Devin McCourty Feeling 'Hopeless' Due to Continued Social Injustice
Cam Newton wasn't the only Patriot to address the Jacob Blake shooting this week. Devin McCourty, alongside with his brother Jason, are known for being strong advocates against social injustices in the United States, answered questions exclusively on the shooting that took place Sunday in Wisconsin.
"I've been thinking a lot the past couple of days," Devin said. "I've had so many different emotions of being angry, being sad."
Although other NFL teams cancelled practice to demonstrate their support of the black lives matter movement, McCourty doesn't know if that really solves anything.
"I don't know if we don't practice one day and go back to practicing the next day, I don't know what that really accomplishes," McCourty said. "I know we could take a whole day off and talk about a bunch of different things. We have talked as a team, we've done all that stuff. It just hasn't mattered. You know obviously football distracts people from that. But if there was no football I don't think people are going to care about black and brown people in our country. Like I don't think that will be the result of it."
McCourty admitted that he has really been struggling with the events in Wisconsin personally. Tuesday night, especially, when he went home and looked at his young children.
"I know last night I sat down and I looked at my kids and the only thing I could think about was 'I'll have to tell my kids what my mom taught me when I became a teenager about how to handle being arrested or being pulled over by a cop. How to conduct myself. What clothes to wear so that when I went somewhere people thought I had an education and didn't think that I didn't know how to speak correctly or that I was intimidating or a threat to to them.' Like those were the conversations that my mom had with me as a young teenager and I looked at my kids and I was like 'I'll have to tell my son how to act a certain way so people don't think he's a threat so that he'll always be able to come home. I'll have to tell my daughter those same things.' And that just broke my heart last night."
McCourty said that those conversations have been ongoing in black households "dating back hundreds of years." He wants to be able to shield his kids, who are three and two years old, from that as long as possible, but knows the conversation is inevitable.
Teammate Stephon Gilmore is also concerned about not just the future of his children, but the future of other black Americans, and released a statement on Twitter:
"I do not have the words to meet the depths of my frustration & sadness. But, I do know that the senseless killings & shootings of Black Americans by the police and vigilantes has to stop. These are human rights violations. My children deserve better. We all deserve better."
Because he is still trying to process the shooting personally, McCourty hasn't thought about what to do at the team level yet.
"Honestly I haven't even thought of any team aspect because as an individual, I haven't been able to come to grips with anything let alone try to be a voice to guys and say what we should or shouldn't do," McCourty said.
He was open about not having the answers, and that because of that, he's struggled to find a way to respond that would be acceptable and create real change.
McCourty believes that "every solution should be on the table." But he doubts the effectiveness of getting NFL owners to take action.
"I don't know if that is the change that is needed you know for NFL owners to get involved," he said. "I think it would be awesome, you know if we had that across the league. I know here in New England I've had the chance to talk to Mr. Kraft about different things. But I don't know, would it help people to see Mr. Kraft jump in front of a camera and say how he feels about the things in Wisconsin would that cure all the things that are going on in our country? I don't know if ownership behind that makes that voice louder."
At the end of the day, McCourty is still processing the event and will respond as he thinks is necessary. He doesn't have all the answers, but for now, the team is still practicing and having conversations.
"I just think all throughout the day you have emotions of happy of being out on the football field, you have emotions of talking about something that has nothing to do with football while we're out there," McCourty said. "I think as players and as human beings, we're all just trying to figure out a way to press on."
