The brothers Dyami and Khafre Brown push each other and UNC to new heights
The sibling competition between brothers Dyami and Khafre Brown never quite ends just because a whistle blows a play dead. That’s actually when it starts for the pair of North Carolina receivers.
Dyami, the older brother, leads the Tar Heels with 45 receptions, for 824 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s had more yards and more receptions than his little brother in every game this season.
But Khafre, a redshirt freshman, held something over him. He was the first of the two to catch a touchdown pass this season. Khafre caught it in the Tar Heels’ second game of the season, against Boston College. Dyami was genuinely excited for him. But he was also quick to one-up his brother the next time out against Virginia Tech. Dyami caught two touchdowns and their personal battle was on.
“They used to go at it, all the time, over everything,” Jarvis Davis, who coached the Browns at West Mecklenburg High School, told The News & Observer. “If Dyami scored, Khafre wanted that ball in his hand the next series. It wasn’t hating, it was, ‘OK, he scored, let me show you what I can do.’”
The Browns and the No. 25 Tar Heels hope to show No. 2 Notre Dame how they can break a game wide open Friday in Kenan Stadium. The Irish lead the ACC in total defense and have allowed 13 receptions for more than 30 yards all season. The Brown brothers alone have combined for 10 catches of 30-plus yards including Khafre’s 76-yard touchdown against Virginia.
That one of those plays should have about 10 yards added to it is a bit of a sore spot for the pair. Khafre was 10 yards away from scoring a 75-yard touchdown against Wake Forest, when big brother Dyami made what he thought was the final block to clear the way. Khafre probably would have scored without it, but Dyami was flagged for an illegal blindside block.
Dyami knows he owes his little brother one. Perhaps that’s why he was so complimentary of what he sees as the strength of Khafre’s game.
“It’d be the run after the catch,” Dyami told the N&O. “You can see in the game, so he’s taken like two slants to the crib (for touchdowns) for like, over 50 yards.”
Who’s the fastest?
Khafre leads the Heels with 22.8 average yards per catch. His 273 yards ranks third on the team behind his brother and Dazz Newsome. What Dyami refuses to concede though is that it has anything to do with Khafre being the faster of the two.
Keep in mind, Khafre has had two surgeries on the same knee and anterior cruciate ligament, which is why he spent the 2019 season as a redshirt.
“They’re probably the fastest two players on our team,” UNC coach Mack Brown told reporters on a video call. “They make dynamic plays. They work really hard... And I do think Khafre is probably faster than Dyami. He’d fight you on that one, but I think (Khafre) is.”
Khafre envisioned himself following more in the footsteps of their mother, Tamiko Patterson, who ran track at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. She was the 1997 NCAA Division III indoor track national champion in the triple jump and long jump and placed third in the 55 meter dash. Many of his high school years he would have a delayed start to joining the football team in August while still competing in track events.
“I wanted to be an Olympian, I didn’t really take football serious until I got to high school,” Khafre told the N&O. “Dyami really pushed me after I realized I could be something.”
Special? A mirror image of his brother? That Khafre could actually be like Dyami is a win for Carolina, especially with quarterback Sam Howell on campus at least one more season.
“Maybe the difference right now is just experience,” UNC offensive coordinator Phil Longo said on a video call. “Dyami is older and has played more. Khafre is still learning — from his brother and from (receivers) coach (Lonnie) Galloway. You know, he looks like Dyami in the early stages.”
For the record, Dyami caught 17 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown as a freshman. Khafre needs just six more catches to pass his brother. While that could lead to more comparisons and bragging, there’s actually something they agree on to the extent that they don’t talk about it.
“We have the confidence in ourselves so we already say we’re the best out of all the brothers, regardless of what it is,” Dyami said. “It’s not really a topic of discussion, but it’s just something that we know.”