Patriots Devin and Jason McCourty on Playing Together With Tom Brady

In 2008, identical twin brothers Devin and Jason McCourty patrolled the secondary for the Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Stadium in New Jersey.

In 2018, the McCourtys will be teammates once again, except this time they’ll be playing defense for the Patriots at Gillette Stadium in New England.

The reunion of the 30-year-old brothers almost happened before last season after Jason was released by the Tennessee Titans, but the Patriots neglected to bring him in with cornerbacks Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore already on the roster.

Their experience afterward was anything but identical as Jason signed with Cleveland and spent the 2017 season with the winless Brown while Devin and the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl.

With Butler now gone and the Browns making changes, Jason was traded to the Patriots from this March. At an event for Gillette’s new “One Size” campaign, the McCourty’s sat down with RealClearSports to discuss playing together, playing for the Patriots and playing with Tom Brady.

Devin McCourty on what he told his brother about the Patriots: “It’s funny, since us being twins and me being there years, it’s almost like he was a friend of the team already. All the Super Bowls I’ve played in, he’s been there to support me and has met a lot of Patriots players. I didn’t have to tell him much. I just told him to get ready. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. We’re both very excited.”

Jason McCourty on being traded to the Patriots: “I would describe it as surreal. As young kids when you start playing sports and you have an identical twin brother, you dream about being able to play alongside him at the pinnacle of your sport. For us to be able to do that this upcoming season, go through OTAs and share a locker room, it’s going to be very exciting. This is our mom’s dream. She’s been praying for this since we got in the NFL, for us to be united. Obviously a mother of twins, you want to see your boys together.”

Devin McCourty on changes in the New England locker room. “The culture won’t change, but every year the team changes. We talk about that every year defensively when we come in and make a one-year pact to every guy in that locker room to give our all. This year is pretty unique in that we’re losing Super XLIX hero Malcolm Butler, Amendola the playoff clutch guy, Dion Lewis our leading rusher and Nate Solder our starting left tackle for seven years. But, we know there is always going to be change. Since I’ve been there, that’s the Patriots.”

Jason McCourty on what he’ll bring to the team: “With me going into my 10th year, I’m hoping to bring a lot of my experiences to the team. Throughout my career, I’ve had ups and downs, and I think those stories and those experiences and being able to tell guys about the adversity I’ve hit and fought through in my career will help. I’ll be ready to work and ready to learn the Patriot Way and the way they go about things.”

Devin McCourty on if Tom Brady’s play will decline in his age-41 season: “His work ethic and how he goes about his life is dedicated to being great on the football field. We’re always excited when we get back up there. No one in our locker room spends any time worrying about whether Brady will be ready. That just doesn’t happen. I think it goes to his credit for the work he puts in to be prepared and perform for the rest of his teammates.”

Jason McCourty on getting to play with Tom Brady: “I’m excited as hell to watch Brady go to work every day. Just as a fan of football and from having watched film of him to prepare for games in the past, I’m excited to see that up close. I want to see the type of competitor he is every day in practice and how he gets those guys going. For me, I expect to see what we’ve been seeing. Like wine, he just continues to get better with time.”

Devin McCourty on if the national anthem protests will continue and activism: “I think there’s a good chance. For me, the big reason why I was out there is to do things outside of the football field in the community. I’ve been a part of the Players Coalition, where we’ve done a lot of work throughout a bunch of different cities that speaks to the things we care about, not just what some idiot is tweeting to see the reaction. I think we’re actually trying to get to the root of some of these issues and make a difference. As individuals, we are people before we are players. Even last year, it was no issue. We play on a team where if we do something everyone on the outside is going to say it’s an issue, but within the organization, there was no problem.”