Thursday night marks the first preseason game for the New England Patriots as the team looks to qualify for the playoffs and compete for a Super Bowl championship. Twin brothers and former Super Bowl champions Devin and Jason McCourty will hold the inaugural edition of The McCourty TwinCast, an alternate broadcast based off ESPN’s Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, colloquially known as the ManningCast.
The McCourty brothers will bring fans their unique insights and perspectives about the game on the field while interacting with guests and engaging in friendly banter. After Thursday, there will be two more iterations of the broadcast during the preseason before Devin and Jason return to their primary media roles.
“We’ll have different guys on there laughing and joking, talking about their experiences in the preseason and what it means to be in those games and making the team,” Devin McCourty said on 98.5 The Sports Hub while appearing on Toucher & Rich on Thursday morning. “We’re looking forward to, I think, just having a good time with it.”
Devin is entering his first year out of the National Football League and was added to the Football Night in America group of analysts, making his debut last week at the Pro Football Hall of Fame game. Conversely, Jason has been on the air for the better part of a year on NFL Network’s daily studio show, Good Morning Football.
Both twins also hosted a podcast together, Double Coverage, helping catalyze the age of player-driven content outlets and compelling them to explore opportunities to remain involved with the game upon their retirement. He had various experiences with the media while playing, taking a contrasting approach from his head coach Bill Belichick by viewing reporters as individuals rather than an assemblage all the same.
“I understood, I would say early in my career, that everybody had a role and I think I got to know some of the media people outside of just the stories they wrote,” McCourty said. “I think that helped me a lot of not taking it as personal.”
Over the course of the regular season, there are undoubtedly going to be occurrences where McCourty will have to criticize teams and players he has relationships with from his time in the National Football League. Toucher and Shertenlieb asked McCourty about the approach he is going to take on the air to ensure he can perform the job to the best of his ability.
“What I focus on is the game,” McCourty affirmed. “I hate when I watch media people talk about guys from a personal standpoint – what they do or don’t do with their family or the man they should be. I’m not ever going to be [wanting] to talk about that, but if you’re talking about criticizing or giving my opinion I see football-wise on the field, I’ve always done that.”
McCourty looks at his role in the media as a way to remain immersed in the league, and also as something that grants him the chance to forge relationships with various personnel. “I think that’s the aspect as a former player that we also get to do that people don’t talk about enough,” he added.
Fans will pack the newly-renovated Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. to watch the Patriots take on the Houston Texans and whet their appetite for football as the season grows closer.
The TwinCast premieres at 7 p.m. EST and will be broadcast live from Jason’s home in New Jersey alongside his brother. Following the Texans game, the TwinCast will be on WSKB-38 next Saturday when the team hits the road to take on the Green Bay Packers. The final TwinCast of this preseason will occur on Friday, Aug. 25 at 8:15 p.m. when New England plays the Tennessee Titans (streaming only).
