Bailey Brothers Having Fun as TCU Teammates
6/24/2023 12:55:00 PM | Football
Emani and Jordyn always dreamed of playing college football together
by Will Dehmel
It's midday at TCU, but the sound inside the football office lobby is steadily rising. Between oohs and aahs and an occasional low-pitch clanking, a crowd has convened.
As the game drags on, the brothers almost meld into the purple hue of the atrium.
Emani strikes the cue ball, which strikes the eight ball, which falls into the pocket. It's a rhythmic crescendo of noise — calming, even — and the applause serves as its coda.
"I'll be getting him in pool, [and] in basketball. He's gonna try to say [he'll] be getting me, but we all know the real story here," Emani says when asked who typically wins these brotherly contests.
"Oh, that is faulty," Jordyn responds. "He cannot beat me. He can't touch me. And I'm not just saying that because…" he trails off. "Like I have proof. He cannot beat me at all."
Finally, Emani eases up. "Sometimes it's even, sometimes it's not, but it'll be going one way one day and another the other day," He smiles. "It's great competition."
Contests like these have been competitive since Jordyn, a freshman wide receiver, and Emani, a junior running back, were babies, their mother, Casaundra, says.
Growing up, the streets of Denton, Texas, were their playground. The only rule for Jordyn and Bailey, says Casaundra: be in the yard before the streetlights come on.
"I always told them… 'If I look out there and you're not in the yard when the streetlights come on, you're going to be grounded,'" Casaundra laughed.
The brothers weren't always destined to play football. It wasn't until Casaundra moved the family from Denton to Colorado for health issues that her dad — Emani and Jordyn's grandfather — introduced them to the game.
From there, the boys were obsessed — and, Casaundra insists, tough.
"When Jordyn first started wearing pads, he was 5 years old because he hated flag football," Casaundra explains. "Emani was trying to teach him how to tackle outside of our house in Colorado. Emani tackled him so hard, he hit the mailbox. I was so scared. Jordyn pops up and he's like, 'Look, mom, I'm okay, I got it. I'm a big boy now.'"
Eventually the two would be big boys, playing on a Denton Ryan High School team that routinely wins the 5A Division I championship.
When Emani won the championship his senior season, Jordyn, then a freshman, suited up for the playoffs. Jordyn then won the following year as a sophomore. While satisfied, the two always had their goals set beyond high school ball.
"They have talked about playing together since they were in elementary and middle school," Casaundra says. "They said that they were going to play together in college."
But the two weren't always destined to play together.
Enami played his first two years of collegiate ball at Louisiana before entering the transfer portal. That conveniently happened to be the same time Jordyn was making his commitment decision.
"They were really at the top and then when my brother entered the portal, they threw him an offer and he decided he wanted to commit to TCU. He kind of made it easier for me," Jordyn says. "After that, it was just like a done deal for me."
It was a perfect deal for Casaundra, who used to drive from Jordyn's Friday night games six hours to Louisiana to see Emani play. She will only have to make a 40-minute drive from Denton to Amon G. Carter Stadium.
"I now just go to one place," Casaundra says. "I don't have to worry about Friday nights or Saturday night. I go to one place and — oh my gosh, that right there is so exciting. That is so exciting."
It's even more exciting, they all say, that the program was so successful last year.
Jordyn always saw the team's potential.
"I knew the vision. I knew what the team was capable of… When the new staff came in, I could feel the culture of TCU and I was like 'Yeah, this team is going to be good.'"
When TCU made the College Football Playoff National Championship last year, Jordyn traveled to Los Angeles to watch the team, and Emani, practice.
"These things we talked about even at a younger age, when I was 11, and he was 8 — the more time kept going, we were just praying that things like that would happen," Emani says. "Him being in LA with me, watching the national championship game, me getting in for a few plays, was amazing."
Surprisingly, there is very little comparison between the two. The goal is a championship.
"People would try to compare us like 'blah, blah, blah, who's this, who's better, who's that,'" Jordyn says. "We've always just been like he's in his lane, I'm in my lane."
Still, it was in part because their lanes crossed that the two became so successful.
"I've been … fortunate enough to be that role model for him," Emani says. "He sees how it is to be competitive. He picks it up and has a competitive nature as well."
"Obviously he's like big bro," Jordyn explains. "As he's trying to push me, I'm like 'I'm not gonna let you push me around.' So I try to go as hard as him, in everything we do."
After TCU, both Jordyn and Emani plan to play in the NFL.
"They always say we've accomplished this but we're not done yet," Casaundra explains. "That is absolutely the second part of their journey."
"That's what started," Jordyn says. "We were like 'We want to go to the NFL.' It was then like, okay, what do we need to do to get there. We've just been working."
If not, their mom bought Jordyn an LLC for his 18th birthday. They'll be business partners.
"I always have faith that me and my little brother will go anywhere together," Emani says. "If not, we are still going to be building off each other, letting each other know what's going on. I have no doubt in my mind. My faith is high that it'll carry over."
It's midday at TCU, but the sound inside the football office lobby is steadily rising. Between oohs and aahs and an occasional low-pitch clanking, a crowd has convened.
As the game drags on, the brothers almost meld into the purple hue of the atrium.
Emani strikes the cue ball, which strikes the eight ball, which falls into the pocket. It's a rhythmic crescendo of noise — calming, even — and the applause serves as its coda.
"I'll be getting him in pool, [and] in basketball. He's gonna try to say [he'll] be getting me, but we all know the real story here," Emani says when asked who typically wins these brotherly contests.
"Oh, that is faulty," Jordyn responds. "He cannot beat me. He can't touch me. And I'm not just saying that because…" he trails off. "Like I have proof. He cannot beat me at all."
Finally, Emani eases up. "Sometimes it's even, sometimes it's not, but it'll be going one way one day and another the other day," He smiles. "It's great competition."
Contests like these have been competitive since Jordyn, a freshman wide receiver, and Emani, a junior running back, were babies, their mother, Casaundra, says.
Growing up, the streets of Denton, Texas, were their playground. The only rule for Jordyn and Bailey, says Casaundra: be in the yard before the streetlights come on.
"I always told them… 'If I look out there and you're not in the yard when the streetlights come on, you're going to be grounded,'" Casaundra laughed.
The brothers weren't always destined to play football. It wasn't until Casaundra moved the family from Denton to Colorado for health issues that her dad — Emani and Jordyn's grandfather — introduced them to the game.
From there, the boys were obsessed — and, Casaundra insists, tough.
"When Jordyn first started wearing pads, he was 5 years old because he hated flag football," Casaundra explains. "Emani was trying to teach him how to tackle outside of our house in Colorado. Emani tackled him so hard, he hit the mailbox. I was so scared. Jordyn pops up and he's like, 'Look, mom, I'm okay, I got it. I'm a big boy now.'"
Eventually the two would be big boys, playing on a Denton Ryan High School team that routinely wins the 5A Division I championship.
When Emani won the championship his senior season, Jordyn, then a freshman, suited up for the playoffs. Jordyn then won the following year as a sophomore. While satisfied, the two always had their goals set beyond high school ball.
"They have talked about playing together since they were in elementary and middle school," Casaundra says. "They said that they were going to play together in college."
But the two weren't always destined to play together.
Enami played his first two years of collegiate ball at Louisiana before entering the transfer portal. That conveniently happened to be the same time Jordyn was making his commitment decision.
"They were really at the top and then when my brother entered the portal, they threw him an offer and he decided he wanted to commit to TCU. He kind of made it easier for me," Jordyn says. "After that, it was just like a done deal for me."
It was a perfect deal for Casaundra, who used to drive from Jordyn's Friday night games six hours to Louisiana to see Emani play. She will only have to make a 40-minute drive from Denton to Amon G. Carter Stadium.
"I now just go to one place," Casaundra says. "I don't have to worry about Friday nights or Saturday night. I go to one place and — oh my gosh, that right there is so exciting. That is so exciting."
It's even more exciting, they all say, that the program was so successful last year.
Jordyn always saw the team's potential.
"I knew the vision. I knew what the team was capable of… When the new staff came in, I could feel the culture of TCU and I was like 'Yeah, this team is going to be good.'"
When TCU made the College Football Playoff National Championship last year, Jordyn traveled to Los Angeles to watch the team, and Emani, practice.
"These things we talked about even at a younger age, when I was 11, and he was 8 — the more time kept going, we were just praying that things like that would happen," Emani says. "Him being in LA with me, watching the national championship game, me getting in for a few plays, was amazing."
Surprisingly, there is very little comparison between the two. The goal is a championship.
"People would try to compare us like 'blah, blah, blah, who's this, who's better, who's that,'" Jordyn says. "We've always just been like he's in his lane, I'm in my lane."
Still, it was in part because their lanes crossed that the two became so successful.
"I've been … fortunate enough to be that role model for him," Emani says. "He sees how it is to be competitive. He picks it up and has a competitive nature as well."
"Obviously he's like big bro," Jordyn explains. "As he's trying to push me, I'm like 'I'm not gonna let you push me around.' So I try to go as hard as him, in everything we do."
After TCU, both Jordyn and Emani plan to play in the NFL.
"They always say we've accomplished this but we're not done yet," Casaundra explains. "That is absolutely the second part of their journey."
"That's what started," Jordyn says. "We were like 'We want to go to the NFL.' It was then like, okay, what do we need to do to get there. We've just been working."
If not, their mom bought Jordyn an LLC for his 18th birthday. They'll be business partners.
"I always have faith that me and my little brother will go anywhere together," Emani says. "If not, we are still going to be building off each other, letting each other know what's going on. I have no doubt in my mind. My faith is high that it'll carry over."
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