Eagles safety Sydney Brown talks about keeping in touch with his twin brother Chase, who was drafted by the Bengals.
If you know anything about Sydney Brown, you know how close he and his brother are.
Sydney and Chase are identical twins who grew up in poverty in Canada before moving in with a family in Florida when they were 16 after their father died, their mother was unable to work, insurance money ran out and they lost the family house.
Both Sydney and Chase became stars at a private school in Bradenton and then at Illinois. Both were drafted in April, Sydney – a safety - in the third round by the Eagles and Chase – a running back - in the fifth round by the Bengals.
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This is the first time in their lives they haven’t been teammates. The first time in their lives they’ve been apart at all.
“I've always had my brother with me throughout this entire process,” Sydney said after a recent practice.
“I mean, it's time to grow up. It's time to grow up. It's hard, you know? Because that's the guy that I've kind of relied on my entire life. So kind of going through this without him is different. But we're fine. We're adults. This is what we're supposed to be doing.”
So far so good for Sydney Brown.
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Two weeks into training camp, Brown has held his own as he’s worked up from 3rd-team reps to 2nd-team reps and recently a smattering of 2nd-team reps.
“It's a little different being without (Chase), but I don't think I felt overwhelmed,” he said. “Again, this is a learning process. There's a learning curve to this. And I think that what I can do now is just focus on where I am today.
"Trying to get from point A to point B rather than trying to get to Z. So just take it like that. You’ve got to take the steps to get to where you want to be. I am trying to rush through that sometimes.”
Sydney isn’t the first Eagle with a brother in the NFL. There’s Jason and Travis Kelce, of course, but there was also Brent and Garrett Celek, Mychal and Eric Kendricks, Casey and Clay Matthews, Jaylen and Sammy Watkins, Bryce and Arthur Brown, Chris and Kyle Young, Randall and Sam Cunningham and many others.
But they’ve never had twins. And there haven’t been many sets in the NFL. Most notably, Tiki and Ronde Barber.
Sydney – born two minutes after Chase – said he talks to his brother in Cincinnati constantly.
“Oh, it's every day, it's every day,” he said. “We're kind of sharing the thoughts, sharing what we're both going through. Yeah, that's my guy. That's the guy that I grew up with for 23 years. We’ve been doing this forever so just cheering him on from afar.
“We're both rookies. We're both doing the same thing. He's just an offensive guy.”
That second starting safety job is up for grabs right now, and K’Von Wallace, Terrell Edmunds and Brown are all in the mix.
Brown may be a longshot to start, but he and Blankenship are the only safety locks to make the 53-man roster.
“I think that I'm progressing in the right direction, for sure,” he said after a recent practice. “The way that I started camp, the way that I started in the OTAs and to where I am now? I'm taking the strides to get to where I want to be.
“I'm just doing what they're telling me to do. That's where I start. I've got to earn my respect, I've got to compete in the right way and show that I deserve to get reps with the 2’s and 1’s and whatever they want me to be. With the 3’s or the 2’s … it doesn't really matter. Just taking it one rep at a time. … My mindset within this is just I'm better than I was the day before and I'm moving in the right direction.”
Just like high school, just like college. The only difference is that Chase isn’t there to see it.
“It honestly feels like he hasn't left,” he said. “I can just pick up the phone and call him and he’s right there with us.”
