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DENVER — An undrafted Colorado Buffalo turned top running back is the success story of Phillip Lindsay.

Lindsay is currently among the league’s best in rushing this season. He leads the Broncos in that category.

The Denver native says he got his toughness from his sisters. Before football, Lindsay could be found rooting on his sisters from the sidelines or in a gym.

“We always looked up to them,” Lindsay said.

“They mainly went to their sisters’ games, they mainly knew about the basketball,” said Sparkle Lindsay, one of Phillip’s oldest sisters.

“They were pretty much our role models coming up,” Phillip said of his sisters. “So pretty much, we watched girls sports before we even honestly started watching male sports.”

There are five Lindsay children, and they all played sports in college. The youngest is Marcus, then Zach, and Phillip is in the middle. The two sisters are eldest. All the boys played football.

Second-oldest sibling Cheri played volleyball at Prairie View A&M. Sparkle, the oldest, played at Colorado Mesa.

Phillip has said in the past that he got his toughness from his sisters.

“Because we used to beat him up,” Cheri Lindsay joked.  “We used to beat him up a little bit, toughen him up.”

Phillip agreed and said, “Back in the day, they used to bully us a lot. I was the cry baby out of the bunch.”

Sparkle remembers one story in particular about growing up with her brother.

“We played a one-on-one basketball game together, oh my goodness,” Sparkle said.  “By the end, we had scratches. There was bleeding. All the siblings were looking on the side, and I ended up beating Phillip by one point.”

It’s obvious where Phillip gets his competitive spirit from.

“I’m still the best athlete,” Cheri said, laughing.

While Phillip gets his toughness from the women, perhaps they get their kindness from their younger brother.

“My brother means the world to me… the world. And the reason why is because he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body,” Sparkle said.  “He’s always been a person that has a wonderful heart, and the world needs to see it. And they do.”