McDermott brothers bleed Eagles green

GIVEN THAT THEIR offices are only 20 yards away from each other at the NovaCare Complex, you would think they would see each other with regularity, if only just to say hello as they passed in the hall. But that has been far from the case. In fact, it was only recently that Sean and Tim McDermott had a chance to steal away and have lunch one day. Seeing them together was such an oddity that a fellow Eagles employee commented: "I was beginning to wonder if you two really were brothers."

Sean chuckled when reminded of that encounter. "Sometimes I forget that Tim even works here," he said. "Not out of a lack of love, but we are in two separate worlds."

The "world" Sean occupies is the job of defensive coordinator, which keeps him so busy that he sleeps 4 nights a week at the office and begins his day at 4 a.m. For Tim, the pace as senior vice president and chief marketing officer is somewhat less all-consuming; he gets to go home at the end of the day, and come in later to work. But while their obligations with the Eagles have them off running in opposite directions, they remain as close as they were when they were boys growing up in the Philadelphia area.

Sean will always think of Tim as his "big brother," someone he looked upon as a role model.

Tim will always think of Sean as someone with whom he has always been "very close" - and who "used to beat me up" when they used to wrestle.

Tim is 20 months older than Sean. They grew up in West Chester, Paoli and Lansdale. Their father, Rich, was a former assistant football coach at West Chester and Ursinus, and worked for 30 years teaching special-needs children at Elwyn Institute in Media. Rich and his wife, Avis, instilled in their two boys what Tim says were "values, discipline and a work ethic" that enabled both of them to become successful in their fields.

Both of them played three sports: Football, wrestling, and baseball.

Tim attended North Penn High School and then Cornell, where he played football. He began "on the football side" as an intern with the Jacksonville Jaguars and then moved over to the business side. Upon leaving the San Diego Chargers, he attended the Harvard Business School, worked for Comcast, the Eagles and the Washington Capitals before settling back down with the Eagles last year.

Sean attended North Penn for 2 years and then La Salle High School. He played safety at the College of William & Mary, where he also began his coaching career. Tim helped him get his foot in the door with the Eagles, where, in 1999, Sean became assistant to the head coach and worked in a variety of coaching capacities until he was appointed, in 2009, as the replacement for the late Jim Johnson.

Tim said he has never seen anyone as driven as Sean.

"Our house was behind a high school field," said Tim. "And I can still remember Sean out there running sprints with a parachute attached to his back. He had unbelievable dedication. Off the field, he was always so different than he was when he was playing. Whenever he had a chance to hit someone, he always took it. Even when he was wrestling, he just had this nastiness to him . . . Sean was an amazing, amazing athlete."

Tim remembered that they were always grappling as boys, usually in the basement but occasionally the living room and in their bedrooms. Fearing the breakage that sometimes occurred - typically a vase - their exasperated mother would yell: "Stop wrestling down there!" Tim said that their encounters were "99 percent pretty civil," but there were occasions when tempers flared, especially as Sean got better.

"The intensity increased as he got better - and so did the number of things we broke," said Tim. "I wrestled with him until ninth grade and then I stopped. Up until then, I had been able to beat Sean. But then I realized that I could no longer beat him, so I quit."

Sean smiled and said, "He would always try to beat up on me." The coach added, "Tim looked after me. He still does. He has a very caring way about him. I always wanted to be like him and follow in his footsteps . . . He was always my biggest supporter."

Tim echoed that.

"Sean was my supporter, friend and counselor," he said. "He and I have been together through thick and thin."

Chances are they will see more of each other during the offseason - which neither hopes comes too soon. Tim purchased a house in West Chester next door to Sean. They are both married with two children.

"Even in the offseason, his time is so limited," said Tim. "Our mother used to say, 'Hard work will never hurt you,' and both of us have followed that advice. But I do have something on my To-Do List that involves Sean."

And that is?

"I go out to Reading and Lehigh and fly fish," he said. "The last several years, I have been trying to get Sean to go out there with me. We have to do that. I think it would be fun."