Eric Dungey on his brother, Matt: 'He's the real hero of the family'

Syracuse, N.Y. — Well before Eric Dungey flashed glimpses of greatness as a freshman quarterback for Syracuse football last year, he lined up across from his older brother on a field in Oregon.

The rules of this backyard game were simple. You had four chances to advance the ball from sideline to sideline. The goal line and 20-yard line served as boundaries to narrow the field.

His father, Tim, traced a route on his palm, and a pre-teenaged Eric ran the pattern. If he didn't want to get tackled, he needed to escape the clutches of his brother.

"I would try to use my speed and just try to be elusive," Eric said. "My dad always jokes that's where I got my elusiveness, running away from Matt."

Imagine that. The presumed starting quarterback for Syracuse football crediting his older brother for helping develop an innate sense of escapability that threatens ACC defenses and leads to incredible moments such as leaping over an NFL-ready safety.

Matt takes great pride in watching what his younger brother has done on the football field. But there is a deeper mutual respect between two brothers who have lived out their very different dreams by their early 20s.

Eric wanted to be an athlete. Walk into his bedroom and find posters of Derek Jeter and Brett Favre.

Matt needed to fight. Walk into his bedroom and find the US Constitution and an American flag hanging on the wall.

"He's one of the most patriotic people I know," Eric said. "I'm so proud of him. He's the real hero of the family."

Matt enlisted in the Army after spending one year in college, scratching a lifelong itch to serve his country that started before his voice cracked. He played with toy soldiers on the couch, mapping out military tactics and researched the history of warfare and the advancement of weaponry.

He pleaded with Eric to run around outside with him pretending to be in a battle, yet always found time to play the Madden Football 2002 video game against Eric. Surprise, surprise, he often chose the Patriots while Eric loved the Vikings partly because the family previously lived in Minnesota. And yes, the game usually ended with a controller chucked across the room.

Matt has been serving in the military for more than three years. An infantryman stationed out of Vilseck, Germany, he will return there in a couple weeks from a nine-month peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula, around the time Eric is set to start his 2016 season.

They have not seen each other since the holiday season in 2014 but communicate regularly on Facebook.

"I miss him every day, man," Matt said in a Facebook message. "I miss my parents, my sister, my dog. I miss Oregon and the States in general.

"I will never be able to put into words as to how proud I am of him. I always tell him, but he will always respond with something like, 'No, Matt, we're all proud of you.' "

The two were inseparable on vacations, and they weren't above finding the kind of mischievous trouble as most boys. Eric once took a hard turn in a golf cart, sending Matt hurtling down a hill into a creek. In Hawaii, they placed a dead fish on their older sister while she was tanning.

One of their father's proudest moments was seeing his two sons play in a varsity football game together: Matt, a senior defensive lineman, and Eric, a freshman quarterback thrust into action after an injury to an older player.

Sound familiar?

But Matt had different dreams than gridiron glory. He never forgot the smoke billowing out of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. But he also wanted to make his family proud. His older sister got a basketball scholarship to Colorado State University-Pueblo and saw the potential for Eric to earn one in football. Looking to secure his own future that didn't include a mound of student loan debt, he went with his gut.

"My country was at war," Matt said. "I didn't want to miss my generation's fight."

Traveling Europe and the Sinai working with multinational forces is thrilling, and experiencing various cultures while training with allied armies makes him "lucky."

But if there is one measure of remorse, it's that his service has taxed him three of Eric's football seasons. Facebook updates on the team suffice, but he yearns for a chance to see his younger brother play again, even though watching Eric absorb some of the hits he took last season scared him.

"That (Central Michigan) hit ... it really sucked watching from Germany," Matt said.

"I couldn't do anything about it. He's my younger brother. When I see someone cheap shot him like that ... man, it pissed me off. A lot. It scared me though, honestly. But I mean, it's Eric Dungey. What did he do? He WALKED to the locker room. He's a beast."

Typical Matt.

"He's my biggest fan," Eric said. "Every time he talks to me he's trying to make it about me and I don't care. I just want to know how you're doing."
