Having a brother or sister creates a special bond that can never be broken, playing sports on the same team with that sibling adds another layer to that beautiful and unbreakable bond.
Jarvis Anderson and Treos Richardson are one of many sets of siblings at Taylor High School that play on the same team. T.L. Garner, Anderson and Richardson’s father, said it was his dream to see his two sons playing on the same team, and they are allowing him to live his dream right now.
“We don’t really share a lot of background, but if people really understood Treos and Jarvis’ extraction, they would really understand why we are pushing them toward living the dream,” Garner said. “By their own extraction, they shouldn’t be here today.” Garner touched on the boys’ past and the adversities they had to go through. Garner did not go into much detail about his son’s past and said maybe one day he’ll let them tell their story, but he is so proud of where they came from to where they are now.
Anderson plays defensive back and wide receiver while Richardson also plays wide receiver on the football team. On the team Richardson plays only one position as opposed to two like his brother, but Richardson fills a role that goes unnoticed a lot of the time. Anderson is hearing impaired and relies on his brother to use sign language to tell him the plays and what he needs to do on certain plays.
During practice the brothers do not shy away from some friendly brotherly trash talk during practice.
“I really look forward to 1-on-1 drills. When our receivers go against our defensive backs we want to see who can cover someone man to man and who can shake loose and get open.
Jarvis vs Treos is the headliner of this drill,” Taylor Ducks head coach Brandon Houston said.
“They push each other so much to be the best they can be. The goodnatured, brotherly trash talk is fun. Of course, the coaches might get in on some of that, too with them.”
Richardson echoed what Houston said and started to laugh talking about matching up with his brother in practice.
“Every time we line up on the line, I’ll smack his helmet or something like that,” Richardson said with a smile.
He on field trash talk continued off the field when asked who was winning their all-time 1-on-1 matchup. While Richardson signed his brother the question, he pointed at himself saying he is winning the all-time 1-on-1 matchup with his brother.
Once Richardson was done signing Anderson looked at his brother with a confused look on his face and started patting his chest saying that he is in fact winning the all-time 1-on01 battle with his brother.
On the flip side Anderson is always watching film to see what he did well and what he could do better in games but also what Richardson did well and what he could do better in games. Andeson used signed language to say how much him, and his brother rely on each other to be the best version of themselves.
“We hold each other accountable and keep each other consistent,” Anderson said.
Anderson has also been making waves on the track as well holding the world record for the 400m hurdles for athletes under 20 years old and has the world record in the triple jump for deaf athletes with a jump of 51 feet.
Anderson and Richardson are known for their work on the field, and rightfully so, but not a lot of people know about them off the field.
The two are brothers, which means fights happen, but with only one set of boxing gloves, the pair had to find a way around this roadblock to settle their disputes.
“We each put a boxing glove on each hand and we would put the other behind our back and just swing at each other,” Richardson said.
They also have ways of picking on each other that annoy the other in their own way. “I’ll go in his room and throw something at him and turn the lights off and run away,” Richardson said. “If he is on FaceTime with a girl I like to go in his room and just start screaming,” Anderson said. Anderson and Richardson share a special and beautiful bond and love each other so much. Both of them said they want to succeed together because that is how it has always been.
Garner said he gets emotional thinking and talking about his sons and loves how they have had each other’s back through it all. “I cry all the time.
When you live that life to where you have one son that has had emotional trauma to occur in his family and the other son who is deaf and is always constantly having to prove himself to be much better than everybody else even before people would give you a fair shake or an opportunity and then you see them overcome and you see them not complain but say I want to play and that is all they ever wanted, was to play and they are doing that now,” Garner said. Anderson and Richardson will be back in action when the Ducks continue their season on Friday, Oct.
7, when they travel to San Antonio to play Davenport.
