Ex-Patriots star Devin McCourty has some advice for Rhode Island's top student-athletes
PROVIDENCE — Retired New England Patriots star safety Devin McCourty looked around Veterans Memorial Auditorium, packed with the best high school athletes in Rhode Island on Tuesday, and told them to savor every moment of their athletic careers, including their moment in the spotlight at the 2023 All-State Rhode Island High School Sports Awards, presented by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
During a question-and-answer session with Providence Journal sports writers Bill Koch and Eric Rueb, McCourty was asked what advice he would give to the version of himself in high school.
“The one thing I would tell myself is to enjoy every moment,” he said. “If I could go back in time, I would cherish each moment and then I would write it down.”
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That came with a perhaps-surprising condition: “And that doesn't mean like these young people who document everything and post it on social media — don’t do that.”
Preserve a record just for yourself, he told the high school athletes.
“I wish I had taken more time just like sitting down, being still, and enjoying like, 'Man, you’re here,' " he said. “I would tell all young people to do that.”
The High School Sports Awards honored the best athletes in 29 interscholastic sports in Rhode Island, as well as several premier awards, as chosen by the staff of The Providence Journal.
How McCourty deals with retirement
McCourty's roughly 20-minute talk covered a variety of subjects, from dealing with his recent retirement from pro sports to competing with his twin brother, Jason McCourty, also a pro football player, to the secret of success, especially in athletics, but pretty much everything.
McCourty, who has a blooming career in sports media and runs a charitable foundation, in addition to spending time with his wife and three children, said it's no mistake that his post-football daily life is so busy.
“The statistics are very daunting — substance abuse, divorce, broke," he said of challenges that face retired pros.
He explained that, while playing, his life was very regimented, waking up at a certain time everyday, attending team meetings and practices and exercise routines. “You just don’t do that anymore," he said, "and I wanted to make sure that I just filled up every open slot on my schedule."
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Devin vs. Jason McCourty is a curse and a blessing
The lifelong competition between twins Devin and Jason McCourty has brought heartbreak and blessings, Devin said.
As far back as high school, the twins have had moments when one excelled while the other dealt with adversity.
At the start of their high school football careers at Saint Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, New Jersey, Devin became a starter before Jason, but then Jason became the star running back and Devin suffered an injury that put a damper on his senior season. That meant colleges were more interested in Jason. In fact, when Boston College representative visited the McCourty home, they asked Devin to wait in another room while they talked to Jason. “Your brother is good and we’re going to offer him [a scholarship]," Devin recalled the incident for the audience, "but you’re not good enough.”
Both went to Rutgers University, where Devin's star rose. In the NFL draft, where a player's worth is measured by how early a team picks him, Jason went in the sixth round, Devin in the first.
“We love competing against each other — don’t get me wrong, we have a lot of fun. But that’s our thing; that’s personal between me and him," Devin said Tuesday night. "Other than that, we’re each other’s biggest fans; we’re each other’s harshest critics. We get on each other about sports, about being husbands, dads. We push each other to be better.”
“Having him as a mentor, but also somebody I can confide in is awesome.”
The secret of success on the field, in life
“You have to have the attitude of I’m going to outwork everybody, I’m going to do the extra mile, to get better, to improve,” McCourty said. “I never went one spring break in college. I stayed at school and worked out. I think that was the difference.”
To finish on top, you have to stand out, he said. “You can’t do what everybody else does because everybody’s not going to make it.”
Devin McCourty's favorite things
Food
“Pizza, pepperoni,” he said. “I’m a big fan of just like pizzerias, local, like pizzerias.”
Candy
“Purple Skittles”
Subject in high school
“I wasn’t gonna say gym, my mom would kill me," he said. "I’ll say math.”
TV show
“Game of Thrones”
Weirdest pregame ritual
“I would pack a container of strawberries, pour sugar on them and eat them every night before the game.” The dish was a favorite of his mother's and he tried it before a game in college, and he played well and thought, "Man, that happened because of the strawberries."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Devin McCourty gives advice to RI high school student-athletes
