Auburn senior cornerback Walter McFadden and his cousin, LSU sophomore cornerback Patrick Peterson, have always been competitors.They don’t duel just in football. They have battled in basketball, air hockey and even PlayStation throughout their lives.McFadden and Peterson grew up together, both attending Ely High School in Pompano Beach, Fla. Both have also gone on to play defensive back at schools in the Southeastern Conference. This is the second year the cousins will square off in college, when McFadden and Auburn try to rebound from two straight conference losses against Peterson and LSU.McFadden said he and Peterson have been doing some trash talking leading up to the game.”I sent him a text [Monday] just saying, ‘Are you ready?'” McFadden said. “And he wrote me back, ‘You better get ready.’ It’s just a little family love.”Peterson said he and McFadden speak about two or three times a week, and he said he feels more confident in trash talking his older cousin since they will face off in Baton Rouge this season.”Last year I was giving him a little earful of what was going to happen,” Peterson said. “It so happened we did come out with a victory. I’m in my backyard this year, so I can talk a little more with my crowd behind me.”But trash talking between the cousins is not limited to football.”I’d say I’m the better basketball player, but I’ll give air hockey to him,” Peterson said.The cousins gave different answers about who was the leader at NCAA Football on PlayStation.”He thinks he’s better than me, but I end up always winning,” Peterson said. But McFadden has a different opinion.”I’ve been whooping his butt lately,” McFadden said. “[Peterson] was a guru before when he used to play all day. I think I’m leading in wins right now.”Football blood runs deeper into the McFadden-Peterson clan — another cousin, Bryant McFadden, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2005 and is now a cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals.Walter McFadden said football observers originally knew him as “Bryant McFadden’s cousin” when he was in high school, but he worked to establish his own legacy as a McFadden cornerback.”[Patrick and I] have family members in front of us who played great football,” Walter McFadden said. “By the time we got to high school, I didn’t want to be like Bryant. I wanted to make my own name — I wanted to be Walter McFadden and get my own interceptions and make my own history.”Walter graduated from Ely High School three years before Peterson. He leads Auburn with two interceptions this season and is sixth in tackles with 24. As an Auburn Tiger, McFadden has five interceptions, including one returned for a 93-yard touchdown in 2007, and 65 tackles.His mother, Ella, said the beginning of Walter’s Auburn career was “a challenge” for her because he was redshirted as a freshman and did not start immediately.”Had he gone to other schools like Michigan State or Florida, they told me he would have been a starting cornerback right away,” Ella McFadden said. “I always tell him to play the game he loves and don’t worry about anybody else … but he gets the job done as a shut-down corner.”Ella McFadden said she knew her oldest son would be in good hands at Auburn when former coach Tommy Tuberville made a promise to her during the recruiting process.”Coach Tuberville just promised [Walter] would eventually start, but he would graduate and get his degree,” she said. “The other schools, all they wanted to talk about was football, football, football. Auburn was the only one that focused on his education.”Walter McFadden got his undergraduate degree in public administration last spring. His mother hopes Walter can one day get his master’s degree in business, and she said he would make a great asset working in the community.”He says to me if [an NFL career] happens, it happens, but if not he can go on to something in business,” Ella McFadden said. “He can see himself wearing a suit. He is well-loved … and he wants to give back to the community.”This is the last time Walter McFadden will play college football against Patrick Peterson. But that doesn’t mean the family rivalry is over — certainly not this weekend.”I need to wear yellow and purple on one side and orange and blue on the other side [on Saturday],” Ella McFadden said. “Family feud is going on a lot right now. I really don’t care [who wins], as long as they play the game they love.”- – – -Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]