Texas State junior offensive lineman Jimento Obigbo and redshirt sophomore Emeka Obigbo can be described as “two bodies, one heart.” They were born just a minute apart from each other and have been inseparable ever since.
“We go everywhere together. If I am there, he is there. If I’m walking and I’m a couple of feet in front, my brother is probably a couple of feet behind me. We don’t do everything together, but we do most things together,” Jimento said.
The two brothers have been playing football together since they were young kids, and their chemistry on the field has always been present.
“We started playing football at the age of seven, and just being on the same team, we both were defensive linemen at first,” Emeka said. “We played on each end of the line, so we were just working together. We’re brothers, so everything just kind of meshed.”
Texas State offensive line and running game coordinator Jordan Shoemaker admires the qualities that both brothers possess and believes it has made his job easier.
“They push themselves harder than anybody,” Shoemaker said. “I give them a direction to go, and they take it. They make sure that they are both trying to be great on the field and off the field. As a coach, that is all you can ask for.”
Growing up, being twins was not the only unique thing about the Obigbo brothers. Their size was something that stood out to many people and was also the reason they began playing football in the first place. Today the twins stand at around 6’5 and weight roughly 330 pounds each.
“I mean, we were just big kids, so we actually went into a barbershop, and our barber was like, ‘Dang, these kids are big.’ He told our dad about our size, and ever since then, we have been playing football,” Emeka said.
Despite their stout stature, both twins understand the hardships that football can bring to an individual, but believe the constant support they get from each other is enough to keep them pushing.
“There would be tough times where I wouldn’t get something, and then my brother would. I’m battling, and I can just go to my brother, and he will set me straight right there,” Jimento said. “From an injury standpoint, if I get injured, I can always look to my right, and my brother will be on the field playing, so it doesn’t feel as bad.”
The twins tend to keep the same sentiment when watching each other on the field, as they look for mistakes and offer advice to one another when they mess up.
“He’s his own biggest critic, but I also critique him every play on the field, and he critiques me every play on the field,” Emeka said. “If I mess up, he is always looking, so it’s kind of like you have a camera on you 24/7 on the field. We are always correcting each other.”
