Shawn Andrews will play first NFL game against brother Stacy

Shawn Andrews didn't have many happy days in Philadelphia during his last few years there. But one of the brightest came when things should have been at their darkest for him. During training camp in 2009, when he was coming off back surgery and fighting through an aggravation of the injury that would soon land him on injured reserve and end his career with the team, he was able to practice with his big brother Stacy. Stacy Andrews had just been signed by the Eagles from the Bengals and was recovering from his own offseason surgery (this one on his knee).

"It was literally one practice together," Shawn Andrews said. "It was one of the most gratifying feelings. Not only being on the same team but being able to work right next to my brother, it was like short-lived but so awesome."

The careers of the Andrews brothers - both in the NFL since 2004 - have had several chances to intersect. There were preseason and regular-season games between the Eagles and Bengals and the season they spent together on the same roster if not the same field in Philadelphia. But injuries have prevented them from actually playing in the same NFL game.

Until, most likely, Sunday. That's when the Giants will travel to Seattle to play the Seahawks, the team Stacy was traded to from the Eagles just before the start of the regular season. Stacy has settled in at right guard for the Seahawks, starting six of the seven games this season. Shawn is the Giants' sixth offensive lineman, lining up at tight end when they need an extra boost of blocking.

Shawn Andrews is so excited about it, he broke into song in the locker room when the subject came up.

"A family reunion!" he crooned soulfully. "A family reunion!"

Life hasn't always been about singing for Shawn or his brother. Shawn noted that he was pleased to know that Stacy is doing well in Seattle and he is happy there. Both of them, it seems, had to leave the City of Brotherly Love to find Brotherly Peace.

"I'll just say this," Shawn Andrews said, wanting to avoid any more controversy from his ugly departure from the Eagles. "My brother is very happy and I'm super-quadruple happy. We're both blessed.

"It will be awesome knowing my brother is at a place where he's happy and he's meshing and there's no pressure."

They won't be the only ones happy to see each other on the field. Their mother, Linda, is flying to Seattle from Little Rock, Ark., to see the game. So is their older brother, Derrick, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army stationed in upstate New York who was able to secure leave for the game, along with several other friends and relatives.

"It'll be a real tight-knit family atmosphere, but it'll be fun, I think," Shawn said.

The two brothers, born 18 months apart, were fierce but loving rivals growing up. A few weeks ago, when two other more famous brothers - Eli and Peyton Manning - were preparing to face each other on the field, Shawn noted that he and Stacy were so physical that they often put holes in the drywall at home.

They no longer fling each other into walls and they stay in touch regularly on more peaceful terms these days. Even with the coming game, Shawn said there's been no decrease in communication this week. Instead, the two have been going back and forth looking forward to this game for a while.

"Blood and family comes first," Shawn said. "We've been talking a little friendly smack to each other, but it's all love. At the end of the day, we'll still be family when football is all done."