They are much rarer today than they once were in the NFL: Former stars from Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are among the top-paid players at their positions in the pros.

On Wednesday, Alabama State’s Tytus Howard joined Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Terron Armstead and South Carolina State’s Javon Hargrave and Shaquille Leonard in that group as he signed a three-year, $56 million contract extension with the Houston Texans.

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“It has been a long journey,” Howard said on Friday. “All I wanted was a chance when I got here. They gave it to me. The Texans gave me a chance, and I just ran with it, so as personal feeling, I’m just grateful, man, because everybody in my position didn’t get a chance to show themselves like I did. And so for me to be able to go out and take advantage of it, just inspiration to all the younger guys who are coming behind me from HBCUs to go out there and know that they can achieve everything they need to do. All they got to do is put their head down and work, for real.”

When the Texans chose Howard at No. 23 in the 2019 NFL Draft, he became the first first-round pick produced by Alabama State, and he remains the Yellow Jackets’ most recent drafted player. But that was only one of the unique aspects of Howard’s journey from quarterback at Monroe County High School to Houston’s 322-pound right offensive tackle who’s picking up an $18 million signing bonus on a contract that features $36.5 million in guaranteed money.

“It means a lot,” Howard said. “When I got to college, I was 220 pounds. Was a quarterback, moved to tight end. Moved from tight end to offensive line. Played on the offensive line two-and-a-half years. …

“To have my family back me up, to stay with me through everything I went through in college to the NFL, to be here today to sign a contract to be able to take care of my family, to create generational wealth, it means everything to me, man, because where I come from everybody don’t have a lot, so to be able to be that one to start it off, it feels good.”

Howard made his NFL debut at left guard, then switched to right tackle for the remainder of his rookie season until a knee injury in the 12th game prematurely ended his first campaign.

Howard stayed at right tackle in 2020, but he spent most of the 2021 campaign working a left guard and left tackle. In 2022, Howard started every game at right tackle for the Texans.

“The team gave me a chance last year to solidify myself as a right tackle,” Howard said. “I went out and did that, and they rewarded me. Like there’s a saying going around, man: Everything’s earned, not given. And I think that’s the motto here. We come in, we put the hard work in. Once you do what you got to do, these coaches, (general manager) Nick (Caserio), they will reward you, so we go out here and play the type of football they want us to play, we do what we need to do, they’re going to take care of us.”

Caserio said Howard had earned his big deal. The tackle had been preparing to play the 2023 season on a fifth-year option, which Houston had picked up last offseason.

“Tytus has been a good player for the last number of years,” Caserio said. “He’s a good kid. He works his ass off, he’s tough, he’s competitive. …

“Tytus loves being here. He wants to be in Houston for a long period of time. And I would just say overall we certainly put some resources into the offensive line here over the last, I would say, year or two. But the expectation is that comes with performance, so now the hard work starts. But Tytus has earned it.”

In addition to Howard’s contract extension, Houston made left tackle Laremy Tunsil the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman with a three-year, $75 million contract in March and signed right guard Shaq Mason to a three-year, $36 million contract in May.

Between signing Tunsil and Mason, the Texans added Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud in the NFL Draft on April 27.

“You got to have a foundation,” Howard said. “I feel like the O-line and the D-line starts the team. We’re the foundation. When we drafted C.J., he’s a great quarterback, and for (Caserio) to take care of the offensive line like he did this offseason, it’s a big standard for us. We got to go out there and do what we’ve been paid to do, which is protect him, make him the most comfortable quarterback in the NFL this year, so he can go out there and just win us some games.”

Houston has had four head coaches in Howard’s four seasons with the Texans. Former Jess Lanier and Alabama standout DeMeco Ryans will be Coach No. 5 after coming aboard this offseason from the San Francisco 49ers, where he worked as defensive coordinator.

Ryans’ return to Houston, where he was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year as a linebacker in 2006, coupled with the Texans’ selections of Stroud at No. 2 and Alabama pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr. at No. 3 in the draft has injected some excitement into a franchise that has won 11 games in the past three seasons.

“I feel like we got something to prove,” Howard said. “There’s a lot of buzz going on around us right now. We have two first-round picks. I think that people think they can count us out, but I think they shouldn’t. I think there’s a lot of talent on this team. There was a lot of talent on this team last year. We fought close in a lot of games we should have won last year. And I think we’re going to get over that hump this year. We got the right coaching. We got the right people, the players around us. I think that people should just stay tuned. …

“I pride myself in being a Texan. I feel like I want to be here my whole career. I love it here. The team, the camaraderie this year’s just been outstanding. I just know I wanted to be a part of that. I see something good here building, and I’m here for the future.”

The Texans are in training camp working toward their season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 10. Before that, Houston has preseason games against the New England Patriots on Aug. 10, Miami Dolphins on Aug. 19 and New Orleans Saints on Aug. 27.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.