An emotional Jason McCourty discussed a feeling of hopelessness surrounding the events of the past few days. From the shooting of an unarmed Jacob Blake by police officers, to the death of two BLM protesters, to the peaceful arrest of the person who shot them. Here’s the rest of what the Patriots Cornerback had to say to the media on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
What went into the decision to hold a practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n Aw, man. I don\u2019t know. I feel like right now, myself and I know a lot of other guys I\u2019ve talked to in the locker room right now, we\u2019re just lost, man. It\u2019s almost like a sense of hopelessness.<\/p>\n In March, we had a team discussion via WebEx, and we all talked about it. And here we are months later, and we\u2019re talking about the same exact thing.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s like, all right, do we cancel practice? But if we cancel practice today on Thursday, do we cancel practice tomorrow on Friday? What\u2019s gonna get us to go out and practice the next day?<\/p>\n We cancel practice today, we sit around, we discuss race, we discuss what happened to Jacob Blake, we talk about what\u2019s continued to happen in our country for hundreds of years, but then we go out and practice tomorrow. Nobody cares. I think for us, right now, we\u2019re trying to figure it out.<\/p>\n And I think I know for myself, you feel a sense of responsibility. You know, the neighborhood I came from wasn\u2019t the greatest. There\u2019s a lot of people that look like me that are still in that same neighborhood. And there\u2019s a lot of people in neighborhoods right here in the New England area that are suffering. And we\u2019re all hurting when we see what took place in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just Black and brown people. As human beings, as Americans, we should all watch a video \u2014 whether somebody was a former criminal or had a violent past, whatever all of that stuff in the discussion is \u2014 it doesn\u2019t matter when you turn on a video and you watch a human life being shot in the back seven times. That stuff becomes secondary.<\/p>\n And I think we all need to hurt, we all need to feel devastated.<\/p>\n I have three young children, and I have no idea how I\u2019m going to explain to \u2019em,\u00a0hey, you\u2019re not perfect, you\u2019re going to make mistakes. We\u2019re believers, we have strong faith, Jesus is going to forgive. You\u2019re going to be able to redeem yourself.\u00a0<\/em>And then you watch videos and it\u2019s just like, yeah, some people might have made a mistake. Some people didn\u2019t. But they\u2019re in the position they\u2019re in \u2014 is a mistake worth being shot seven times? Is it worth being kneeled on until you take your last breath?<\/p>\n And I think for us as players, we\u2019re lost. We don\u2019t know why we\u2019re practicing. We don\u2019t know why we would not practice. We don\u2019t know why we\u2019d be preparing for games. We don\u2019t know why we wouldn\u2019t. We\u2019re completely lost as Americans. We have no idea what\u2019s the way to go.<\/p>\n We saw last night, NBA players not play. You hear reports now that two of the teams don\u2019t want to play and the rest of the teams do. We\u2019re all lost. We have no idea what\u2019s the right move. What can I possibly do to change a system that\u2019s been in place for so many years?<\/p>\n So to be honest, to answer your question, I have no idea why we went out there and practiced today. I feel like we all just go through the motions. We feel like we have meetings starting at 7:15, so we wake up and we go to the 7:15 meeting carrying every emotion, every tear with us, and not knowing how to deal with it at all, and we just kind of go through the motions because it\u2019s routine. And we\u2019ve all become so numb to this because this happened so many times in so many different places that we\u2019re all just confused. And there\u2019s a sense of hopelessness, of just not knowing how to fix a problem.<\/p>\n How can you lean on your teammates to help in a moment when you feel lost?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah I feel like we\u2019re all discussing it, in and out, throughout the day. And I know a lot of us battled today of whether we should go out and practice or whether we should go home or whether we should sit around and talk. We just don\u2019t know the answers.<\/p>\n I texted my wife this morning when we got into the building and I was just like,\u00a0I feel guilty<\/em>.\u00a0I just don\u2019t feel right. There\u2019s just a feeling inside of me. There\u2019s hurt inside of me, there\u2019s anger inside of me<\/em>. And I\u2019m like \u2026 does football mean anything?<\/p>\n I talked to [teammate Brandon Copeland]. Obviously he\u2019s a professor, and he said some of his students have hit him up and asked, \u2018What\u2019s the purpose of getting ready to go to college?\u2019<\/p>\n I think there\u2019s just so much emotion that goes on with everything that we\u2019ve seen over the last few days. We watched a man shot seven times in the back, then we watch a 17-year-old kid go out and feel that he needed to take matters into this own hands, killing two people and walking by the cops with a long gun around his neck with his hands up, and getting in his car and driving all the way back to Illinois before anything is done. And we listen to the chief of police say this wouldn\u2019t have happened if everybody had just been inside for the curfew.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s just saddening.<\/p>\n We\u2019re definitely trying to lean on each other, but we don\u2019t have the answers. We have no idea what it is we have to do to fix this problem. But I think a lot of us \u2014 and I won\u2019t say everyone, because I know everyone doesn\u2019t probably feel the same way I do. Some people don\u2019t see it as their issue. I\u2019ve had people hit me up. I\u2019ve had white friends hit me up and say, \u2018Hey man, I support you. Whatever you need.\u2019<\/p>\n And it\u2019s just like hey, I need for this to be everybody\u2019s problem. I need for this to not just be my problem, because the people that are going through it look like me.<\/p>\n I need this to be all of our problems, because we\u2019re all humans.<\/p>\n We all should realize the significance of a human life, and how we all should be treated. And I think we\u2019re all just struggling with this, man. We don\u2019t know how to move forward. So we just stick to our routine, and we move, and we go through the motions. And for me, it\u2019s when I get home, I\u2019m trying to discuss it with my wife. Obviously, Dev\u2019s here, and me and him are extremely close. And we\u2019re trying to bounce ideas off each other but, there\u2019s just so much emotion swirling around. It\u2019s just so hard to decipher right now.<\/p>\n Do you get any respite from that hopelessness by going to your job and putting in work? Is going to work harder when you\u2019re carrying those emotions?<\/strong><\/p>\n It definitely makes it hard to show up. I think we learn to compartmentalize. And I think when we get out on the field today in practice, you get going and you\u2019re a competitor as well and you get lost in football. And I think sometimes that can be a good thing, because it allows you the freedom to go out there and just be who you are and do what you love.<\/p>\n I think as soon as it\u2019s over, you\u2019re right back to reality. And it\u2019s almost a sense of guilt that, hey, like I\u2019m able to go out there and I\u2019m able to escape what\u2019s really going on out here.<\/p>\n And for Jacob Blake\u2019s three children, who sat in the car and watched their father get shot seven times, where do you go to escape that feeling? Where do you go to erase that sight? Where do you go to deal with that type of trauma?<\/p>\n And this is a feeling of guilt when you walk away. And that\u2019s probably the main thing that I was suffering from today, of guilt that I get to walk into the building and I get to go play football.<\/p>\n Because the reality is I could be anywhere, and as soon as I\u2019m out of the building and there\u2019s not a football in my hand, I\u2019m just a Black man on the street. And I look a lot like some of the men who have lost their lives, who have been gunned down in the streets.<\/p>\n And the reality of the matter is I\u2019m blessed to be able to do what I can and to have this platform. And for me, I\u2019m going to try to do everything I can to help those who don\u2019t have the ability to spread their voice that people will hear. So yeah, you\u2019re definitely able to get away from it and to be able to love your craft and work at it and build as a team and all of that good stuff. But there\u2019s a sense of guilt that comes with it, and it\u2019s just not reality. Because we get to go out there, and whether it\u2019s practice, whether it\u2019s a game, it\u2019s a few hours out of the day.<\/p>\n But I have a 7-year-old, and at some point she\u2019s going to see these type of videos, and she\u2019s going to wonder. And she\u2019s going to ask me, \u2018What\u2019s going on, Daddy? What am I supposed to do if I\u2019m in that situation? What if my brother is out there and this happens to him? How should he handle himself?\u2019<\/p>\n And everybody doesn\u2019t have to have those conversations. Everybody doesn\u2019t have to sit down with their son and explain to him if he\u2019s ever pulled over while he\u2019s driving, that he needs to roll every window down in the car, that he needs to make sure that his license and registration and insurance are already visible. He needs to keep his hands on the steering wheel at all times. He needs to announce any move that he\u2019s getting ready to make before he makes it.<\/p>\n Everybody doesn\u2019t have to have that conversation. And I do. And I\u2019m going to have to have that one day. And it breaks my heart, because my parents had to have that conversation with me. And my grandparents had to have that conversation with my parents. At what point, at what generation, do we get to stop having those conversations? Do we get to all feel normal and feel safe in a country where we say we all are free and we all are equal? But when we look around, we know that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n Will the Patriots set aside time to talk as a team about the current situation, and will that be helpful?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve done that in the past and we plan on doing that. I don\u2019t know. I mean \u2026 I talked to Duron [Harmon], I know they did that in Detroit, and they kind of started it. And I thought what they did was awesome. Does it fix anything?<\/p>\n When we cancel practice and we sit down and we meet and we talk, does it change anything? When we stay inside for the national anthem, and then we go out there and we play in the game for four quarters and we entertain everybody, does it change anything?<\/p>\n And I think that\u2019s what I\u2019m struggling with. We cancel practice and we sit down and talk \u2014 does Thursday practice just move to Friday? Does everybody write a story on Thursday that the Patriots canceled practice, and then tomorrow the headline is, \u2018Cam Newton Thrills At Practice\u2019? And then we just go on and we talk about what happened that day: who\u2019s out, who\u2019s injured, who came back, who had an interception, who broke off a nice run. It just moves forward. And it\u2019s just like yeah, that was awesome, they canceled practice, they did something. Oh, but they came out to practice the next day and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to write about and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to discuss.<\/p>\n I remember the opening press conference where Dev spoke and he didn\u2019t take any questions. He just talked about what\u2019s going on in our society, and at the end, he addressed the NFL and the opt-out date. And I went on Twitter after that, and the thing I saw most was \u2018Devin McCourty bashes the NFL and the opt-out date<\/em>.\u2019 Nothing said,\u00a0\u2018Devin McCourty addresses Breonna Taylor. Devin McCourty talks about equal rights for everyone. Devin McCourty talks about voting.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t about that. It was about the NFL. And I feel like when you see players on the Lakers and the Clippers who have said,\u00a0Hey, we don\u2019t think we should play this game.\u00a0<\/em>And they\u2019re trying to get the attention. But then I read something from Draymond Green and it was just like, as athletes we always feel the need that we need to stop playing to make change.<\/p>\n But at the end of the day we play a sport that\u2019s also a business. And how many other businesses do you see being shut down right now?<\/p>\n Do you see the CEO of Apple or YouTube or Google saying, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re shutting down. We\u2019re boycotting going to work. We\u2019re not gonna do this anymore<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n So it\u2019s a struggle. Because there are moments I feel like,\u00a0man, screw this. I\u2019m not going out there to entertain anyone when I feel the way I feel<\/em>. And is that the right thing? Does that do anything? Is that fair? And it\u2019s just, it\u2019s been a ridiculous struggle.<\/p>\n I mean, you tweet something, \u2018Prayers up for Jacob Blake for what he\u2019s gone through and his family.\u2019 And you go look at your mentions and you have to laugh at it.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s just like \u2026 how can you watch that video and the only thing you can think about is,\u00a0He was a criminal<\/em>? Or\u00a0he did this<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0he did that.<\/em><\/p>\n And just because someone is saying prayers up for him \u2026 I don\u2019t know the man. I don\u2019t know who he is. But I watched the video and I feel for it. And it hurts me to watch and, it\u2019s just tough, man. It\u2019s extremely tough.<\/p>\n I know I\u2019m rambling because my emotions are everywhere as well.<\/p>\n Do you feel it\u2019s a burden that athletes have been looked at to lead during these situations?<\/strong><\/p>\n I definitely feel a sense of responsibility to the guys in my locker room, to my peers that play this sport, but more importantly to my community \u2014 the community in which I grew up, the community in which I\u2019m playing and I represent. I definitely feel a sense of responsibility to try to be a voice for them.<\/p>\n And as I said earlier, for every negative comment you see on social media based upon standing up for something, there\u2019s somebody from back home that\u2019s telling me, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m proud of you, man. Continue to do what you\u2019re doing.\u2019<\/p>\n Of course you don\u2019t do it for that, but sometimes it\u2019s tough, man. And you need that motivation to continue to tell you that I need to fight, I need to fight because this isn\u2019t right. And it hasn\u2019t been right.<\/p>\n For sure, me alone, me, Dev, Slate, whatever the group is, are we going to change the world? No. Not at all. I mean, this system has been built over hundreds of years. It\u2019s not going to be a few guys on the Patriots that play football that is going to embark a change on a system that\u2019s automatically just going to go to being equal and fair to everybody.<\/p>\n But I do feel like we have been blessed and we have been placed in the situations we\u2019re in to make a difference, and that\u2019s not just chasing after Super Bowls. It\u2019s bigger than that.<\/p>\n And I think when you realize that, it allows you to continue to move forward and continue to fight for what you feel is right. And I\u2019ve just told myself through all of this to pray, to pray what is the right move to make, what are the right words to say. And at the end of the day, do what I feel is right.<\/p>\n I discuss it with my wife every day. When I go home, she can look at me and say she\u2019s proud of me. And my kids \u2014 that\u2019s what\u2019s gonna matter to me. And I just feel like I have to say something. Somebody does. And there\u2019s been so many people that have spoken out and continue to speak out and will continue to speak out no matter what the outcome is for themselves personally. And I think we all have to do something.<\/p>\n And I think yesterday was the day that marked four years since Colin Kaepernick first took a knee, and you just think about the backlash that that was met with. And the feelings of hostility towards him and the statements that were being said about him.<\/p>\n Four years later, you look at what we\u2019re going through in our country, and it\u2019s not new. It\u2019s not like when he took a knee four years ago, it just started. And so a little bit of me is just like wow, is this just the trend, so now everybody wants to speak up?<\/p>\n But the other side of me is like, well maybe now it\u2019s an awakening. Maybe now more people realize that what\u2019s going on isn\u2019t right. And whether they were asleep at the switch four years ago when Kaep took a knee, I\u2019m not going to blame them. But if you now see that there\u2019s an issue going on and you can be a light to maybe strive toward a solution, I think it\u2019s everybody\u2019s responsibility to say something and do something.<\/p>\n Any closing thoughts?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, that was it. I\u2019m all out of thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An emotional Jason McCourty discussed a feeling of hopelessness surrounding the events of the past few days. From the shooting of an unarmed Jacob Blake by police officers, to the death of two BLM protesters, to the peaceful arrest of the person who shot them. Here’s the rest of what the Patriots Cornerback had to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":131993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[2080,337,377],"class_list":["post-78347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-jacob-blake","tag-jason-mccourty","tag-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n