Houston Texans rookie offensive lineman Aireontae Ersery’s locker sits five seats away from former Super Bowl LIII champion and Pro Bowl tackle Trent Brown.
On any given day throughout the week, you can find the savvy veteran giving tips to the rookie on how to survive in the league as a vital piece to protecting franchise quarterback C.J. Stroud, as Brown once did with the Patriots for Tom Brady.
Ersery listens intently before asking more questions to gain more knowledge, knowing that any advice he is given will do nothing but further his career.
After the majority of those conversations, teammates Tytus Howard and Ed Ingram will chime in with more advice and then some jokes to end the discussion.
Howard usually breaks up the monotony of the conversation with some humor, as Ersery loves to refer to him as “The funny one” when discussing who has all the jokes in the offensive lineman room.
Even amidst the laughter, Ersery has stored the advice his teammates gave him, as he takes his job very seriously. The ability to listen and apply what he’s learned, both on and off the football field, helped pave the way for him from homelessness to the NFL.
This Sunday, Ersery will return to his hometown of Kansas City, where his dream of pursuing a professional football career started, as the Texans face the Kansas City Chiefs.
Reaching New Heights
Located in Jackson County on the southeast side of Kansas City, Missouri, Ruskin Heights is a small neighborhood primarily composed of African Americans, with a median household income of $37,661 among its 23,874 residents.
When Ersery’s grandmother fell ill, the family moved to Ruskin Heights to consistently support her and help care for her daily needs.
Moving into that community during high school was a blessing in disguise for Ersery, his younger siblings, and their mother, Takita Charles, especially since they moved around during Ersery’s adolescent years as he often found himself without stability, with eviction notices posted on their door, which forced the family to seek alternative shelter that wasn’t always available.
There were times when the family didn’t know where the next meal would come from, but they made it work.
“We moved around a lot,” Ersery said exclusively to Big Sarge Media. “You know, we were homeless at one point in time, so we kind of like bounced around, and then I told my mom I wanted to stay in one spot and finish the school year, and she’s like, ‘You are right.’
“Stability is very important, especially in the black household, so that was like the most pivotal part for me, and me being able to go to Ruskin High School to play sports, graduate, and that be my alma mater, you know, I could take that with me forever, and I am so proud of that.”
Playing With Invisible Wounds
Although his path to the NFL has been well documented, including his former high school head coach, William Perkins, convincing Ersery to play football before his sophomore season with the hopes of getting him a college scholarship and a chance to one day make it to the NFL.
Yet what Perkins did not know was that the young man he was helping mold came from a background of adversity and was still facing challenges outside the field, with his mom working multiple jobs to ensure the family was taken care of.
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“To be honest, a lot about his situation that came out and some of the stories after he was drafted about him and the family struggling financially and having been homeless a lot of that I didn’t know until then,” said Perkins to Big Sarge Media about his knowledge of Ersery’s personal life. “I knew that he was staying with different family members here and there, but myself and other members of the staff had never been given that part of the story. We never knew how much he was struggling to be honest.
“We just saw a kid who came in and really wanted to work hard. We didn’t see a kid who was financially going through some hard times.”
Ersery chose to keep his situation away from the coaching staff because he wasn’t seeking sympathy or handouts. He wanted to earn everything that came his way and be a good example for his younger siblings.
“They mean a lot to me because we’ve been through everything with each other,” said Ersery with a huge smile on his face when speaking about his siblings. “One thing my mom always did was make sure that we were close and we always had each other’s back, no matter what the situation was, good or bad.
“That’s just how we were, you know, so me being the oldest, having to look after them a bunch of times, me being the big brother, I had to basically keep everything together. Keep us strong as a family, and I, being the oldest, had to set the example.”
*Editor’s Note* After Ersery finished answering that question, veteran offensive lineman Tytus Howard interrupted the interview so that the rookie could help him with some wardrobe issues. “Gotta make the rookie do something,” said Howard with a smile before returning to his locker.
Can’t Lose When The City Is Behind You
After a remarkable career at the University of Minnesota, where he received the Remington-Pace Award as the top offensive lineman in the Big Ten Conference, Ersery heard his name called by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the 48th overall pick.
Many thought the Chiefs would pick him and bring him back home, but Ersery believes he ended up in the perfect situation with the Texans, as he constantly praises the organization for taking a chance on him.
On Sunday night, Ersery will get a little emotional as he steps onto the field before the game at Arrowhead Stadium and sees a section full of family and friends with his name on the back of an NFL jersey.
“That is everybody who believed in me,” Ersery said about his Kansas City support system. “They know Kansas City is hard to make it out of. It ain’t really too many people that could say ‘Oh, I know such and such that went to this college and he went and played in the league and had a good career.’ I’m here to stick around, I’m not just here to be a one-hit wonder.”
For the former players, coaches, and administrators from Ruskin High School during the time Ersery attended who won’t be able to make it to the game, they will be watching from various locations around the city, cheering him on like they have done every game he has played this season, hoping that he can feel their energy from hundreds of miles away.
“We are extremely proud,” said Perkins when asked about Ersery’s path to the NFL. “As a school district and especially myself as a coach, I am extremely proud. To see from where Aireontae started, we started, not even knowing if he wanted to play football, to getting a scholarship to play at the University of Minnesota, and being named one of the top offensive linemen in the country, and now as an NFL starter.
“Watching him every Sunday for the Houston Texans is really a proud moment. We will call or text each other, some of the members from the coaching staff or just members of the teaching staff like, ‘Hey you see Tae [Aireontae Ersery] on that play right?’ So it’s a proud moment for us as a district and especially for me as a coach.”
When asked what his first words would be upon seeing his family and friends at the stadium, Ersery hesitated for a moment and then said proudly, “I’m back home, y’all.”