Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing absolutely nobody can deny, it’s that twins James Michael “Mike” Pouncey and LaShawn Maurkice Pouncey have had their fair share of ups and downs in the public eye. However, unlike some of the incidents carefully elucidated in Netflix’s ‘Untold: Swamp Kings,’ none of theirs was while they were at the University of Florida as Florida Gators’ center athletes. So now, if you simply wish to learn more about it — with a specific focus on these brothers’ overall backgrounds, actions, as well as current standings — we’ve got the essential details for you.
Pouncey Twins: Champions to NFL Stars Amid Controversy
It was reportedly back when Mike and Maurkice were growing up in Ardmore, Oklahoma, that they first developed an interest in football, only for it to continue expanding as the years passed. This duo thus trained hard at every step of the way to be the best version of themselves, ultimately resulting in them being deemed standout linemen while attending Lakeland High in Florida. In fact, in 2006, these seniors helped their school win its third consecutive Florida Class 5A Championship plus second straight USA Today National before enrolling at the University of Florida.
These Pouncey Twins were honestly four-star recruits for coach Urban Meyer’s third season in 2007, especially as they were also able to play defensive line once other players started getting injured. Though the most significant aspect of Mike and Maurkice’s experience at this institute was their bond with teammate Aaron Hernandez — they’d established a brotherhood that lasted beyond everything. Therefore, the only difference between these brothers is while the latter enlisted in the NFL Draft in 2010, the former did so precisely a year later, and they were both picked in their very first round.
Coming to their controversies, it was in 2013 when it came to light Mike had allegedly “engaged in a pattern of harassment directed at [teammate] Jonathan Martin,” alongisde some other NFL Miami Dolphins members. He was actually named as one of those to have made sexual remarks about Jonathan’s sister/mother, plus there were ostensibly demeaning teases over the latter not being “Black enough.” Furthermore, on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack in 2012, this athlete and two others had apparently threatened to harm their Japanese Assistant Trainer as retaliation for the bombing.
As for Maurkice, he’d publicly refused to support his teammate/longtime Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison in 2017 in his request for the team to cut him for more playing time as a free agent. Then, in 2018, he heavily criticized running back Le’Veon Bell for holding out when there was an attempt to hand him a second franchise tag, which was deemed utterly poor sportsmanship by many. Finally came 2020 and this center’s outright refusal to sport the name of police gun violence victim, 17-year-old Antwon Rose, on his helmet simply because he had “limited information on the incident.”
The Pouncey Twins Are Focusing on Ventures Now
Following a 10 and 11-year active career in the NFL, respectively, Mike and Maurkice Pouncey announced their retirement together on February 12, 2021, by asserting they had nothing more to give. In his statement, the former penned, in part, “We began this journey at 6 years old and now at 31 we will close this chapter of our lives… we wanted to make it cool to be offensive linemen and we accomplished it.” On the other hand, the latter wrote, “I’ll always love the game of football & always will be the ultimate competitor in life @nfl @steelers! I’m just not in love with the sacrifice football carries on my life…”
Maurkice further added, “As I write this farewell speech, I cry & I laugh that twin boys from Lakeland FL that grew up in poverty made it this far in life both living out NFL dreams.” Hence, from what we can tell, it appears as if both Mike and Maurkice have since settled down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they’re happy to be surrounded by their loved ones. The former, who is purportedly dating Kristian Fon at the moment, is a proud father of two, Janiyah (2008) and Kayden (2013), whereas the latter is also glad to be the father of two young girls, Jayda (2011) and Marley (unclear).
Nevertheless, we should mention neither Mike nor Mairkice are just living off of their former success these days; they are actually entrepreneurs who’re working hard to expand their wings. In fact, these public Aaron Hernandez supporters are actively involved in Firelands Winery & Restaurant, Grandview Cafe, Cafe’s Round II, Tropical Distillers, East Market, as well as a few other exciting ventures at the moment.
