A 5-year-old West Weeks storms back to his room and begins churning out as many pushups as an angry kid can manage.
He’s got his 3-year-old brother, Whit, nearby, doing all he can to keep up the pace.
The brothers are reeling from another boxing match they’ve just lost to their dad, David, who didn’t even have to leave his knees to defend the onslaught from his sons.
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But to West, the friendly family feud feels more like a 12-round heavyweight fight than a playful tussle, and he is determined to make sure next time is different.
“I would get so mad because I could never hit him with a punch,” West tells 225 today, laughing as he recalls
the story. “Then he would toss a little jab out to the side and get me right in the nose. It made me so mad. I would go in my room after that and do pushups and stuff to try and get stronger so I could hit my dad.”
It’s yet to be determined if West ever got payback on his dad, but given his and Whit’s journey from toddlers to Tigers, it’s safe to assume those hard knocks paid off.
It was impossible not to be ultra competitive growing up in the Weeks household. Even outside of the horseplay, West, Whit and eventually their youngest brother, Zach, would fight each other over just about anything—ironically to the benefit of their mother, Erin.
“We always wanted to beat each other in everything we were doing, whether that was cleaning up for mom, doing dishes, playing video games, playing in the yard,” Whit tells 225. “I think our mom kind of took advantage of it. If there was something that we really didn’t want to do—like doing our chores or cleaning up the house—she’d tell us that whoever does it faster wins. So then we’d be cleaning up as fast as we could to try to beat each other.”
Combine that competitive nature with the work ethic of a frustrated childhood boxer and the genes of a Division I college athlete, and you’ve got yourself a Weeks boy.
Their dad was a three-year starter on the offensive line at the University of Georgia in the early ’90s, so it’s no surprise that the Weekses are a football family through and through.
West and Whit have now both found a new home at LSU, roughly 600 miles away from their true hometown of Watkinsville, Georgia. West transferred in from Virginia in 2022, while Whit committed to the Tigers out of high school.
Both brothers admit they were drawn to LSU for multiple reasons, like the culture, the pedigree, the people and, of course, the food.
“I grew up not eating crawfish, but then I came down here, and holy cow,” Whit tells 225. “It’s my new favorite food. My first few times eating them I was slow. I thought they tasted good, but gaw-lee, it’s a lot of work. Now I’ve developed my own little way that I like to get them out.”
The siblings seem to be fitting right in—and not just off the field, either.
West has appeared in every game since his arrival in Baton Rouge, suiting up at both linebacker and on special teams.
Whit played in 11 games with three starts as a true freshman last year, leading all Tiger freshmen with 49 tackles.
The duo also had the chance to take the field side-by-side in a handful of games last season—moments that both brothers say they’ll remember forever.
“It’s surreal,” Whit tells 225. “When you’re able to sit down and think about it, there’s not a lot of brothers that get to go out and play together anywhere in the country, let alone Death Valley. The fact that me and (West) are playing right beside each other, that’s something special that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”
West and Whit are hoping to see more action together this fall, but they may not be the last Weeks duo to suit up for the purple and gold.
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Zach is currently a three-star linebacker recruit in the Class of 2026—and holds an offer from LSU.
Better get the boxing gloves ready.
This article was originally published in 225 Magazine’s 2024 Tiger Pride edition.