‘Stressful and life changing’: Brown twins describe whirlwind week as they head from London, Ont. to NFL

It’s been a whirlwind week for Chase and Sydney Brown.

The two were chosen in the NFL draft late last week.

“I'd describe it as stressful,” said Chase from a gym in his hometown of London, Ont.

Gathering with family and friends in Ilderton, Ont. just outside of London, the twins celebrated seeing their hard work pay off.

Sydney was selected in the third round by the Philadelphia Eagles, while Chase was taken in the fifth round by the Cincinnati Bengals.

“There's no better feeling than celebrating that moment with your family and the people that kind of helped us get there,” said Sydney.

“It was amazing to have our high school football coach, our host parents from Florida, just a plethora of family they're just even from within London to be there for us,” Sydney added.

Sydney will be the first to greet his new team. He leaves Thursday for Philadelphia where he will spend four days.

“I had my first call yesterday, and it's all, we're just talking about expectation, vision and what it means to be a Philadelphia Eagle,” said Sydney.

A potential look at what Sydney Brown would look like as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles (Source: Illinois Football)

“I’ll go through the defense a little bit. It's an opportunity to learn and catch up with the veteran guys that have been working within the system for a while now. Learning, being in the facility, getting used to the culture there and just a little introduction to the team,” he added.

Chase will go to Cincinnati next week. Described by ESPN’s Matt Miller as “the best value pick in round five,” Brown is currently listed as the number two running back on the depth chart behind Joe Mixon.

“I’m going out there with my best foot forward,” said Chase, who ran for more than 1,600 yards at Illinois last season.

“There is a [veteran] in the room that I can learn from. He's played in in playoff games. He's played in all types of situations in NFL so being able to be around somebody like that will be cool,” Chase said.

From South Collegiate Institute in London, to high school in Florida, to the University of Illinois, the two have rarely been apart.

The only time was when they briefly started their collegiate careers at different schools.

Soon, they will be nearly 1,000 kilometres apart.

“We've actually been separated for a while,” said Sydney. “He plays offense and I play defense. We both do our own thing, the only different thing now is hat we're going to be in different states.”

Chase agreed they will be able to move on without each other, “I don’t think it will be something that we struggle with honestly, we've done it once before.”

“I'm proud of him and I'm happy that he's not only in a good position but on a good team that was in the Super Bowl. He's going to be competitive and just make plays,” Chase added. “I'm happy for him just like he's happy for me. And going forward we're just chasing our goals, our dreams.”

A potential look at what Chase Brown would look like as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. (Source: Illinois Football)

The Bengals and Eagles aren't scheduled to play each other in the 2023 season. However, there is a possibility the two powerhouses meet in Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024.

Neither plan to back down should they be forced to meet on the field.

“I think there's a consensus between the two of us that when we're both on the field and we're both playing that we both got a job to do and that's to help our team win,“ said Sydney.

When asked whether he’d tackle his brother, “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

Both describe waiting for that call from an NFL team as difficult and stressful.

After an emotional high, they have started to wind down and think about how that call has shaped their future.

“It's life changing,” said Chase.