Sydney Brown was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles with a lot of expectations, not from just the fans and the organization, but from himself.
That attitude is a part of his DNA and has allowed him to persevere in situations many others would have struggled or folded.
But Sydney and his family aren’t built like that.
They have been fighting for as long as they can remember, and the NFL is just another hurdle for them to attain success in.
Early Years:
Sydney and his identical twin, Chase, were born to Raechel Brown when she was just 18 and still in high school. Their mother, Raechel, described the transition from being someone who couldn’t even keep their room clean, to becoming a single mom of two.
And while it was difficult, she also enjoyed it.
“We did not have a lot, but we did have a lot of fun.”
They resided in London Ontario Canada and most boys interested in sports played hockey. But hockey is expensive and required pricey equipment, etc., so once again she transitioned.
She heard about a football league nearby and enrolled both of her sons.
It wasn’t hockey, but Raechel was a figure skater and understood the athletic desire to play sports, and this gave her boys somewhere to release their athleticism.
And while football was foreign to Raechel, “It’s just not something kids from our part of the world get to experience.”
The boy’s father, Darren Isaac, had played in the Canadian Football League for 3 seasons.
Not surprisingly, the twins were both really good, right from the start.
They were also extremely competitive. Not only on the field but with one another.
Sydney described being a twin as having everything they do as being a competition.
For a couple of kids who had never played the sport, their immediate success was unprecedented.
Their early football coaches described their desire and will as something they had never seen before.
Both were workout warriors and very determined.
During their 8 years of playing football together in Canada, the brothers never lost a game.
They were riding high as they entered their teens and high school years.
Then everything changed.
Illness:
Their mom gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Mya, but after she was born, Raechel started to get sick.
She was discovered to have ITP and had to undergo blood transfusions while fighting the disease.
Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a type of platelet disorder. In ITP, your blood does not clot as it should because you have a low platelet count. Platelets are tiny blood cells that are made in the bone marrow. When you are injured, platelets stick together to form a plug that seals your wound.
Tired and unable to work, Raechel was physically not the same woman the kids had grown up with.
Adding more stress and sadness to the situation, her father passed away during this time as well.
While Raechel was fighting and recovering, the twins did their best to become caretakers for their sister, but the loss of income took its toll.
The family lost all of their possessions and their home.
“I don’t know if it’s lower you can go than homeless with 3 kids.”
In a move that could break or bond a family, they all moved into a shelter.
If outsiders thought the twins or their mother had a drive and desire to succeed before, these events only added gasoline to the fire.
Raechel was determined to still give her sons the best chances in life that she could, even if it meant that her boys would be over a thousand miles away.
America:
The family knew that in order for them to continue playing and learning at a high level they needed to be in an area that would take them far from home. So, with the assistance of Canadian football talent scout Justin Dillon, they applied to a private school in America.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton, Florida.
The twins were accepted, and shortly after, the family drove 1,300 miles so that the boys could continue their education, play football, and hopefully gain more recognition.
Sydney and Chase were going to stay in the U.S. but the rest of the family had to head back to Canada.
Raechel mentioned the feelings she had as she was driving away.
“I’m going to shove these kids back in the car” (and go back home with them).
But she fought through the pain and did what she thought would be best for her boys.
“It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. It was totally unnatural, leaving your kids in another country with people you don’t know. I cried the whole way back.”
Sydney and Chase were about to embark on a life in another country and live with a family they had never met.
Saint Stephen’s football coach, Tod Creneti, had called his friend Phil Yates and explained he had two very talented football players from Canada joining the team and that they needed a host family.
Phil and his wife Karen agreed to welcome the boys into their home.
Karen stated that “There really wasn’t any question in our minds, but I remember lying in bed that Friday night thinking, ‘Is this really going to happen?’”
The boys moved in and enrolled in classes at the school and were becoming acclimated in Florida, while Raechel and their sister were struggling financially in Canada.
“Tuition or paying the rent was the choice. So we paid tuition.”
Subsequently, she lost her home and moved back into the shelter. Protecting her boys, as always, she hid this from her sons.
“It was not something I really told them. I just said they couldn’t come home.”
Sydney and Chase were struggling some as well.
Upon their acceptance, it was identified that they needed help to advance their education.
They attacked learning the same way they did their passion on the football field.
Host, Karen, was amazed at their dedication and their family’s strength. It was obvious the boys were not going to waste the gift their mother and the Yates family had provided.
“They had the foundation laid before they ever came to us. Raechel and their grandparents, they’re just good people. I’m just so in awe of Raechel to have the courage and forethought to bring her kids to Florida.”
In addition to focusing on their studies, it was evident that they also needed to put in some work regarding the game of football.
Despite being so good on the field, they had been succeeding without having been taught many play structures or schemes.
The possibilities of how much greater they could become were endless.
And a lot of that potential was realized right away!
Once Sydney and Chase joined the team, Saint Stephens didn’t lose a football game.
Winning 22 straight.
They also won two Florida I-A championships.
The brothers were succeeding in their studies and football, while their mother was doing the same with her health.
She had gotten a job at a local factory and a new home for her and their sister.
Finally, things seemed to be going well for the entire family, at the same time.
The boys finished high school and headed back to Canada.
College:
Sydney and Chase’s high school accolades did not go unnoticed and their stay back in Canada would be short-lived.
Despite the twins not knowing much about America’s college football, Sydney joked that he didn’t know the difference between conferences, and once thought that Alabama and South Dakota were on the same level.
The colleges knew a lot about them.
Sydney went to Illinois where he started all 10 games as a true freshman in 2018.
A role he kept for the rest of his college career.
Chase went to Western Michigan in 2018, then transferred to Illinois in 2019, joining Sydney.
“This is what we dreamt about as kids. Having him come here has been like having a piece of home here in Illinois”
The twins were riding high, until once again, adversity reared its head.
A year after his brother joined him at college, the pandemic started.
The family was no longer able to see one another due to the borders being closed.
Throughout the 2020 COVID shutdown, the brothers worked out together and played in the 7-game-shortened season.
Chase was learning from offensive coordinator Rod Smith, and Sydney was working with Head Coach and DC, Lovie Smith.
2021 brought a new HC and DC to Illinois, but the new defensive coordinator, Ryan Walters, saw the same tenacity in Sydney as his previous coaches had.
“It’s in his DNA where he’s not going to run from anything. He attacks adversity head-on and doesn’t make excuses about anything. When he was wrong, he would own it. He enjoys working on things that he’s not good at. He enjoys the dissecting of his game. He really enjoys the process. So many people in today’s society are so obsessed with the outcome and the results that they lose sight of the beauty of the process, and how it shapes and molds you. Sydney is the complete opposite.”
Sydney kept impressing and finished his career in Illinois with 319 tackles, 26 passes defended, and 10 interceptions and was a large part of the success of the Illini defense that allowed the fewest points and second-fewest yards per game in the country.
Sydney was rewarded by being named with 1st-Team All-Big Ten Conference honors and he also led the Big Ten with 6 INT.
Things were again looking up.
Both brothers were excelling on the field and with travel restrictions being lifted their mother, Raechel, was able to come to see them for one of their last games in 2022.
Their Florida “host family” also came to watch them play.
Family and friends could see the progress the boys had developed in their game.
NFL Scouts around the league noticed as well.
Draft Day Weekend:
Both brothers were both selected in the 2023 NFL draft.
Sydney in the 3rd round to the Philadelphia Eagles and Chase to the Cincinnati Bengals in the 5th.
Sydney believes his strong family and the way he and Chase were raised are what led to their ascent to the NFL.
“I think the relationship that my brother and I shared really propelled us into the position I’m in now”, Brown said. “And definitely coming from the background we did, it definitely gave us a reason to push harder, especially with a family that I’m coming from and what they did to sacrifice to put me in the position that I am now. I guess you kind of look at it and you look at the story and where we came from and you can say, yeah, it wasn’t probable that they’d be successful or make a mark at the NFL, especially being from Canada”
Now in the city of Brotherly Love, he does not want to waste a single second on getting to work.
Eagles:
Sydney has his sights on a starting role but is willing to take on any assignment that Philadelphia asks of him.
“I want to compete for a starting job. I’m competing with everybody in the room, not just the guys in my position room. It goes beyond the starting job. I want to be a productive player as a rookie. I’m going to contribute however I can. If that’s as a defensive starter, perfect. If I have to be a backup defender and play on every special teams unit, I’m ready for whatever.”
His relentless practice habits have already impressed his teammates and coaches.
Newly signed Eagles safety Terrell Edmunds has been watching and is very impressed.
“He gives 110 percent every day. He’s going to be a guy that’s going to be in this league for a while. He’s a hard worker. He doesn’t say too much. He’s always smiling, but you just know that he wants it. He just goes out there and gives 110%. He’s willing to learn. He just loves football. You can tell.”
Chuck Walls, the Eagle’s Director of Player Personnel, shared some insight into their evaluation of Sydney.
“He’s powerful. When he closes ground, he can uncoil from his hips. He can really put force through contact and for a guy who is built the way he is (5-foot-10, 194 pounds), he can really move his feet. I spent a lot of time with him in the pre-draft process. He did very well in interviews, he was very sharp, he came across as very diligent, he’s very time-oriented. He’s a wonderful young man who is a really great teammate who was a Captain this year. He loves the game and you can see that on tape.”
Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman also shared his thoughts.
“Sydney Brown was a passion player for a lot of people in this organization. He was a red-star guy. And I think just a tremendous person with obviously really good athletic tools, leadership ability, and for us, just excited to get him in the building.”
Brown’s new Secondary coach D.K. McDonald spoke highly of the rookie safety, both on and off the field.
“He loves the game of football. He does and he works hard at it. He prepares. He asks tons of questions. And that’s on top of the skill that he has. His mindset. His growth mindset that he has of wanting to get better. He’s never pleased with where he’s at and those types of things draw you to guys. You know those guys that have that type of mindset, they’re always going to work hard and try to improve. And that’s what he does everyday.”
The sky is the limit.
The Future:
If you thought Sydney would become complacent or feel like he has made it after being drafted into the NFL and that his studying was over.
Think again.
Sydney has already been attacking the playbook.
“I think right now, it’s just about learning the defense, competing, just being the best version of myself every day, earning respect.”
The work never stops.
“You’ve got to simplify it, attack it, study, study, study until it’s unconscious competence.”
Sydney reflected on his journey to becoming an Eagle before he was off to another relentless workout.
“I think after we went to Florida and we were around some amazing people that helped change our lives. Not only from a mental standpoint but just routine-based. I think the habits that you produce and live by on a day-by-day basis really lead to who you are and how productive you are as a person, right? But again, I don’t think anybody is surprised by where we are and what we’re doing. I’m definitely not. I lived my routine, I lived football and it’s definitely a unique opportunity. I am so blessed to be sitting here right now saying that I am a Philadelphia Eagle.”
Sydney’s college DC, Ryan Walters, stated it best.
“Philly fans are going to love Sydney Brown.”