- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 743,827
- Reaction score
- 52
This week, Chiefs Wire's Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Super Bowl champion and CBS Sports NFL analyst Jason McCourty about his role as Pro Athlete Community (PAC) Board of Advisors Co-Chair, encouraging programs to help retired athletes, and his journey to his Super Bowl victory in the 2018 season.
"I think this is unique when discussing the co-founders, Chip Paucek and Kaleb Thornhill. Kaleb was in an NFL locker room for over a decade. So when he first decided to tap into it, the network that he had and the trust that he had with guys, because he had been there and done it with them, made it easier," said McCourty. "I think in all these sports, whether basketball, baseball, or football. The NFL has programming for players when they walk away from the game. PAC is different because its sole purpose is to serve players in their transition while they're playing, building for it."
PAC's mission statement honors the grit and determination that define members, helping them channel their drive beyond the game to achieve greatness in every arena.
"When they're walking away, stepping into it with faith and courage, and knowing that you will be okay, I think your main focus for the other entities is current players," said McCourty. "That's what it always has to be. I don't say that as a negative, but if I'm a part of the NFL, I'm trying to continue to grow the game, to make sure it's where it needs to be 30 years from now, and the same with every other league. Nothing about PAC is X's and O's, and telling you how to be a better cornerback now, as you continue to build off the field, will that help you? On the field, absolutely, but I think being able to make it a priority is why it's been different than anybody else trying to do it."
McCourty's Patriots won the thrilling 2018 AFC Championship game over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. He started that game and qualified for his first Super Bowl appearance.
"That game meant so much to me in my professional career. Anyone's going to say that about a Super Bowl, but what was so unique about my journey is that it was my 10th year in the league. It was the first time I had ever made the playoffs, and next thing you know, we're playing in a Super Bowl," said McCourty. "But compound that with the fact that I have an identical twin brother (Devin) who gets drafted the year after me, who goes to the Super Bowl his second year, who now, when we go to the Super Bowl in 2018, I have a twin brother who's now playing in his fifth Super Bowl trying to win his third one. So it was my first time in the playoffs. It was my fifth time being at a Super Bowl."
McCourty started in Super Bowl LIII, tallying five tackles and two pass deflections. He made the crucial play in the third quarter, breaking up a pass from Rams quarterback Jared Goff while covering wide receiver Brandin Cooks in the endzone, preserving the Patriots' 3–0 lead and eventual championship.
"I think it was my moment to prove the last, however many years of wanting to be here, of proving that like I'd done the work, and I'm coming up big for my team," said McCourty. "But that play was so cool because that same play the Rams ran in the first quarter, and (Stephon) Gilmore was chasing the post, and I was backside, and we're looking at it on the sideline, and my brother's talking to Steve Belichick, and he's like, Hey, 'J's' got to get there. I'm talking to (Brian) Flores. Yeah, I've got to be there. So, all of that back and forth is fast-forwarded to play coming back up in the third quarter, and we end up dropping the play and blowing it on the front side. But being able to get back there in the moment, I wasn't thinking it was kind of that old play where you're just hauling butt trying to get back there. I made the play, which was huge in that game, because we only gave up three points. So a memory I'll always have."
Pro Athlete Community (PAC), the first-of-its-kind network built exclusively for pro athletes to navigate life beyond sports, has officially opened its membership to all current and former professional athletes from verified leagues.
This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Jason McCourty on his journey against the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIII
Continue reading...
"I think this is unique when discussing the co-founders, Chip Paucek and Kaleb Thornhill. Kaleb was in an NFL locker room for over a decade. So when he first decided to tap into it, the network that he had and the trust that he had with guys, because he had been there and done it with them, made it easier," said McCourty. "I think in all these sports, whether basketball, baseball, or football. The NFL has programming for players when they walk away from the game. PAC is different because its sole purpose is to serve players in their transition while they're playing, building for it."
PAC's mission statement honors the grit and determination that define members, helping them channel their drive beyond the game to achieve greatness in every arena.
"When they're walking away, stepping into it with faith and courage, and knowing that you will be okay, I think your main focus for the other entities is current players," said McCourty. "That's what it always has to be. I don't say that as a negative, but if I'm a part of the NFL, I'm trying to continue to grow the game, to make sure it's where it needs to be 30 years from now, and the same with every other league. Nothing about PAC is X's and O's, and telling you how to be a better cornerback now, as you continue to build off the field, will that help you? On the field, absolutely, but I think being able to make it a priority is why it's been different than anybody else trying to do it."
McCourty's Patriots won the thrilling 2018 AFC Championship game over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. He started that game and qualified for his first Super Bowl appearance.
"That game meant so much to me in my professional career. Anyone's going to say that about a Super Bowl, but what was so unique about my journey is that it was my 10th year in the league. It was the first time I had ever made the playoffs, and next thing you know, we're playing in a Super Bowl," said McCourty. "But compound that with the fact that I have an identical twin brother (Devin) who gets drafted the year after me, who goes to the Super Bowl his second year, who now, when we go to the Super Bowl in 2018, I have a twin brother who's now playing in his fifth Super Bowl trying to win his third one. So it was my first time in the playoffs. It was my fifth time being at a Super Bowl."
McCourty started in Super Bowl LIII, tallying five tackles and two pass deflections. He made the crucial play in the third quarter, breaking up a pass from Rams quarterback Jared Goff while covering wide receiver Brandin Cooks in the endzone, preserving the Patriots' 3–0 lead and eventual championship.
"I think it was my moment to prove the last, however many years of wanting to be here, of proving that like I'd done the work, and I'm coming up big for my team," said McCourty. "But that play was so cool because that same play the Rams ran in the first quarter, and (Stephon) Gilmore was chasing the post, and I was backside, and we're looking at it on the sideline, and my brother's talking to Steve Belichick, and he's like, Hey, 'J's' got to get there. I'm talking to (Brian) Flores. Yeah, I've got to be there. So, all of that back and forth is fast-forwarded to play coming back up in the third quarter, and we end up dropping the play and blowing it on the front side. But being able to get back there in the moment, I wasn't thinking it was kind of that old play where you're just hauling butt trying to get back there. I made the play, which was huge in that game, because we only gave up three points. So a memory I'll always have."
Pro Athlete Community (PAC), the first-of-its-kind network built exclusively for pro athletes to navigate life beyond sports, has officially opened its membership to all current and former professional athletes from verified leagues.
This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Jason McCourty on his journey against the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIII
Continue reading...
