It’s hard to believe now when you look at LeShun Daniels Jr. and his younger brother James, but when they were born two years, three months and four days apart, they were almost exactly the same size when they entered the world.

“They were basically about the same size when they were born. I think one might have been a few ounces apart, but not much,” said LeShun Daniels Sr.

Somewhere around the time when Daniels Jr. entered high school and James started 7th grade, the younger brother became the bigger brother.

You look at them now and Daniels Jr. is a chiseled 6-foot and 225 pound running back. Meanwhile, James Daniels is a 6-foot-4 and 295 pound man-child heading into his sophomore year.

The Daniels duo shared the field from time to time last season. On Saturday, they will do something they haven’t done since LeShun’s senior year in high school and that’s start a game together. James Daniels will be the first Hawkeye player to touch the ball their first offensive play at center and his brother may very well end up being the last guy to touch it on that first play as Iowa’s starting running back.

As you might imagine, the level of anticipation for Saturday’s game is pretty high for their proud parents, Alicia and LeShun Daniels Sr.

“We are really proud of them,” said Daniels Sr. “It feels great to see my boys out there together at the same time and I am anxious to see how they do on Saturday and the chemistry they have. I think they are both living their dream together by being able to play with each other.”

The journey to Iowa for the Daniels wasn’t all that different than what a lot of high school prospects experience in the recruiting process today. But, it was very different from what their father experienced back when he was recruited to play for Ohio State.

LeShun Daniels Jr. made an early verbal commitment to Boston College, but at the end of the season, then head coach Spaziani was let go. Daniels had an outstanding senior season, rushing for 1,604 yards and 15 touchdowns. A few days later, Iowa offensive line coach Brian Ferentz stopped by Warren G. Harding High School in Warren, OH and by the end of that day, the Hawkeyes made an offer. Indiana and Wisconsin were also in to check on Daniels, but a follow-up call from Head Coach Kirk Ferentz got him even more interested in the Hawkeyes.

A week after his visit to Iowa City in early December, Daniels Jr. flipped his verbal commitment from Boston College to Iowa. Of course, during the recruiting process, Iowa’s offensive line coach took notice of the younger brother who was paying very close attention to what his old brother was doing and where he was going.

Two years later, James Daniels was one of the most highly recruited offensive lineman in the country and Iowa already had a foot in the door. Even though his father had played for the Buckeyes and he lived in Ohio, surrounded by Ohio State fans, the big lineman decided that he wanted to be a Hawkeye and play football for at least a couple of years with his best friend, his older brother, LeShun.

That decision certainly helped the Daniels family. Instead of having to make a weekly decision during the fall about where they would go to watch their sons play college football, they could simply book their trips to wherever the Hawkeyes are playing.

“It made our life better by thousands of dollars,” LeShun Sr. said with a laugh. “Iowa is a great school and he wants to get into the medical field, so it was a great fit for him. We looked at the program and with LeShun there, it was great for our family. It came down to Iowa, Ohio State, and Alabama for James and we sat down as a family and with his brother being there and James always looking up to him, I think that was the extra push that got him there.”

The journey of the Daniels hasn’t always been easy during the Iowa years.

Daniels Jr. played in seven games in his first year on campus and was continuing to make strides in his sophomore season when he broke his foot in the middle of the year and played a limited role in the Tax Slayer Bowl that season.

Last season was another year where injuries played a role in his development. Daniels Jr. suffered a high ankle sprain in the first quarter against Iowa State and tried to play thru it the next couple of weeks, but when it was clear that he wasn’t himself, the Iowa coaches shut him down for two weeks. When faced with the injury issues, he always leaned hardest on his parents for support.

“I think he leans on us through some of those tough times when he’s been hurt,” said LeShun Sr. “There were times when I am sure he was down, but he really doesn’t let anyone see it. He really just focused on trying to get healthy and I would call and talk to him about what he’s going thru trying to get back and hopefully help him.”

That support helped Daniels Jr. in those tough times and it all paid off when Iowa played Minnesota under the lights in Kinnick Stadium. He was finally fully healthy once again and he showed what he could do, rushing for 195 yards and three touchdowns, including a dazzling 51 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to essentially seal with win for the then undefeated Hawkeyes.

“I think that’s him at his best. When he is healthy, that’s what you will see. I think a lot of the season last year, especially after the first quarter against Iowa State, we didn’t see him fully healthy until that Minnesota game,” Daniels Sr. said. “When he is healthy, he can do some pretty good things with the football on the stretch play or the outside zone play. He is faster than a lot of people think and can make some big plays.”

James Daniels has had his share of injuries as well. After starting two games last season, including at guard in the 2016 Rose Bowl, he was projected to be the starting center for the Hawkeyes heading into the season. But, off-season knee surgery kept him out during spring ball and Sean Welsh looked like he would end up with the center job this fall.

That all changed in fall camp, when Daniels received all the work at center and won the job to start the season.

James Daniels has come along quickly at Iowa. It’s rare to see a true freshman offensive lineman play, let alone start and he did just that after he enrolled early the previous spring semester. A big part of the credit for his quick transition at Iowa goes to his older brother, who helped him from the day he arrived on campus and set the proper example to follow.

“I think that was a huge asset for him having LeShun there already,” said Daniels Sr. “It really let him get comfortable quickly. LeShun laid down some ground rules quickly for him on how he needed to manage his time and go about your work on the football side in terms of practice, preparing, and prioritizing different things in his life. To have that type of resource there, I think really helped him a lot.”

Of course, being a former Big Ten offensive lineman never leaves you and when Daniels Sr. is watching, he’s usually focused in on the guys in the trenches, particularly his son.

“I try to leave the coaching to the coaches. But, if I see something, I will tell him to take a look at this play or that play from time to time. He has uncles who played offensive line in the NFL, so they will be watching and offer some advice too. We just try to tell him little techniques that might help him, but for the most part we just leave it to Brian (Ferentz) to coach him.”

With this being Daniels Jr’s final college season, you can bet that the Daniels family is going to cherish each and every game as much as possible. Alicia will be wearing a special jersey with 29 on the front and 78 on the back with Daniels on the nameplate with great pride. Daniels Sr, will putting on his Iowa polo shirt or Hawkeye t-shirt and both will be beaming with pride that their sons are playing together once again this year.

“Oh man, for a moment it feels like I am in there too. It’s just so exciting for us,” Daniels Sr. said. “I think they are going to really enjoy this year, especially with it being LeShun’s senior year and they want to do some pretty big things together this season.”