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DETROIT — Aireontae Ersery’s chuckle comes out quick and easy when he sees the picture.
Sitting in the lobby at The Westin Book Cadillac hotel days before the Quick Lane Bowl, the Gophers offensive lineman was getting a kick of an image of himself as a freshman at Ruskin High School in Kansas City, Mo., in 2016.
The resemblance is there, but little else is the same. The 6-foot-6, 325-pound left tackle was 6-1 and 220 pounds back then, wearing a loose-fitting Nirvana band T-shirt, unsure of what he was doing in the weight room or what sport he would play.
“I see young ‘Tae, no muscles,” Ersery told the Pioneer Press. “Man, I don’t even know what I was doing in that picture. I just had a dumbbell in my hands.”
Ersery has seen this photo before. His former coach at Ruskin, William Perkins, recently sent it to Ersery to remind him of how far he’s come since then.
Finishing his fourth season at the U, Ersery was the highest-graded offensive lineman in the Big Ten in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus. He was named all-Big Ten second team in November.
“Am I surprised to see he is that highly rated? I am,” Perkins told the Pioneer Press. “But I did think he would have a future because of his size and how hard he works. I thought he would have an opportunity.”
Ersery was in the weight room back in 2016 because his uncle — who is two years older — was working out. Around that time, Perkins asked Ersery why he wasn’t playing football. Ersery didn’t have a good answer.
Ersery had played AAU basketball at the youth level, but his first year of organized football came after the coach’s prompting in his sophomore year. He was “extremely raw,” and needed to be coached up on his stance, footwork and hand placement. “But the same time, he was really coachable,” Perkins said.
“I wouldn’t…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gophers-lineman-aireontae-ersery-role-220600416.html
Author : Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Publish date : 2023-12-25 22:06:00
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