Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles Pick Up Paul Kruger’s Little Brothers

November 25, 2011; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes defensive linemen Tevita Finau (97), Star Lotulelei (92), and Dave Kruger (44) look to the sideline during the first half against the Colorado Buffaloes at Rice Eccles Stadium. Colorado defeated Utah 17-14. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

There are around 350 combinations of brothers who have either played together or against one another in the National Football League. Now that the Cleveland Browns have signed undrafted rookie free agent defensive tackle Dave Kruger and the Philadelphia Eagles drafting the younger brother of both Joe Kruger, you can add the Kruger’s to the list of siblings who have played professional football. All 3 Kruger’s attended the University of Utah and played the same (Defensive End) position.

The Cleveland Browns announced the signing of Dave Kruger, along with 17 other undrafted rookie free agents that will head to the organizations mini camp next week. Young brother Dave, was a captain at Utah for his senior season just like his older brother Paul. He played all 4 years at the University of Utah, where he collected a total of 116 tackles, 1 forced fumble and 3.5 sacks.

October 20, 2012; Corvallis, OR, USA; Utah Utes defensive end Joe Kruger (99) looks on before the game against the Oregon State Beavers at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

Also joining Dave and Paul Kruger in the National Football League is not so little brother out of all, another defensive end, Joe Kruger. All 3 brothers are apart of teams who are looking to rebuild their franchises and if the new Kruger rookies play anything like their Super Bowl champion sibling Paul Kruger, their teams will be happy they decided to sign them.

Joe who stands at 6’7 and 280 pounds was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 7th round, #212 overall was a top 25 defensive end prospect listed by Rivals.com. He played 3 years at Utah, racking up 9 sacks, 1 interception which resulted in 1 touchdown, 3 forced fumbles and 69 total tackles.

So now that all 3 brothers are in the league at the same time, i’m sure the Kruger family and friends are pretty excited about the 2013 season which is just months away.

I mentioned at the beginning of the article, that there are over 350 siblings who have played together in the national football league. A good chunk of those brothers have become Super Bowl champions, franchise players and hall of fame if not future hall of fame players.

You have brothers like Bill and Martin Gramatica, Peyton and Eli Manning, Ronde and Tiki Barber, Santana and Sinorice Moss, Champ and Boss Bailey, Bruce and Clay Matthews, Clay Jr. and Casey Matthews, Shannon and Sterling Sharpe, Desmond, Isaiah and Marcus Trufant, Terry and Craig Bradshaw, Merlin, Phil and Orrin Olsen, Randall and Sam Cunningham, Vontae and Vernon Davis, Doug and Darren Flutie, Chris, Dan and Rob Gronkowski are a short list of names that make up that long list of talented brothers to play in this league.

Each and every one of these players contributed well to the teams they have played with through out their careers or will continue to do so as some siblings are still going strong in this league. It is always great to see brothers in the league together, especially having one on the same team as you. Not only does it bring you two closer, but it also brings your team together as a unit. That bond between brothers is one of the strongest bonds a man can have in his life.

Me and my younger brother John (who is 4 years younger than me) both played football and we both talked about how awesome it would be if we both have went onto college and  gone pro and even played on the same team together.

It just proves to show that this is more than a game, in a way, in certain house holds, football is more like a religion. This is truly a beautiful sport.