Aireontae Ersery begins his NFL career

By Max Goodwin

On a cool and sunny Friday in Houston, Aireontae Ersery, 23, a graduate of Ruskin High School, finished his first practice as an NFL player.

“It’s beautiful down here,” Ersery’s voice booms through the phone a few minutes after his first rookie mini-camp practice wraps up.

The Houston Texans took him in the second round of the draft with the 48th overall pick. He’s now situated as the future left tackle for a playoff-caliber NFL franchise with one of the league’s best young quarterbacks in a dynamic offense.

The team has veteran Cam Robinson penciled in to start at left tackle after signing him to a one-year deal, but there’s still a chance for Ersery to earn a starting spot this year.

He was seen as one of the most athletic offensive tackles in the draft. He started playing football later than most, but his skills have progressed quickly from high school through college. Those who have guided Ersery on this path say his determination and hard work are the keys to that evolution.

“I just went out there with an open heart, open mind, and attacked whatever the coach put in front of us.”

As a kid, Ersery’s family moved around south Kansas City. Utilities were sometimes shut off due to unpaid bills. After an eviction, they lived in transitional housing for some time.

While times were hard, they were a loving family that cared for each other.

Ersery was determined to change their circumstances. He always hoped he would get an opportunity.

“I wear that stuff on my sleeve, that’s my story,” Ersery said. “My family, that’s my motivation. We’ve been through a lot, and being able to overcome that and be in this position is nothing but a blessing.”

Ersery’s uncle, who is two years older, decided to play football for Ruskin one year. Ersery followed him to his first practice.

Ruskin’s head coach, William Perkins, noticed Ersery sitting in the weight room and told him he might as well join. That was the summer before Ersery’s sophomore year of high school.

“He started coming everyday and working really hard in the weight room,” Perkins said. “That was the type of kid Aireontae was.”

By the end of that summer, Perkins knew he had real potential. For a kid his size, he moved with agility and quickness. He worked hard to improve.

He played all over the field for Ruskin– offensive line, defensive end, and special teams. He joined the wrestling team and started doing shot put for the track and field team.

After his junior year, Ersery attended a camp at Lindenwood University. The two-day camp provided a chance to work out in front of college coaches. There were hundreds, maybe over a thousand kids there.

University of Minnesota Offensive Line Coach Brian Callahan was one of the few coaches left for the last session of the last day. He noticed a big athletic kid wearing blue shorts whose 40-yard dash and broad jump stood out.

Minnesota coaches didn’t know about Ersery until that camp. For months, they just remembered him as ‘blue shorts’. Callahan was determined to get “blue shorts” to Minnesota.

When Callahan traveled from Minnesota to Kansas City to scout Aireontae Ersery, he had never been to a school quite like Ruskin. Ruskin isn’t on many college coaches’ scouting radars. The Golden Eagles won one game in each of the three seasons in which Ersery played.

“It was the first time in all my years of coaching that somebody on his team at halftime popped their pads off and then went to perform in the band,” Callahan said. “That was a first for me. But sometimes you don’t get to pick where you go to high school.”

Minnesota was the first Division I school to offer Ersery a scholarship. It was a life-changing moment.

Soon after Ersery settled in at Minnesota, Callahan drove him to the team facility. As they navigated the streets around the University of Minnesota, Ersery turned to Callahan and asked him if he thought he had the capabilities to make it in the NFL.

Callahan said that he could make it to the NFL, as long as he remained the coachable, humble, determined person he already was. The conversation was transformative; the two would go back to that conversation when necessary in the years to come.

Over five years at Minnesota, Ersery developed into one of the best left tackles in college football. He allowed just one sack in 398 passing downs his senior year. He won the Remington-Pace Award as the best offensive lineman in the Big Ten Conference.

“God blessed him with a certain amount of talent,” Callahan said. “But he has developed through the years because of being a hard worker, being coachable, and refining the physical traits he has to be an effective player.”

When he was a kid learning to play football at Ruskin, Ersery would have been happy to have achieved a chance to play college football, he says. But this bright spring day in Houston is the start to a new opportunity.

Expect him to make the most of it.

“From my background, my family, my faith, that’s the type of guy I am. When I set out to do something and have a vision, I’m going to do so.”