Once separated, twins divided again over the Super Bowl

Wichita, Kan. (KSNW) — Super Bowl LVII is packed with many storylines. From Kansas City’s Head Coach Andy Reid facing the team he coached for 14 seasons to the Kelce brothers and so many more.

There’s another storyline about brothers not named Kelce.

It’s a tale of twins separated at birth, reunited decades later, and now divided again. Only one of them will be happy with the result of Sunday’s game.

“To a lot of people, it’s the Super Bowl. To a lot of people, it’s the Andy Reid Bowl. The Kelce Brother Bowl. But to Tom and Steve, it’s the Tazumi Bowl. That’s what it’s really is all about,” said Tom Patterson.

Patterson is a lifelong Chiefs fan from Liberal.

Steve Tazumi is a diehard Eagles fan from Philadephia.

“I’ve loved them my whole life. Be honest, we were raised 20 minutes from Philadelphia, so I’ve always loved football and always loved the Eagles,” said Tazumi.

Patterson and Tazumi may differ on which team will win the Super Bowl. Otherwise, they’re identical. Literally, the twins were born in 1958 in a Japanese orphanage, adopted as babies, and raised by different families in the United States.

“It’s by the grace of God that we’re even here. They didn’t think we’d even live. At eight months, both me and my brother was six pounds,” said Patterson. “That’s incredibly small at that age. So, it’s a blessing that we even got to see each other.”

They found out about each other at the age of 16. They searched for one another for over 20 years in the days before the internet. Finally, the twins met in 1999 when they were 40 years old.

“That’s the thing I miss the most is that we didn’t have a childhood. You know, we met at the age of 40, so we didn’t do the bonding or played football together or anything like that,” said Tazumi, from the Florida Keys.

Since that day in 1999, Patterson and Tazumi have made up for the lost time.

“Oh, yeah. Every morning both me and my brother, we watch ‘Good morning Football’ and call each other and talk about it,” laughed Patterson.

“They talk every single day. In the morning time. They talk in the afternoon time. They talk about mostly football, but they talk every single day,” said Patterson’s wife, Nikki. “It’s special to see because not everybody has that. There’s a lot of us that have grown up with our siblings, and we don’t talk to our siblings every day.”

Tazumi and his wife have traveled to Kansas City twice to see their Eagles play at Arrowhead Stadium. The Eagles won both games.

“Oh, it was so enjoyable. We cooked out on Arrowhead Stadium and just had a great time. I just wish the results were better, but we had a blast,” said Patterson. “Being in Philadelphia, you know, I don’t get to see him a whole lot. So it’s always a joy to see him.”

So, who’s going to win on Sunday?

“We got the better Kelce brother,” insisted Patterson.

“I think it’s going to be a very, very tight game. Honestly, It’s gonna be a three-point difference,” Tazumi predicted.

“Well, you know when the dust clears, Jason. When all the smoke clears, I love my brother,” Patterson concluded. “But just like Andy Reid says, ‘What about those Chiefs!”

The brothers have a $25 bet on the big game.