There are the Staal brothers who are well-known hockey players. There are the Manning brothers who are familiar football competitors. Now, there are the Glennon brothers.
When junior quarterback Mike Glennon takes the field to start the 2011 football season, N.C . State and Virginia Tech will produce another set of notable brothers in the sports world.
Sean Glennon was the 2006-2008 starting quarterback at Virginia Tech, and on Sept. 3 , when the Wolfpack take on the Flames, his younger brother, Mike Glennon , will follow in his footsteps, but instead, on State turf.
“I wanted to go to the best place that fit me and I think N.C . State was that,” Glennon said. “Virginia Tech is a great school and I have a bunch of friends that go there, but N.C . State was a better choice for me.”
It’s not too popular for brothers to both have the same interest in the same sport and continue on from childhood to become renowned athletes. They could grow up playing backyard soccer or football or any other sport together, but to be starting quarterbacks for an ACC team is an honor that would make one’s parents proud.
“I think my parents are definitely proud and I think they hope I achieve my goals, and my brother and sister feel the same way,” Glennon said. “I think they are just as proud for my sister who didn’t play any sports.”
Not only did their sister not play a sport but their father did not play football past childhood.
“We always joke about it, being the ‘Mustangs’ but that’s about it, he only played little league football,” Glennon said.
As the younger brother, Mike always had Sean to look up to and to learn lessons from. Whether it was about life, or on the football field, Mike Glennon learned through all the experiences that Sean Glennon embarked upon.
“As a little kid I always looked up to him, I always played backyard football with him and saw what he went through from all the way through his career,” Glennon said. “So I definitely learned a lot from him and his experiences at Virginia Tech and had an idea of what being a quarterback in the ACC was all about; the highs, the lows and everything in between.”
Being a quarterback is not the easiest job in the world, especially with pressure from the fans to perform well during the game. Having mental toughness is a major quality that Mike Glennon saw in his brother.
“From day one you have to have thick skin, you’re either going to be at the top of the world or the bottom,” Glennon said. “As much as I didn’t want to be patient, I knew I had to and now I have two years to do all the things that I want to accomplish. So I’m excited about these upcoming two years.”
After his college career, Sean Glennon signed as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings but was released when Brett Favre came out of retirement. Glennon took on the student-athlete role and, although he still has dreams to play football, he will focus on his job in Fairfax, Va . working the phones at a mortgage company.
The brothers still keep in touch; however, their conversations don’t always involve football.
“We don’t talk as much about football as you would think we would,” Mike Glennon said. “We talk about football sometimes but it’s not always the X’s and the O’s; we talk about whatever there is to talk about.”
The day of the first football game for the Wolfpack will be the day that the ACC will see it’s third pair of brothers start as quarterbacks. The other ACC quarterback brothers are Chris and Matt Kupec from North Carolina and Rod and Mike Elkins from UNC and Wake Forest.
There’s pressure that comes with a quarterback position in general, but Glennon believes he’s ready to accomplish his goals and take on the challenge no matter whose shoes he is filling, even Russell Wilson’s. Preparation and practice will hopefully transfer to the field.
“I have learned through my brother and my personal experiences that, through hard work and being mentally tough, you can accomplish a lot,” Glennon said.
