CHICAGO — Kenny Willekes passion for football is clear.

It apparently never left his younger brother, either.

Charles Willekes arrived at Michigan State in early July and comes with as interesting a back story as his older brother, who also joined the Spartans as a walk-on.

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Now a 21-year-old returning senior, Kenny went from having no Division I scholarship offers to an All-American defensive end and the Big Ten’s defensive lineman of the year in 2018.

Meantime, Kenny said his 20-year-old brother Charles has spent the past two years working at a snowmobile parts shop since graduating from Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian High in 2017.

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“He wanted to try and make a comeback, so he stopped working and started working out,” Kenny said Thursday at Big Ten media day. “He was living at home and spent the last seven, eight months doing nothing but training and getting ready to come here. He got accepted into school here, and the rest is history.”

Willekes said his younger brother arrived at MSU about two weeks ago to major in kinesiology and plans to walk on to the football team as a linebacker, just like Kenny did in 2015 straight out of high school. Like Kenny, Charles also played rugby along with being a two-way force for NorthPointe Christian at linebacker and running back.

Kenny said his brother was a “good player” in high school, earning first-team All-Lake Area Division 5-6 honors as a junior thanks to 126 tackles.

“They said he was more athletic than me,” Kenny said, “but that’s still up for debate.”

Dantonio thinks he might have unearthed another hidden gem in the latest Willekes, too.

“His brother looks pretty good. Hadn’t played football for two years, but he looks pretty good athletically, moving around in drills,” Dantonio said of Charles. “Kenny told me, ‘He’s just like me.’ I said, well, we’re gonna take a look at that.”

Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.