Troy Hairston II (born December 8, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

fullback for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Central Michigan Chippewas The Central Michigan Chippewas are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Central Michigan University (CMU), located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The school fields sixteen men's and women's intercollegiate teams that compete at the ...

as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and was signed by the Houston Texans as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in .

Early life and education

Hairston was born on December 8, 1998, in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. He is of Panamanian descent through his mother. He attended

Seaholm High School Ernest W. Seaholm High School (simply referred to as Seaholm High School) is a magnet high school in Birmingham, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1951 and is part of the Birmingham Public Schools district. History Seaholm op ...

and committed to

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

. In 2018, his first year on the football team, Hairston appeared in 11 games and recorded five tackles, four solo. In 2019, he played in all 14 games and started two, recording 28 tackles, 15 of which were solo. He also recorded five and two

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s as well as two quarterback hurries. Against

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

, he was named a game captain. In 2020, Hairston earned co-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the conference with 5.5. sacks and 12 TFLs. He was named to the All-MAC first-team by

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

and was named to the third-team by

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

. At

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

on November 27, he made a career-high 11 tackles (1.5 for-loss) and recovered a fumble. On December 12, against

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

, he made seven tackles and two sacks with three TFLs. In the 2021 season, Hairston started all 13 games and led the team in TFLs with 17 and sacks with nine. His TFLs total ranked 13th nationally, and with 55 total tackles, he placed fifth on the team. He recorded at least five tackles in eight games, at least one sack in six games, and at least two TFLs in five games. He earned All-MAC first-team honors, as well as second-team placement by Phil Steele and Pro Football Focus.

Professional career

Houston Texans

After going unselected in the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

, Hairston was signed by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

as an

. After joining the Texans, Hariston switched his position to fullback during training camp and beat out veteran Andy Janovich to make the Texans' 53-man roster. Hariston was one of three undrafted free agents to make the team's 53-man roster in 2022. On August 1, 2023, Hairston was placed on injured reserve with a herniated disc. Hairston was released by the Texans on August 27, 2024, and re-signed to the practice squad.

Cleveland Browns

On January 28, 2025, Hairston signed a reserve/future contract with the

References

External links

Central Michigan Chippewas bioHouston Texans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hairston, Troy 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Birmingham, Michigan Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan American football linebackers American football defensive ends American football fullbacks Central Michigan Chippewas football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen American sportspeople of Panamanian descent Hispanic and Latino American players of American football Cleveland Browns players