The McCourtys Once Pulled the Twin Trick on Belichick
NFL.com, 2016 – Identical twin brothers Devin and Jason McCourty are used to drawing double takes when they appear in public together.
Although Devin acknowledged he can’t trick Jason’s wife, he did reveal Thursday on NFL Network’s Super Bowl Live that the brothers once pulled a fast one on New England coach Bill Belichick.
Before Patriots defensive back Devin played against the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, the team organized a family day on the field. Jason, a cornerback with the Titans, took the field in street clothes and approached Belichick.
“So (Belichick) just walked up to (Jason) and was like, ‘Why aren’t you dressed with your jersey and stuff on?'” Devin recounted. “And then (Belichick) looked and said, ‘Aw shoot, you’re not Devin.'”
A gleeful Devin pronounced it the best trick the twins ever pulled off.
Like I said yesterday, I love the acquisition of Jason McCourty. It’s exactly what I needed to start to pull me out of the annual Patriots free agency “We Can’t Have Nice Things” funk I’ve been in this week. And a classic Belichickian maneuver, upgrading a position of need at practically no cost. Compared to Malcolm Butler, McCourty brings a better:
–Pro Football Focus overall grade: 10.2 (17th best in the NFL) to 4.7 (48th best)
–Passer rating against: 95.5 to 96.6
–Yards per reception: 11.5 to 13.4
–Touchdowns: 5 to 6
–Interceptions: 3 to 2
–PFF Grade against the run: 3.5 (11th best) to 1.5 (97th best)
–2018 Salary: $2.9 million to $12.25 million
And in spite of the fact McCourty has been in the league five full seasons longer than Butler, he’s only two years older. So for this year at least, it’s a win every way you look at it. Except for one. And it’s my own personal hangup I need to get over.
The inherent creepiness of identical twins.
This business of the McCourtys playing head games with Belichick just before the Super Bowl That Will Not Be Named II is a prime example. Twins are OK. I guess. Identical twins that are kept far apart I can live with. But when you can’t tell one human being from another, it’s usually just disturbing and awful.
Name any example. The little girls in The Shining. The Vinklevoss twins. The Sedin brothers (who I’m not even sure are identical, but in hockey pads they definitely are). The Olson sisters. I want to make an exception for Fred and George Weasley, but I have to acknowledge that’s just my own pro-Griffindor bias speaking. And if I was from the Ministry of Magic I’d definitely consider them enemies of the state. Name any story where two characters look exactly alike and decide to swap lives and invariably it goes horribly wrong, despite the hilarity that ensues.
But I know this is just prejudice on my part and I need to get over it. I’m sure Belichick will use that incident from 2012 to inspire him to use the McCourtys identicalness to his advantage. Like say, if Devin gets suspended for a late hit or something, they dress him in Jason’s number and just pretend they’ve moved Jason back to safety for a game. Or maybe they switch their numbers and let opposing offenses try to figure out why they’re suddenly playing an extra safety down in the box. It’s not like anyone on the field is going to DNA test them. So I’ll grow and learn and teach myself Identical Twin acceptance. For the sake of the Patriots secondary if not all of identical twin society. Because I love everything else about this trade.
P.S. On an unrelated note, my brother Jim used to work with a guy who once got caught cheating on his wife. With her twin sister. And there’s not a man among us who isn’t asking what Jimbo asked him: “Why? What’s the point of risking your marriage cheating with someone who likes just like the chick you bang all the time?” The only answer is that men are animals.