New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty and his twin brother and Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty joined the Scoop and Brown radio show to discuss their offseasons and to promote their organization Tackle Sickle Cell and raise awareness about the fight against sickle cell disease. Listen to the interview here.
The two brothers spoke about the young quarterbacks on their rosters, and it was endlessly evident than Jason wants to have the same team success that Devin has enjoyed over his entire career.
“It’s been a good offseason for us here in Tennessee,” Titans cornerback Jason McCourty said. “We’ve made a lot of changes with coaches and players and just transitioning to try and become a team like Dev’s- just talking about the New England Patriots, where you can win year in and year out.”
The hosts naturally asked Devin about the quarterback situation in New England, with Tom Brady facing a suspension for the first four games of the season. Devin didn’t seem overly concerned.
“Well, we don’t know how that’s going to play out,” Devin said. "I mean last year we thought we weren’t going to have Tom, and we just don’t know we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out.”
“It’s over 500 days,” Devin added about the whole DeflateGate nonsense. “Not many things that last that long. Tom’s been great this whole offseason, out there competing and throwing the ball all around the field. So I don’t think it’s bothering him.”
But if Brady is unable to play, Devin has full confidence in back-up quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
“Whenever he gets his opportunity to get out there and finally start playing a lot of snaps, I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Devin said about the Patriots third-year quarterback. “But you know right now, he’s playing behind probably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. I think he’s just going to keep learning, but when he gets out there, I think he’ll surprise some people that don't know exactly what he’s capable of.”
Jason and Devin talked about some of the lighter topics, too, including what type of music blasts in the locker room (“We got a heavy down south group in our locker room,” Devin said. “So Gucci Mane getting out.”), as well as the smack talk between the twins.
And, man, Devin is unintentionally brutal.
While the two play different positions, the hosts noted that their careers stats were similar. Devin quipped that he has more interceptions, and Jason had to respond.
“When you’re on a bet-,” Jason started before cutting himself off. “When you’re on a team that wins more, you’re winning by more, the other team passes more. There’s more opportunity. So numbers can be skewed.”
But Jason was extremely good-natured. He shared the following story about the worst smack talk Devin has ever sent in his direction.
“The year they won the Super Bowl,” Jason shared. “I guess two years ago now, we were down in Arizona for the Super Bowl and he said to me. ‘You realize,’- the worst part about it was that it wasn’t meant to be mean, it was just honesty- he was like, ‘You realize that if we won the Super Bowl, we’ll have won more games just in the postseason than you guys did in the entire season.’”
In 2014, the Titans only won two games in the entire regular season and finished the year on a 10-game losing streak, while the Patriots dispatched the Ravens, Colts, and Seahawks en route to winning the Super Bowl. Major point for Devin, with a potential red flag for going below the belt.
Devin was also asked about his time under head coach Bill Belichick and whether or not Belichick’s persona with the media matched how he was behind closed doors.
“He’s not really grouchy with us,” Devin said. "I can still remember my first meeting. He said some pretty real things. My first game as a rookie, he told us, ‘As rookies, you need to feel like you're in the middle of the ocean with no paddle, because that’s how far behind you are,’ but then the meeting always consists of him cracking jokes in his own Bill way.”
And, to be honest, “his own Bill way” is one of my favorite things about Belichick press conferences. Sometimes you want a good quote, but 95% of the time you already know what he’s going to say- so it’s when he stonewalls the questions that really piques my interest.
Sunday, June 19th is World Sickle Cell Day and the brothers will be promoting all day. The two held a fundraiser competition, which Devin won, which means that the Patriot will get to choose Jason’s Halloween costume this year.
Check out the McCourty twins’ website here and learn about the sickle cell disease.