April 5, 2016
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – If you see junior Jason Rae around campus, chances are, younger brother Justin Rae isn’t far behind.
They share pretty much everything. Living space (they’re roommates, unsurprisingly). Friends. And up until this spring, they shared the same position group: offensive line.
When they aren’t at football practice or at home, they’re probably outdoors. They like spending time riding bikes or – taking part in a recently-acquired hobby – hunting.
A roommate introduced them to hunting, and now they can cook up wild pig on occasion. It’s a useful skill to have when you consider at one point in their lives, the Raes’ parents had to put dinner on the table for three growing football players, in addition to their two older sisters and a young brother.
The Rae name has been hanging above a UCF Football locker since 2008. Eldest son Jordan was an all-conference honoree as an offensive lineman before he graduated in 2012. Jason joined the team as a freshman in 2013 and one year later, Justin joined his brother in Orlando.
“There was no other choice. My parents are UCF all day and they wear UCF all day,” Justin said.
When he was about 8, Jason moved from Jamaica to Florida and was more accustomed to playing cricket than football. But a year later when Justin joined him in the States, they picked up football with kids from their neighborhood. And they ran the show from there.
“He was the quarterback and I was always the tight end,” Justin remembered. “We’d win every time.”
As the closest in age among their siblings, Jason and Justin became inseparable, which has now carried over to their lives today.
Although Jordan and Jason never played together, Jason called his older brother often for advice. Now that he is in the same role for his younger brother, Jason has tried to be a mentor to Justin.
However, he’s finding they work better when they collaborate.
“It’s awesome to have my wingman, my right-hand man right by me. It’s awesome to go home and talk about different stuff,” Jason said. “Now Justin is on defense, so he’s teaching me some of their calls and I’m teaching him some of ours so we can get better together.”
It’s a method that has always worked for them.
“My parents always taught us to have each other’s back and to do the right thing,” Justin said. “And just know that family is first.”