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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, December 3, 2002

Elimimians turn defensive

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

When it comes to choosing sides for Saturday's football game between San Diego State and host Hawai'i, Isaac Elimimian has decided to remain on defense.

"I don't have a favorite," said Elimimian, whose sons are defensive backs on the opposing teams. "I'll be rooting for my sons."

Abraham Elimimian, a third-year sophomore, is UH's starting right cornerback. Jacob Elimimian, a second-year freshman, is a reserve cornerback for the Aztecs.

"I'll cheer for the team on defense," said Isaac Elimimian, a retired English professor living in Los Angeles. "That's the best solution."

It will be a more stressful situation for his wife, Theresa, who will be attending the game with their daughter, Elizabeth.

"My mother doesn't really like us to play football because she thinks it's a dangerous sport," Abraham said. "She kind of winces when we play. It's her maternal instincts, I guess."

"Mothers will be mothers," Isaac said, laughing. "She's afraid of injuries."

This will be the first time the brothers have competed against each other in an organized sporting event, although they have battled over everything else while growing up in Nigeria and then Los Angeles. They admit to keeping their love lives private in the past because, Abraham said, "we were afraid we were going to steal each other's girlfriend."

"We competed in everything," Jacob said, "down to the T."

When Abraham, who is a year older, first went away to college in 2000, Jacob's weight increased dramatically. "We were competing for bigger portions, too," he said.

They had different friends and interests. Abraham is quiet and reflective. "I'm more outgoing," Jacob said. "He's really cautious about what he says, and I really don't care."

Abraham said he tries to serve as a role model, "and he kind of hated that. He's always trying to get me."

As a senior at Crenshaw High in Los Angeles, Jacob took a recruiting trip to Hawai'i, during which Abraham was his host.

Jacob chose San Diego State. Then this past summer, he decided to remain there after considering a transfer to UH. In the end, Jacob figured, "he had his legacy over there and I wanted one that was my own. I guess that's the reason I chose to come here."

During a team meeting yesterday, Aztec coaches spoke of Abraham's aggressive defensive play. Then they mentioned how Abraham, angered over an official's call in a nationally televised game against Fresno State earlier this season, uprooted a pylon and then spiked it.

"They got on me about that," Jacob said. "I got kind of upset. He's my brother, and I have to defend him. In the last week, the guys have been talking about him. I'm getting a lot of low blows. But they know he's a good player. I want to win, but I want him to do well, too."

Abraham remains equally supportive.

"I care a lot about him," he said. "He has a lot of ability. It's like you want to personally see him play well, but you want to see his team lose. I'm only human. Of course, I want to see him do well. If not, I must be a bad person. But I want to win and I want my team to do well."

Isaac Elimimian said the outcome of the game does not matter. He then recalled his own history, of how he embraced Christianity in order to secure a teaching job in Nigeria, and his early struggles in the United States, when he balanced work and studies, eventually earning a doctorate from Howard University.

"It's difficult to go to college and play football," Isaac said, "but my sons are doing well academically. That is what I want them to understand. This is not about sacrificing one for the other. I'm happy they are playing football and I'm very proud both of them are in college."