He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL draft, and was also a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, and Philadelphia Eagles.

[3] Pullard attended Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, California, where he also played football,[5] basketball, and sprinted for the track and field team.

[2] His mother wanted Pullard to attend an academically superior school on the other side of the San Fernando Valley, away from the drugs, violence, and crime which surrounded Crenshaw .

DeShawn Pullard even tried to convince Hayes to attend Susan Miller Dorsey High School, which had an excellent football program.

[2] By the end of his senior season, Pullard stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 215 pounds (98 kg).

[6] Pullard grew up wanting to attend the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where numerous other Crenshaw students had played football.

[2] In Pullard's junior year in 2012, USC began the season ranked Number 1 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.

A violent altercation (which some media reported as a fistfight, while others said it was verbal) broke out in the USC locker room after the game, in which some younger players criticized senior quarterback Matt Barkley for not playing even though injured and for generally poor leadership throughout the season.

[6] USC lost three of its first five games of Pullard's senior season, and Kiffin was fired as head coach on September 29, 2013.

[2] Many in the news media speculated that Pullard would forego his senior year of football and join the 2014 NFL draft.

Sarkisian said Pullard was a team leader in soothing feelings and helping make the transition a smooth one.

[8] The Trojans ended their season playing in the Holiday Bowl, winning 45–42 over the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers.

His prospects dramatically improved when, two days before the draft, he published an open letter to the 32 NFL teams on The Players' Tribune.

He was signed as depth at middle linebacker after starter Denzel Perryman was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury.

[22] Upon joining the team, head coach Anthony Lynn named Pullard the backup middle linebacker behind Korey Toomer.

He competed in an open competition between himself, Korey Toomer, and Kyle Emanuel for the job as the starting middle linebacker.