Throughout history twins have done some pretty momentous things. Romulus and Remus founded Rome. The Epstein boys, Philip and Julius, scripted Casablanca . Ronde and Tiki Barber wrote a series of children's books. (Okay, maybe momentous isn't what it used to be.)
Then, during last season's Liberty Bowl, South Carolina linebacker Jasper Brinkley had his fraternal moment in the sun. He'd seen his older-by-oneminute twin brother, Casper, a defensive end, struggle as Houston linemen pulverized him with a brutal toss play to the right. Casper constantly faced two and three blockers, and the Cougars used that play to take a 28-27 halftime lead.
But on fourth-and-four with 12 minutes left in the game, Jasper smelled it coming. Standing behind Casper, he let out a loud grunt. Casper didn't even need to turn around. "I knew exactly what he meant," says Casper, who shifted one yard inside into the gap between the tight end and the tackle. At the snap, Casper smothered the doubleteam, and Jasper cut the running back down a yard short of the sticks. The Gamecocks took over on downs, scored and went on to win, 44-36.
The Brinkleys are used to making barely audible audibles. While boosting their transcripts at Georgia Military College after high school, Casper and Jasper lived in the same barracks. Casper struggled badly with the lifestyle of 5:30 a.m. reveille and daily room inspections. But he kept the anguish to himself, not wanting to affect Jasper. But while out studying one night, Jasper felt something hit him like a pulling guard: Casper wanted to quit. "Jasper called me and told me I had come too far and to keep my head up and things would work out fine," Casper says. "He was right."
He certainly was. Last year in Columbia, Casper had a solid season (44 tackles, 13.5 for loss), but Jasper blew up, leading South Carolina with 107 tackles, including 14.5 for a loss, earning All-SEC honors and a spot on most draft boards had he come out. As the draft approached, Jasper said publicly and privately that he wasn't sure if he'd leave early. He should have asked Casper. "I knew before he even did," Casper says. "He wouldn't leave me."
Now the senior linebackers—Casper (6'2", 257) at weak side, Jasper (6'2", 262) at strong—share an apartment, insist on double-dating, just led SC to a 16-12 win at Georgia and have their eyes set on a Sept. 22 showdown against BCS contender LSU. But how well do Cap and Jap (their family nicknames) really know each other? To find out, we had the Brinkley boys fill out the same questionnaire, then asked them to break down each other's answers.
Because twintuition can take you only so far.
DREAM DATE?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP Candace Parker (after crossing out Vivica A. Fox).
JAP Marion Jones. ("Track girls are hot.")
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP I always wanted to date a basketball player because they're tall and really attracted to me.
JAP Age doesn't matter to me. When I was 21, I once dated a 25-year-old.
CAP So did I. It was your 25-year-old's friend.
FAVORITE PLAYER?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP Lance Briggs.
JAP Ray Lewis.
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP Briggs gives 100% no matter what.
JAP I've never seen a player work as hard as Ray Lewis. It motivates me because he's from a singleparent home, and I feel like I'm in the same situation: Since my dad was a truck driver he wasn't around much. And I knew Cap was going to say Briggs. Cap always talks about him and how he's overlooked because of Brian Urlacher. I guess he's trying to say that he feels overlooked with me here.
CAP Exactly.
BETTER PLAYER BETWEEN THEM?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP Jap.
JAP Cap.
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP I think we're equal. He's stronger in the weight room and might even be a better tackler than I am. He's more aggressive at the point of attack than me. And he's had more hard hits.
JAP It's tough for him to have hard hits because he played line last year. But he's a warrior. No matter what happens to him, he always fights to stay on top.
WORST PART OF BEING A TWIN?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP We are too much alike.
JAP Nothing.
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP He's gonna want the same things I want. It's gonna cause an argument.
JAP I knew he was going to say that.
FAVORITE ACTOR OR ACTRESS?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP Denzel Washington.
JAP Will Smith.
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP Denzel's great, but I love the movie Friday. I can watch Chris Tucker and Ice Cube all day. I also always watch movies like Braveheart, Troy and Gladiator to pump me up before games. I was crazy about Troy until 300 came out.
JAP Ali was my favorite. But Will's funny, too. I might be the team comedian, while Casper tries to be serious all the time. In the meeting room, if something's funny, Cap ain't gonna laugh. But I will.
CAP Jasper overdoes it sometimes. He'll be playing with me, and I'll be like, All right, enough. I'll tell him to stop playing, but he keeps doing it. Just two days ago, he was poking me, and I told him, "Keep pushing my buttons and see what I do."
JAP He gets really mad. I like to slap the back of his neck to get him going. It doesn't matter, though. We might fight but 20 minutes later we're best friends.
HERO?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP Mom.
JAP Superman.
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP My mom would give me an arm and a leg to
make sure I got what I needed to succeed. I always looked at her like she was my hero.
JAP My mom knows she's my hero, so I didn't put her. There have been times when Mom might have had $5 for the work week, and she'd give it to us to go to school with. She wouldn't eat lunch at work so we could. I love Superman because he helps people. He saves people from harm. I just think he's a positive person to look up to. I see that in myself. I feel like I've been blessed to be as fortunate as I have been, so I'd like to help somebody else.
BEST THING YOUR BRO DID FOR YOU?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP As a kid, a battery blew up in my face, and he grabbed me and immediately put water in my eyes.
JAP As a kid, I fell in a well at my grandma's house, and Casper came and pulled me out.
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP I was only 15 or 16, and I was putting the jumper cables on a car battery. Somehow it blew up, and acid went in my eyes. I thought I was blind. It was burning real bad, and he grabbed me, put water on my face and wiped it out of my eyes.
JAP He was jumping around like a cartoon character, running around with his eyes closed. For me, I was about 10 or 12, and we were playing on a dirt pile at my grandma's house. The well was right on the side of the house. I don't know how I ended up in there, but somehow I did. Cap came and grabbed me and saved me. I would've died if it weren't for him. It's something that sticks with me. He saved my life.
BIGGEST FEAR?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP None.
JAP Tearing my ACL.
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP I used to be really afraid of being a failure. But I read somewhere that if you're afraid of being a failure, you're not going to succeed. So I said, "You know what? I'm not afraid of failure any more." I am not going to be ashamed if I fail at something.
JAP It seems like every person in their senior year gets hurt, and it's always the ACL. I remember I tweaked my hamstring in spring practice, and all I could think was, ACL, ACL, ACL.
PROUDEST YOU'VE EVER FELT?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP Beating Clemson last season.
JAP Beating Clemson.
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP We kept playing ranked teams throughout the year, and we kept battling. It was only a matter of time before we took advantage of a big opportunity and turned it into a win.
JAP It had been a while since SC had beaten Clemson. They kept scoring on us, but we didn't get down. I kept saying, "As long as we don't give up, we're gonna be all right." I felt like Cap and I had a lot to do with winning that game.
BEST THING ABOUT BEING A TWIN?
SOLO THEY WROTE …
CAP I'll always have a best friend.
JAP Being asked, "Are you a twin?"
TOGETHER THEY SAID …
CAP I don't have to depend on anybody else. When I need to talk to somebody, I got him no matter what the circumstances.
JAP Twins have a bond that no other person can have with another human being. CAP And it gets stronger over time.