CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown is quickly becoming the worst kept secret on the team’s offense, with teammates and coaches singing his praises.
“Chase looks great, he’s an explosive guy that can take it to the house at any time,” Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said this summer.
Head coach Zac Taylor said Brown has taken coaching and worked hard in the offseason.
It was last year when Brown first put his name on the map: On December 10, 2023, he took a screen pass 54 yards to the endzone against the Indianapolis Colts. On the run after the catch, Brown reached a top speed of 22.05 miles per hour, the second fastest speed in the NFL last year. However, Brown was not always a speedster.
“I was a high volume ball carrier in college, kind of just making plays when they were there,” Brown said.
Becoming faster came from work ethic. Brown accredits his grind-it-out mentality to one person specifically: His twin.
“Honestly, just having a twin brother man. Having to compete against him every single day… it’s a little bit different then growing up with an older sister, or younger sister. (My twin and I) are in the same classes, we are playing for the same team, sometimes playing the same position. We are always trying to outdo each other whether it’s in the weight room or on the field,” Brown said.
Chase’s twin brother, Sydney Brown, plays safety for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Before the Brown twins were individually budding NFL stars, they grew up together in London, Ontario.
“Single mom, obviously a little bit of struggle there, but my brother and I always leaned on each other, any time there was some sort of adversity... My mom lost her (home) at one point. She got sick. It put her, and us as a family, in a weird situation. Like I said, we always had each other,” Chase said.
Chase and Sydney had each other, and they both had football.
“When you get to beat up on each other your entire life. I’m talking about me and my brother, it kind of translates to the football field. It came natural right away… Every single practice we were going against each other. Him trying to run me over at one point, me trying to tackle him. It was a lot of fun in hindsight but in the moment it’s like 'I want to kill that dude all the time, like screw this guy. Get him. I just want to beat him.' Obviously, that builds up a competitive nature,” Chase said.
The only person not a fan of the twin brothers competing against each other? Their mom, Raechel Brown.
“My mom? She hated it. My mom did not like that. But, she always knew football was our escape from home. She loved that we were playing sports, but never when it was against each other, ever,” Chase said.
As teammates, the Browns excelled. Their junior year of high school, the twins moved to Florida to attend Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School. It was a life-changing time period for the Brown boys, mainly because of Chase and Sydney’s host family, Phil and Karen Yates.
“(Sydney and I) were horrible students in Canada. We were not doing any homework. When we got to Florida they taught us how to get in to a routine… without Phil (Yates) I don’t even know if we would have gone to college,“ Brown said.
The college dream happened and in their first year, the twins were separated: Sydney at Illinois, Chase at Western Michigan. Chase chose Western Michigan to follow his dream of becoming a pilot, just like Phil Yates. However, being separated from his twin brother was hard.
“It hurt. I would call him every single day saying ‘damn I miss you bro.’ just transfer here,” Brown said.
Chase took his own advice, putting the pilot dream on pause and transferring to Illinois.
“That was the best decision I ever made. I get to live this life once, (Sydney) gets to live his own life once. I think about it, 40-some-odd years from now, how would I feel if I never played college football with my brother? How would I feel if I never played college football with my brother? I’d regret that,” Chase Brown said.
Chase and Sydney excelled at Illinois. One Brown twin on each side of the ball gave opposing Big 10 teams nightmares.
Fast forward a few years and both Browns knew they would hear their name called in the 2023 NFL Draft. In the third round it was Sydney selected first.
“It was a moment I’ll never forget because I was super happy for him, but I’m like ‘man, I really want to hear my name called, too’ ,“ Chase said.
One day later in the fifth round Chase heard his name called. He remembers the moment like it was yesterday.
“'I’m going to Cincinnati. F*** yeah!' That’s what was going through my head. Like 'OK, let’s f***ing do this'... (Sydney) even said, 'I couldn’t even be happy for myself because I didn’t know where you were going man,'” Chase said.
For the first time in his career Chase will play against his brother Sydney in an NFL game when the Eagles visit Cincinnati in Week 8 of the 2024 regular season.
“My mom might not be happy, but I’m like 'come on let’s go,'” Chase said.
Chase’s mother, and the adversity she fought through to help both of her boys make it to the NFL, is Chase’s motivating factor.
“(I) just (want to) make my mom proud,” Chase said fighting through the emotions.
Chase is not the first player to come from a tough background to make it to the NFL, and he certainly will not be the last. His message for kids trying to follow their dreams, despite the odds being stacked against them, is clear:
“Find the right group of people. I always had my brother… no matter what you’re going through, no matter how hard it is. Just keep on pushing through it. As long as you stay on the right track and you believe it. It will happen,” Chase said.
