COLUMBIA | For eight-year-old Will Ebner this was a rare moment. Seated in front of the family TV. Remote in his hand.</p><p>No matter how much his brother, Clay, 10 at the time, wanted the channel changed, Will was in control. And he liked it.</p><p>Then he was flying off the couch.</p><p>&ldquo;He came and just tackled me off the edge of the sofa,&rdquo; Ebner remembered. &ldquo;I fell into this glass table and got a cut on my eye.&rdquo;</p><p>Or at least around it.</p><p>&ldquo;My mom came home and I walked out in the garage. I had blood running all over my face. She goes: &lsquo;What in the world happened?&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t as serious as it looked.&rdquo;</p><p>Normal, really, for Will Ebner. Then, and now as a sophomore linebacker for Missouri. Known to be one of the hardest hitters on the team, Ebner contends he learned from the best. His brothers, Clay and Jake.</p><p>Jake, 6-2 and 290 pounds, played tackle for the University of Houston. Clay is at Houston now, and doesn&rsquo;t play football. But he&rsquo;s built as if he could.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of these guys,&rdquo; Will Ebner said, hunching his shoulders and splaying his arms out to the side in a muscle builder&rsquo;s pose. &ldquo;Everything I do, they taught me.&rdquo;</p><p>Elaine Ebner, Will&rsquo;s mom, sees it that way, to an extent.</p><p>&ldquo;His brothers, Jake and Clay, paved the way for Will both academically and athletically and provided some brotherly competition and mentoring,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Sometimes friendly and sometimes unmerciful!&rdquo;</p><p>But her youngest son, Will, always seemed to tackle things head on and with everything he had. Just naturally.</p><p>&ldquo;At 4 years old, he would go out on the driveway and practice shooting baskets for an hour by himself,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Whether it be football, family, faith, fishing, hunting, friendships, Will is all in!&rdquo;</p><p>If Elaine Ebner seems to speak constantly in exclamation points, Will Ebner comes off as understated off the football field.</p><p>It is more likely that he is simply deep in observation.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a person that pays attention to a lot of things that maybe some other people wouldn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Ebner said. &ldquo;I see a lot of things in Sean (Weatherspoon, MU&rsquo;s senior linebacker) that I want to be able to do and I feel I can.</p><p>&ldquo;The little things he does on the field, I try to take that into my game.&rdquo;</p><p>Missouri coach Gary Pinkel sees more of the big picture.</p><p>&ldquo;Both of them are able to flat strike you,&rdquo; Pinkel said.</p><p>Ebner and Weatherspoon are two kids from East Texas. Ebner hails from Friendswood, population 36,446, hard by Houston to the city&rsquo;s south. Weatherspoon comes from Jasper, north by some 160 miles, and home to approximately 8,499.</p><p>They didn&rsquo;t know each other, or even of each other, in high school. But they&rsquo;ve formed a bond that was strong before Ebner stepped up to what looks to be a permanent starting role the rest of the season at middle linebacker with junior Luke Lambert undergoing shoulder surgery today.</p><p>Right next to Weatherspoon.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s like my little brother,&rdquo; Weatherspoon said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had some flights home. On those Southwest Airlines flights, hanging out.&rdquo;</p><p>Returning from last Saturday&rsquo;s 36-17 victory at Colorado, Ebner left his car keys on the airplane.</p><p>&ldquo;He called me to come pick him up and we came to media day together,&rdquo; Weatherspoon said.</p><p>Elaine Ebner sings Weatherspoon&rsquo;s praises for a promise he made to the family.</p><p>&ldquo;I told them I&rsquo;d look out for him,&rdquo; Weatherspoon said.