People love to play the role of the underdog. Sometimes, this is because we all love a great story about someone overcoming long odds to achieve success. Other times, being an underdog inspires someone to achieve their lofty goals. When it comes to football, Philadelphia Eagles safety Tristin McCollum has always been the underdog.

McCollum and his identical twin brother, Zyon, have been inseparable on and off the football field since they began playing in youth leagues. Throughout their careers, Zyon has always overshadowed Tristin. 

When the McCollums were seniors at Galveston Ball High School, Zyon was the 37th-ranked player at cornerback, while Tristan was ranked 40th. Zyon was a 3-Star recruit. Meanwhile, Tristan was a 2-Star recruit, according to composite rankings. Both started games as true freshmen at Sam Houston, were members of the 2020 Spring FCS national championship team, and played a significant role on the Kats’ squad that won all 21 games they played in 2021. Yet, Zyon was the one who received an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine after their collegiate career.

On Sunday, Tristin will enter Ceasar’s Superdome in New Orleans as the first member of the McCollum family to compete in the Super Bowl when the Eagles meet the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

“He’s a guy most people probably didn’t think would make the cut (in the NFL),” former Sam Houston general manager Barnes said. “He’s always put the work in and embraced being the underdog. Luckily for him, it’s paid off.”

Barnes recruited the brothers in high school as the assistant director of player development at Texas State. They are the sons of Cory Carr, who played in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls after earning first-team All-Big 12 honors during his collegiate career at Texas Tech. While Carr blessed his sons with solid athletic genes, Barnes said their mother, Tisha, was responsible for the twins' development as solid young men.

“Their mom is a rock star. She’s awesome,” Barnes said. “She did an outstanding job raising both of them. You can tell how well she did by the kind of kids and grown men they’ve become, and she deserves all the credit.”

As a single mother and teacher, Tisha understood the need to provide her children with a well-rounded approach to athletics. She ensured that they played multiple sports to increase their athleticism.

“Tristin always put his nose to the grindstone and worked his tail off. Those two did everything together, so Zyon worked just as hard,” Barnes said. “Tristin had to work for everything from earning a spot as a starter when he was a freshman at Sam Houston to earning a spot on an NFL squad.”

While Tristin may have been the underdog compared to Zyon, Barnes said that Tristin’s abilities and characteristics ensured his success on the field. Barnes believes another factor in Tristin’s development as a player was the number of snaps he played in college, which he was unlikely to receive until the brothers flipped their commitment from Utah to Sam Houston.

“Tristin has a set of physical gifts that allowed him to get those opportunities because he has a skill set that would perform at a high level. He always found a role on special teams and defense. He played multiple spots for multiple coaches,” Barnes said. “His talent was always there, whether it was recognized or not. He had high-level gifts, which got him on the field early. The player you’ll see on Sunday is there partly because he played early on and got a lot of snaps in his college career. The best thing for his development was to get him on the field.”

When the NFL scouts visited Huntsville to watch the McCollum brothers, Barnes would let the scouts know why he expected Tristin and Zyon to be successful at the professional level.

“I’d tell scouts that if they were going to take a flyer on a kid and invest in someone, they wouldn’t miss on Tristin or Zyon,” Barnes said. “They both have the physical ability, the mental makeup, the care factor, the character, and the work ethic. They check all the boxes of a successful professional football player.”

When the 2022 NFL Draft commenced, Zyon heard his name called with the 157th pick overall in the fifth round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, Tristin signed as an undrafted free agent with the Houston Texans.

Once again, Tristin was the underdog. But that didn’t phase him. He was signed to the Texans practice squad for the 2022 season before being released on January 16, 2023. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Eagles two days later. Still, Tristin was on the practice squad to begin the 2023 campaign. 

Due to several injuries, he was elevated to the active roster for the Eagles Week 4 contest against the Washington Commanders. Tristin played in three games in 2023 and was signed to another reserve/future contract following the season. However, the Eagles quickly discovered something Barnes and the Bearkats coaching staff knew was coming – you can’t keep Tristin off the field. He has 30 tackles and has played in 14 games this season as the backup safety and on special teams.

“The Eagles find themselves in a position where they can’t take Tristin off the active roster because he adds too much value and reliability,” Barnes said. “He’s not limited from a physical or mental standpoint, and he’s not a guy you have to worry about not doing the right things.”

Tristin and Zyon made NFL history in 2023 as the first identical twins to play against each other when Tampa Bay defeated Philadelphia in the Wild Card round. Zyon and the Buccaneers won both of their matchups, but Tristin now holds the ultimate bragging rights—he's the first in the family to reach the Super Bowl.

On Sunday, when Tristin steps onto the field for the biggest game of his career, he’ll take a moment to reflect on the long road that brought him here. Then, he’ll look into the stands to find his two biggest supporters: his mother, Tisha, and his twin, Zyon.

“I think it was important for both of them to have each other throughout their high school and college careers,” Barnes said. “I think they are better professionals now because they are separated for the first time. They always played off each other and did drill work together. You never saw one without the other nearby. They were inseparable. Now they’re on their own, which has been great for both.”