RENTON — While sitting in a friend’s yard during a barbecue in Germany in 2020, offensive lineman Max Pircher received a call from an unfamiliar number. Shrugging off the call initially, Pircher saw another call from the number right away. This time he answered, unaware that what he had thought was "a scam" would change his life.
“It happened really fast,” Pircher, now with the Seahawks, said. “You don’t even think about it, because the NFL is like this thing far away.” Pircher spent his first three years in the NFL on the practice squads of the Los Angeles Rams (2021-22) and the Detroit Lions (2023) under the International Pathway Player contract — a program aimed at developing international talent within the league.
“I just respect how he operates and where he’s come from,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said of Pircher, who was born in Bressanone, Italy. Continuing as an International Pathway Player after signing with the Seahawks in April, the 6-foot-7, 300-pound tackle's goal isn’t necessarily to make the 53-man roster — though he’d love to — but to contribute in any way he can. “I think that will never change,” Pircher said.
“It's always going to be the main goal to help the team win.” Growing up, Pircher swam, climbed, skied, and played soccer and handball. He learned a lot from those sports, particularly handball, as the movements helped him become more athletic.
It wasn’t until a high school lecture, when he got caught watching an American football video, that his journey into learning a new sport truly began. “I just like everything,” Pircher said. “I like the physicality of the game, the companionship you have, the friends you make, and just the whole nature of the game.
I just fell in love with it all.” Rather than punishing him, the teacher took him to a game in Innsbruck, Austria, to watch the Swarco Raiders Tirol. “Since that day, I knew that's what I wanted to do,” Pircher said.
What followed was a tryout for the team, where then-Swarco offensive line coach Lee Rowland couldn’t help but notice Pircher's size. The question was how well he could run. Thanks to his parents' encouragement to participate in sports from a young age, that wasn’t an issue.
After one season with the Raiders and winning the Austrian Football League championship, Pircher was called up to the Italian national team. Shortly after, Rowland was hired by the Hildesheim Invaders of the German Football League in the fall of 2019, and Pircher was offered a contract. “It's obviously not like here,” Pircher said about playing overseas.
“You don't have that many plays and schemes.” That’s when the unexpected call from the NFL International Pathway Program came. Recognizing he was on NFL scouts' radars, Pircher began to work out every day with Rowland.
“From there on, all I could do was work out and just learn as much as I can,” Pircher said. “Just in case the NFL came calling, I’d be ready.” A year later, he was one of 11 players selected to compete for a spot in the 2021 NFL International Player Pathway Program.
The Rams won the Super Bowl during his first year on their practice squad. Now he finds himself in a familiar position, using training camp and preseason not only to improve but also to make a name for himself. “Max is a great guy,” Macdonald said.
“He works his tail off. The guys love him. Just a really cool story.
I’m happy for him. He’s right in the mix just battling his tail off every day.” Even if he doesn’t play this season, at just 24 years old Pircher has the opportunity to develop.
That's partly because teams are allowed to carry 17 players on their practice squad with an exemption for Pathway players. As he has throughout his career, Pircher continues to soak in everything. The most recent example came after Saturday's preseason win over the Los Angeles Chargers, when he had the opportunity to talk and take pictures with fellow Pathway players CJ Okoye and Praise Olatoke.
“I love everything here,” Pircher said of his time with the Seahawks. “I think Washington, it's a beautiful state. I think the fans are awesome, especially training camp.
I have such great teammates and coaches. I think it's a really good organization. Everything about it has been amazing thus far.
” Trying the sport for the first time at 18 or 19 years old, he showed potential when he was discovered. But he was far from fully seasoned — and remains so. Yet, he embraces it, knowing that with less than half a decade of experience, it's not only about doing the things he loves but also about tackling the aspects he may not love as much.
It's how he got to where he is. "At the end of the day, when it gets hard, don't quit," Pircher said..
