McCourty Mr. Patriot
Follows tradition of respected leaders
FOXBORO — Devin McCourty didn’t play with Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest or any of the Patriots greats from those early championship teams.
Yet he’d certainly fit right in at the head of the table.
Now in his seventh season, McCourty has all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed in that Patriots kind of way. The Pro Bowl safety evolved into a similar kind of leader. On the field, off the field, he shows up at the most important times. He’s also pretty good at taking care of all the mundane but necessary tasks needed to keep the locker room functioning at a peak level.
“To me, in my mind, Devin Mr. Patriot,” fellow captain Matthew Slater said. “He just does everything the right way, whether it’s on the field, off the field, the type of man he is, what he does in the community. I can’t think of a better example of what this organization hopes to stand for than Devin McCourty.”
McCourty has been thrust to the forefront in dealing with the media, in part a responsibility of being a captain but also because he handles the job so well. He’s well-spoken, but in true Patriots fashion gives nothing away, a trait Bill Belichick appreciates in his captains.
McCourty just shows everyone the way. It’s like he’s taken the baton from Bruschi and McGinest and has become the face of the Patriots defense.
“He definitely is exactly what the Patriots embody and embellish — team players. And it’s very natural for him,” cornerback Logan Ryan said. “He’s a unanimous captain every year. He does everything for the team and has a lot of fun doing it. He’s a good Mr. Patriot. If a play needs to be made, he makes it. If something needs to be done in the room, he does it.”
Former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said the tipoff to how Belichick and the organization felt about McCourty, and where he stood, came during free agency two years ago when they extended him to a fiveyear, $47.5 million deal at the 11th hour. Belichick personally called McCourty to seal the deal.
“If he didn’t fit in that (Patriots) mold, they would have never paid him the type of money they gave him,” Harrison said Monday. “Bill has let other guys leave in free agency. I think they understood he was a very, very important piece, even if they had to overspend on him.”
McCourty certainly made some huge plays down the stretch, helping the team to a 14-2 record and home-field advantage as they prepare to host the Texans in a divisional playoff game Saturday.
Perhaps his biggest play thus far, one that’s considered the signature moment and defining play of the regular season, happened in Denver in Week 15. In the fourth quarter, McCourty delivered a jarring hit to Demaryius Thomas at the sideline to break up a fourth-down pass. It essentially sealed the game.
“That’s big-time,” Harrison said. “Nobody (cares) about the Pro Bowl, and racking up a bunch of big numbers, that’s fine. If you ask me, it’s all about making key plays in big moments of games. That’s what people remember.”
People definitely mention that play. Or they mention McCourty’s ongoing charitable work. Or they mention listening to him at the podium, speaking the word of the Patriots every week.
“I’ve always been taught it’s what you do, not what you say. That’s what my mom preached,” McCourty said. “That’s me in a nutshell. I’m not a guy who says a ton. I’m not a yeller or a screamer. But I think guys learn the most from your actions and what you do on a daily basis. That’s what they see most.”
McCourty learned the Patriots Way mostly from former teammates Jerod Mayo, Vince Wilfork (who will be in town Saturday with the Texans) and Logan Mankins.
“Everyone talked about how Logan never missed practice during his career. I’d hear things like that, then playing defense with Vince and Mayo, I was just trying to follow the things they did and what they represented,” McCourty said. “Vince obviously played with a lot of those guys, and Mayo caught the back end (from the early championship guys). It might be just from them and what they learned.”
Well, he learned his lessons well. He was voted a captain his second year on the team. That was a bit daunting for McCourty, but he’s grown into the role, and now embraces it.
“The plays on the field, I don’t have much control. Sometimes they just happen, but I think when you talk around the locker room or have meetings with the guys, you just get a feel for it, when you need to say something,” said McCourty, a captain for six seasons. “When something needs to change, anything you feel you need to do, that just hits you, and you feel comfortable doing it.”
Slater believes McCourty is timeless.
“You put him in any era, you plug him in the early 2000s or plug him in now, I think he’d fit in and you’d say the same thing about him,” Slater said. “I think we’re very fortunate to have a man like him in our locker room on our team. He’s true in his convictions, and obviously we know him for his performance on the field.
“He is Mr. Patriot, no question about it.”
‘I’m not a yeller or a screamer. But I think guys learn the most from your actions and what you do on a daily basis.’ — SAFETY DEVIN McCOURTY On his leadership role