Carlos is five minutes older than Khalil and almost imperceptibly bigger. He’s roughly 6-foot-3½ and 275 pounds, Carl thinks, while Khalil is just under 6-foot-3 and five pounds lighter. Khalil is quicker, Carlos is stronger. Carlos thinks Khalil can be a bit of a “baby” sometimes. Mom Tracy and Carl agree that Carlos is a little more mature and introspective.
“But if you tell Khalil that, he’d say, ‘No, that’s not right,’” Carl said in a phone interview.
“I don’t see him as an older brother,” Khalil said. “I guess he does. There are times when we both look out for each other.”
And there were years when it was impossible to tell them apart. Khalil now has dye in one quadrant of his hair, while Carlos recently cut his in a mohawk. Without the haircuts, Khalil said, you can’t figure out who is who.
Even with them, they fooled a teacher last year, switching places in class. Aside from collapsing quarterback pockets and being nationally ranked as discus throwers, Carlos and Khalil are part-time pranksters.
“Growing up, we both laughed about everything,” said Khalil, whom Carl calls the “social butterfly” of the two. “We’re positive people, so we try to make everything funny, even when it’s not.”