medically Retire — Sports Illustrated (Mar. 12, 2024) — Includes a pre-enrollment interview with Spurlin News
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Pearce Spurlin joins CSU from Georgia after comeback from heart surgery — Yahoo Sports (Jan. 15, 2026) — By Kevin Lytle; syndicated from the Fort Collins Coloradoan News
- ↑ ↑ ↑ Pearce Spurlin III — Football — Colorado State Athletics — University athletics roster biography, 2026 Official
- ↑ ↑ ↑ Former Georgia Tight End Pearce Spurlin Announces Transfer Destination — Sports Illustrated (Jan. 15, 2026) — By Jonathan Williams News
- ↑ ↑ Pearce Spurlin III College Stats — Sports-Reference.com — Read via Internet Archive snapshot, 2026-01-14 Reference
- ↑ Former Georgia tight end Pearce Spurlin to transfer to Colorado State — DawgNation (Jan. 15, 2026) News
- ↑ Pearce Spurlin III (@pearcespurlin19) — Instagram Social
- ↑ Pearce Spurlin III (@PearceSpurlin) / X Social
- ↑ ↑ Hayes Fawcett on X — Pearce Spurlin commits to Colorado State Social
- ↑ Al Spurlin Minor Leagues Statistics — Baseball-Reference.com Reference
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.