After authoring one of the most impressive rookie quarterback seasons in NFL history, C.J. Stroud hit the dreaded sophomore slump in 2024. And, when the Texans opened the 2025 regular season with three straight losses, it felt as though the first-year magic had truly worn off.
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However, Stroud refused to waver. Leaning on an elite defense and his own resilience, Stroud steadied the ship and ultimately guided Houston back into the postseason. For most players, a rash of injuries and a sluggish start would have derailed the entire year. Stroud, however, has never been the ordinary kind.
The 24-year-old Ohio State alum has been confronting adversity long before he reached the NFL. When he was just 13 years old, his father was incarcerated on charges of kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery.
“It was almost like the rug was taken from under our family,” Stroud’s sister, Cieara, tearfully recalled in an interview early last year. “Before me and C.J. knew it, we found out he was having to go to prison.”
That made his mother, Kim Stroud, responsible for everything: Three children, breadwinner duties, football practices, and so much more, all became her sole burden to bear. The words “devastating” and “hard” were used to describe her situation at the time.
Kim explained that “I became mom and dad in essence, because I don’t really think that I could be dad.” She would take on every job that she could, managing properties and handling blue-collar jobs for the sake of the family.
“I would be so dirty from head to toe [from working.] I had dirt in my ears,” recalled Kim.
Nowadays, she finds herself cheering for her son in NFL playoff games and celebrating the releases of Cieara’s latest projects as a recording artist. The family had gone through hell and has now made it out the other side.
The Texans mirrored that same arc of perseverance. Between a concussion that sidelined him for three straight weeks and a 3–5 record at the midpoint of the season, it briefly appeared as though the year was slipping away. But as history has shown, adversity is nothing new for Stroud.
What followed was a remarkable nine-game winning streak and a legitimate push toward what may stand as the greatest season in franchise history. The Texans finished the 2025 campaign with 12 wins, tying the single-season high set in 2012. And the offense eclipsed the 400-point mark for only the third time in team history.
