Tyler Anthony Ervin (born October 7, 1993) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. He played college football at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

Early life

Ervin was born in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

. He attended Colton High School, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

College career

A two-star recruit, Ervin attracted two offers from

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

and

. On January 16, 2011, Ervin signed with

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

. Ervin began playing for the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference (MW) at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football ...

as a true freshman in 2011 at running back and return specialist. He became the first player to return a kickoff for a touchdown since 2005, when he returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown on November 12 against

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. Ervin had 672 return yards and 107 rushing yards. 300px, Ervin returns a kickoff during the 2012 Military Bowl. In the 2012 season, Ervin had 205 rushing and 599 return yards. On September 28, in a 38–34 win over

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, Ervin had a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown. Ervin also caught a 36-yard touchdown reception and returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown on October 20 at UTSA. To cap off an 11–2 season with a year-end #24 ranking in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broa ...

, Ervin had 49 receiving yards and 38 return yards in the Spartans' win over

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

in the 2012 Military Bowl. Ervin took a medical redshirt year in 2013 after suffering an injury during the season opener against Sacramento State on August 29. As a redshirt junior in 2014, he had 888 rushing yards, 506 kickoff return yards, and 81 punt return yards. On August 28, Ervin got his first punt return touchdown, a 40-yarder against

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, S ...

. On September 6, Ervin had a 75-yard touchdown reception against Auburn, tied for the longest passing play against Auburn that year. Ervin also had an 89-yard rushing touchdown in the Spartans' homecoming game win over

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the ...

on October 4. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

'' named Ervin to its honorable mention All-America team . In his redshirt senior season of 2015, Ervin rushed for a single-game school record 300 yards against

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

and for 263 yards against

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

. In the

2015 Cure Bowl The 2015 Cure Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game played on December 19, 2015 at Orlando Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The first edition of the Cure Bowl featured the San Jose State Spartans of the Mountain West Confer ...

, his final collegiate game, Ervin got his longest career punt return touchdown, for 85 yards in the Spartans' 27–16 win over

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

. He finished his senior year with 1,601 rushing yards on 294 carries with 13 touchdowns and 45 receptions for 334 yards with two touchdowns. Along with first-team All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

, Ervin earned multiple national honors, the

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and now ...

All-American second team and his second straight ''Sports Illustrated'' honorable mention All-American title.

Professional career

Houston Texans

Ervin was selected by the Houston Texans in the fourth round (119th overall) of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft be ...

. On May 5, 2016, Ervin signed a four-year, $2.9 million contract with Houston. Ervin has been compared to established all-purpose players in the NFL like

Jamaal Charles Jamaal RaShaad Jones Charles (born December 27, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the University of Texas, where he won the 2006 Rose Bowl, and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third ro ...

and

Darren Sproles Darren Lee Sproles (born June 20, 1983) is an American football executive and former running back and return specialist who is a personnel consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

. He finished his rookie season with three receptions for 18 receiving yards to go along with return duties. On October 4, 2017, Ervin was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn patellar tendon in Week 4. He finished the 2017 season with eight receptions for 38 receiving yards to go along with four carries for 12 rushing yards. On November 7, 2018, Ervin was waived by the Texans.

Baltimore Ravens

On November 14, 2018, Ervin was signed to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Ravens on January 8, 2019. He was waived on August 31, 2019.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On September 1, 2019, Ervin was claimed off waivers by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

. He was waived on November 30, 2019.

Green Bay Packers

On December 2, 2019, Ervin was claimed off waivers by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

. He was re-signed on March 30, 2020. He was placed on injured reserve on December 9, 2020.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

*
Green Bay Packers bioSan Jose State Spartans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ervin, Tyler 1993 births Living people People from Colton, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from San Bernardino County, California American football running backs American football return specialists San Jose State Spartans football players Houston Texans players Baltimore Ravens players Jacksonville Jaguars players Green Bay Packers players