0:04

Hello, and welcome to Do Your Part. I

0:06

am your host, Angelique Fisk, and I am the lifestyle

0:09

editor of Patriots dot Com. I am so

0:11

excited to bring you the very first episode of Do

0:13

Your Part, a spinoff of sorts of off topic.

0:16

Here, I will bring you conversations with Patriots

0:18

players about what they're doing off the field to affect

0:20

change in areas that matter to them. I

0:22

am so excited to share my conversation with today's

0:25

guests with you all, and I don't think we could have

0:27

a more fitting pair to start things off on this podcast.

0:30

Starting in twenty thirteen, Devin and Jason

0:32

began Tackle Sickle Cell to raise money for research

0:34

for a disease that has deeply impacted their family,

0:36

and that was only the beginning. Since

0:39

then, they have advocated for education

0:41

reform at the Massachusetts State House, hosted

0:43

district attorney debates, and documentary screenings

0:46

donated to schools to close the technology gap

0:48

in the wake of the pandemic. I can honestly

0:51

go on and on and on with the list

0:53

of what the mccordys have done in the past

0:55

year alone. So without further ado,

0:58

here Devin and Jason mccordy Devin and welcome

1:00

on to do your part the podcast.

1:02

How are you both doing? Doing

1:05

good? Doing good? Can't complain getting ready

1:07

for a division opponent, a big

1:09

game coming up. I'm doing well?

1:11

Is fine? Well, it's great. It's

1:14

great to have you guys on. So, you know, when

1:17

I was thinking about starting this podcast, it just

1:19

made the most sense in the world to have you guys

1:21

on first, because I feel like half of my

1:24

job is following you guys around with what you do

1:27

so much in the community. So but I kind

1:29

of wanted to take it back to the beginning,

1:32

if that's okay with you guys and

1:35

too. If you can remember the first

1:37

time that you got involved with either

1:39

activism or philanthropy or really did something

1:41

that stood out to you, whether it's like volunteering when

1:43

you were younger or something along those lines.

1:46

Oh, man, I would probably say it started

1:49

in high school. We used to

1:52

go and volunteer. Our school will have open houses

1:54

and different kids would come in and

1:56

you'd volunteer, or a kid came and visit

1:58

to kind of show them around school and get

2:01

to spend a day with you. And then I would say

2:03

it really followed through in college once

2:05

we got to college there or opportunities to go visit

2:07

the Children's hospital. There was opportunities

2:10

with the Special Olympics, and I would say that's where it

2:12

started of just seeing and creating

2:15

ways to get back to other people. And

2:17

then once we got in the league, I would say, the first thing

2:19

we did. We always wanted to have a football

2:21

camp, and that was one of the first things we did

2:23

and that we've continued to do throughout

2:26

our careers. Yeah, obviously I

2:28

was with him on each of those things, so we

2:30

both did that. And I remember

2:32

in high school they used to have blood

2:34

drives and I used to always be scared

2:36

to give blood, so I never did it. But we

2:39

would always take like all of the dunk and donuts

2:41

that they would bring and eat those. And

2:43

then I would just say that, like he said, for

2:46

me, the moment that stuck out was being at

2:48

the Special Olympics. It

2:50

would be like this huge ceremony and you

2:52

would just see, you know,

2:55

all of us as football players at Rutgers and

2:58

you know, even gone when I was young. I wasn't

3:00

even playing yet, but to see everyone's

3:02

excitement for us just being there and

3:04

seeing us in football jerseys, seeing

3:07

a feeling and just that energy

3:09

that they gave everyone there to

3:12

me was just a cool feeling for me

3:14

personally. And then watching

3:16

and seeing you know, how someone's day could be

3:18

affected just by showing up and giving time

3:21

really opened my eyes to want to give back

3:23

more. And I'm going to go back

3:25

to something you said at the beginning there, Devin, but it's

3:28

interesting that you said you were scared to give blood, because

3:30

now I feel like you both give blood

3:32

pretty regularly because of tackle sickle cell. Yeah,

3:35

and I would say one of the reasons too. In high school,

3:37

like I didn't fully understand like how much

3:40

it could help someone. It was just

3:42

all about like you want to stick a needle in

3:44

me, Like, no, I don't want to do that. And

3:46

then as you get older and you realize how important

3:48

it is, and you know, even if it was painful,

3:51

which is not, but even if it was, to

3:53

know how much you're helping someone else, I

3:56

think, really, you know, is a bigger idea

3:59

and makes you want to do it more so. Um,

4:01

And that's what's been cool being hearing the women we've

4:03

had guys. I remember Jordan Richards went

4:06

and gave blood the day after we won a Super

4:08

Bowl, like he woke up and like just some

4:11

amazing people. I think that I've gotten to be around,

4:13

you know, over my eleven years here, and

4:15

then you know, I kind of I want to talk about the Tackle

4:17

Sickle Cell night that you just had this week. You guys

4:19

have had a pretty busy week. I think it was October

4:22

twenty six. I five my day is correct, But

4:25

something that stuck out for me for that night

4:27

was, you know, you before

4:29

that night even began, you had raised over

4:32

one point seven million dollars for

4:34

research for families affected by sickle cell

4:36

disease. And you know, that's a huge number

4:38

no matter what the cause is, you know, over the course

4:41

of since you started Tackle Sickle Cell, but for

4:43

something that's underfunded, like like

4:46

sickle cell research and things like that, it makes a huge

4:48

difference. So, you know, what does it mean to you

4:50

to be able to I know you've touched so many

4:52

lives through that your foundation, but financially

4:56

you that's a difference making number for a

4:58

cause like like sickle sell disease. Yeah,

5:02

it means a lot. For those of you that don't

5:04

know, sickle cell disease runs in our family

5:06

and our father had to trade, and we have

5:08

an aunt and uncle who both had the disease and we

5:11

lost about two years ago now,

5:13

and we were very close

5:15

to her. So throughout the years and as

5:17

kids, you didn't really understand that she

5:19

had a disease or that she was sick. And as we got

5:22

older, you started to understand

5:24

that. When she was a little girl, she was told

5:26

her she wouldn't live to see thirty five, and

5:30

she was a fighter, you know, she was able to travel

5:32

the world, she worked for many years,

5:34

she was able to do a lot of the things

5:36

that she dreamed of doing, and as she got

5:38

older her health to start to deteriorate.

5:41

She was on oxygen twenty four seven, she

5:43

lost vision in both of her eyes. And seeing

5:45

the struggles that she had, the pain that she

5:48

would be in, we'd have our phone

5:50

conversations. That's what inspired me and

5:52

death to really want to get behind this

5:54

cause and really just bring awareness and be able

5:56

to raise money so to know you're

5:58

making a difference. Raising that type

6:00

of money goes a huge way, and I

6:03

think even more of an impact the

6:05

interactions that you have with families.

6:07

I feel like it's what really motivates

6:10

and push me. Obviously, the monetary

6:12

value is huge, and you know it has a big impact

6:14

and it's very important. But man, showing

6:16

up to our five k every year and catching up

6:19

with families that you maybe haven't seen for

6:21

a few months, seeing how they're doing, seeing

6:23

the kids get older, hearing about what's transpired

6:26

over the past year like that, that's

6:28

awesome. You know, talking to my aunt telling her

6:30

story to a young kid who

6:32

may be eighteen nineteen, who thinks that

6:35

they have no shot of living maybe

6:37

for the next twenty years, and telling

6:39

my aunt story that she lived be sixty

6:41

nine years old and lived a full life

6:44

of being able to tell people that it

6:46

goes a long way and to see their reactions

6:48

in though, what those interactions feel

6:51

like to me is what has really given

6:53

me just a true value in it.

6:56

Yeah, the only thing I would add, it's still it still

6:58

sounds crazy hearing how much we raised.

7:01

I don't think we ever thought that we would

7:03

have that type of impact. When we first got involved.

7:06

It was just something we were passionate about and

7:08

wanted to explore our see how we get help. So

7:11

you know, even you know, Monday night, as

7:13

we were doing that, and you know, we're talking

7:15

about it and you're seeing that number. It

7:18

was incredible just to know how many lives we've

7:20

impacted, and hopefully we can continue

7:22

to push that in make it even bigger

7:24

number over the years to come. And I think

7:26

something that's been so interesting since over the

7:28

last few years, since I've worked with the team

7:31

or for the team, what

7:33

you all have been involved with and how you

7:36

have created tangible change has grown

7:38

so much in just a few years. I

7:41

mean, and when I'm thinking about

7:43

this, I'm thinking about, you know, education reform and criminal

7:45

justice reform and all of the things you've done in those

7:47

and those areas and how interconnected

7:49

they are. So I was

7:51

curious how access to education

7:54

is something that was important

7:56

and interesting for you to kind of dive head first

7:58

into. Yeah, I would

8:00

say our life, we we've

8:02

been very blessed. You know. We grew up in

8:06

an area where you know, we were in dirt poor.

8:09

You know, my mom worked hard and she got hurt on

8:11

her job and collected disability, and

8:13

then my father passed away when we were young. So,

8:16

um, we made deal. And you

8:18

know, I just think about some of the deficiencies

8:20

that we didn't have. Um, we felt

8:23

in our school system, and you know, we would

8:25

look around and you know, my mom sacrifice

8:27

everything, she ended up going bankrupt for us to go

8:29

to private high school and really

8:32

give ourselves a chance to have a great education.

8:35

You know, we got to go to a school that you

8:37

know, I think it was ninety eight or nine of

8:40

seniors who graduated went on to college.

8:42

And for us, that was huge. Just as

8:44

soon as we walked into building, it was an assumption

8:46

that you were definitely going to college. And

8:49

I think that really propelled us,

8:51

you know, for our life. You know, we go there, we get

8:53

a scholarship to go to Rutgers, graduate

8:56

Rutgers and you know, go straight to the NFL.

8:58

And I've had success, and I

9:00

just think about how many people who don't get that opportunity,

9:03

who don't get you know, an

9:05

extra person or you know, a guidance

9:07

counsel or somebody else to help them

9:09

because maybe their home life is a struggle,

9:12

or maybe the economically they don't have the funds

9:14

to have, you know, a laptop at

9:16

home and to do different things. As

9:19

you start to think about it, you know, I thought, you

9:21

know, hey, our platform gives us access

9:24

to people's ears and two different things

9:26

to to money to really help

9:28

people out and you know, again, same

9:30

thing as Sigle selle social

9:33

justice, and like it's far exceeded

9:35

any expectations I've ever had. I never pictured

9:38

a group of us going to the state House. You know,

9:40

I've been in the state House multiple times,

9:43

you know, over the last couple of years. Never before.

9:45

And to do those things,

9:48

I think really speaks volumes for me. When

9:50

I retire and I look back on my career, those

9:53

moments will be right up there, side

9:55

by side with winning Super Bowls and all those

9:57

great things, because I've told a bunch of

9:59

young people before, you know, Ideally,

10:02

how would I know I was a success in the things I

10:04

did up the field. Someday when I'm

10:06

out somewhere and someone tells me like, hey,

10:09

you were a part of the reason my school

10:11

did X, Y and Z that helped me

10:13

to graduate and help me go to

10:15

the school, and now I'm this in life.

10:17

Thank you so for me. You

10:20

know, I look forward to the days of hearing

10:22

that from different young people, you

10:24

know, and I think that's what making an impact

10:26

is. And We've been very fortunate to be around a lot

10:28

of smart people, a lot smarter than

10:31

us. That we learn from and get ideas from.

10:34

Yeah, And I would say for me coming

10:36

here and doing things with dead, going

10:39

into different schools, learning about

10:42

the lack of resources in certain schools

10:45

really inspired me to get behind it and

10:47

gave me the motivation too, because when I first

10:49

got here Devlis Tuesday morning, Hey

10:52

we gotta be in Boston by seven, so we're gonna

10:54

have to be up by six and get on the road. I'm

10:56

like, man, this is my off day. And

10:58

then when you go and you've visit a school,

11:00

or you hear from a teacher or a counsel or a

11:02

principal that, Hey, the school doesn't

11:04

have an art teacher. Hey, the science teacher's part

11:07

time. Hey this school doesn't have a library,

11:09

or just putting bookshelves in the hallway because

11:12

that's the only place they can put it. Hey, they're running

11:14

out of classroom space, so they've just put

11:16

up these doors to block out

11:18

and there's a table with four chairs and that's

11:20

where some students do their work. Or hey,

11:22

there's no guidance counselor here. These

11:25

kids are English as a second language, and

11:27

there's nobody to help them to conform

11:29

and get ready and be able to transition into

11:32

schools. Here when you hear about these things and like

11:34

depths, and you think back to your childhood, I

11:36

couldn't imagine not having a pe teacher

11:39

or my science teacher or our teacher being

11:41

part time because I took those things

11:43

for granted. And I assume, hey, every kid

11:45

has this. And I think now that we've

11:47

been blessed out of the platform we have, it's

11:50

our duty to go out there and attempt to

11:52

make a change. You can't guarantee you're going to do

11:54

something that's not all our efforts, Like Death

11:56

said, we've been able to partner with grass food organizations

11:59

of people who've been doing the legwork

12:01

for years, figuring out what needs

12:03

to be done, how to get it done, And we've been

12:05

able to lend our voice in our platform to help

12:08

kind of just push the ball across a goal

12:10

line as they've already driven at ninety

12:12

yards down a field. And this,

12:14

this kind of stuff, in these kinds of conversations are

12:16

important at any time, but you know, especially

12:19

now, I mean this year, this this

12:21

chaotic year, but you know, the

12:25

technology divide and the education

12:27

divide like has never been so clear. And

12:30

you guys have done I mean work even now, like

12:32

you're still continuing to evolve what you're doing. I know

12:34

you made a donation to a Boston high

12:36

school to get some some Wi Fi

12:38

to the students there and make sure everyone's computers

12:40

are up to speed, because it's that's something

12:42

you take for granted, like it's something that

12:45

should be everyone should have and you

12:47

know, but there there are homes that can't

12:49

afford it or don't have access to it, and that makes a

12:51

huge difference when a student is doing

12:53

hybrid learning or doing you know, remote

12:55

learning. So how much clear has

12:58

it even become this year

13:00

in the past couple of months, like the advice

13:02

like how important this is to be doing?

13:05

Yeah, I found out this past March.

13:08

I have three kids. My oldest

13:10

was in second grade now but last school years

13:12

and first and I had two in preschool

13:15

and when they decided to go virtual,

13:17

they had a Zoom class for all of them and we're

13:20

blessed and fortunate that they all were able to have

13:22

a device or work off of and it

13:25

was total chaos. I mean half the time I

13:27

wanted to throw one of them out the window. So

13:29

realizing how hard it was for me at

13:31

home having access to Wi Fi, the

13:34

kids having access to their own device to

13:36

be able to be on a zoom class all at

13:38

the same time, having enough

13:41

space to be able to have their

13:43

class where not a complete distraction

13:45

now even everything can be heard, and

13:48

realizing how hard that is to now think,

13:50

Hey, there's a kid somewhere that doesn't have Wi Fi,

13:53

has two siblings and they all have

13:55

one computer to work off of, but the classes

13:57

are all at the same time. How in the world

13:59

are they supposed to learn and get an education?

14:01

So for me, I was able to see it firsthand

14:05

of the frustrations, especially with younger

14:07

kids parents that work. I'm

14:09

fortunate that it was an off season. I was able to

14:11

be home with my wife to be able to help. But

14:13

there's parents that don't have that luxury and they have

14:15

to go to work each and every day, and now they're

14:18

hoping that they're maybe teenagers getting their

14:20

work done, but it's impossible without the resources.

14:23

So we were able to do something back home,

14:25

and our home, we're able to do something in

14:27

the Boston area, and I would say we're still

14:30

We're still trying to do different things and

14:32

trying to just help, you know. I think like you just

14:34

said, twenty has been a tough

14:36

year, not only for the digital divide

14:38

in education, but food supply

14:41

for people. So I think it's

14:43

up to us that have to be able to

14:45

spread that wealth and be able to help

14:47

them and just be a blessing in somebody else. Depth

14:49

says it all the time. I heard it in the Tony

14:52

Evans sermon. But if blessings

14:54

come to you and they stop there, they're

14:56

no good. I think you you always want to have blessings

14:59

flowing through. You want to other people. I

15:01

love that. That is a really nice

15:03

sentiment again, especially

15:05

this year, to be able to give

15:07

forward a little bit. Yeah, I won't

15:09

even better

15:12

answer to a question of friends, buddy. And

15:14

then you know, there was a line. I think it was a

15:16

paraphrase, so I'm going to paraphrase a paraphrase

15:18

here, but um, there was a line from Tackle

15:20

Signals All Night. Um. I believe it's something Jason

15:23

said in that in order to affect change,

15:25

you need to invite people in to do the work. And

15:28

I thought that was a really nice

15:30

and succinct, you know, way

15:33

to put it. And I think, you know, like as as

15:35

Jason was just saying, you know, I think a lot

15:37

of things have come to the surface this year that

15:40

people could ignore or have ignored,

15:42

you know, whether it's food and security or you know,

15:44

the racism in our country. Um so,

15:48

I think a lot more people have been motivated

15:50

to get up and do something and their

15:52

communities. So what advice

15:54

do you have for people who might be striking out

15:57

for the first time to do something good in their community

15:59

or try to make some sort of impact in their own

16:01

small little bubbles. Yeah?

16:04

Man, I always say start by listening. You know, we

16:06

actually you know what everything going

16:09

on. It's been cool. We've gotten to talk to younger people,

16:11

you know. We we had a call with Boston

16:13

College football team the other night

16:15

and you know, one of the biggest things we

16:18

told them was look inside first,

16:20

you know, not everything you know twenty

16:22

twenty, I would say, really, our modern

16:24

society is all about you know, how can

16:26

I do something that steals a headline at people?

16:29

And like, the biggest changes you can have

16:31

usually are right in your household or right on your

16:34

team, right at whatever job

16:36

you have, for the people right around you. Because

16:38

when you can affect change for those people,

16:42

you then affect all the people they know

16:44

and I just think about right here in our locker room,

16:47

all the great conversations we've had talking

16:49

about our family, our kids, telling

16:51

people about your journey and understanding

16:54

where we're similar where we're different. And

16:56

I think when you do that, you have you

16:59

know, and here we got sixty to seventy

17:01

guys who all walk away taking

17:03

something different that they pass on to their wives,

17:05

their kids, their parents, you know, it's

17:08

uncles, different generations get

17:10

that knowledge. And I think that's

17:12

the biggest thing people have to start with, you

17:14

know, don't just you know, read a media

17:16

headline and jump in and form their

17:19

strong opinion without researching

17:21

and learning and doing things and

17:23

then right away affect

17:25

change right around you. I know, for

17:27

me and Jay Mac, our biggest chance

17:29

to affect change after everything we've

17:32

done is our kids. You know what, How

17:34

we raise our kids, what they go out there and do

17:36

like that is our legacy. That is what carries

17:38

on. So I've always try

17:41

to keep that in mind as I'm trying to raise them as

17:43

well. Is trying to make others,

17:45

you know, proud of me and make others and build

17:47

them up as well. Yeah,

17:50

for sure, I just think, like he just said, find

17:53

your loved ones around you, have those

17:55

tough conversations, challenge the people around

17:57

you, and don't be afraid to stand

18:00

in your own lane, you know, just because you

18:03

might have. We talked to the team and just we talked

18:05

to Rutgers earlier in the offseason. And we

18:07

all come from different places, especially in our unique

18:09

sports atmosphere. You all come

18:11

from unique places, and you come together for one

18:14

common goal. And everybody grew up different,

18:16

you know. And I think sometimes you get

18:18

into a locker room that's a melting pot and you

18:20

get to learn from people that you didn't even

18:22

really know existed, you know. And

18:24

I think we're fortunate enough that hey, if

18:26

we take that and we carry that back to

18:29

wherever we came from, we can affect

18:31

change that can be extraordinary.

18:34

Where the it's your siblings, your parents, high

18:36

school friends. I think that goes a

18:38

long way. So, like death said, just continue those

18:40

conversations, talk to those around you, and

18:42

as you continue to educate yourself. You

18:45

never know what your purpose may be. It

18:47

may just be a conversation you have with a

18:49

loved one or next thing, you know, you may be leading

18:52

a charge in something that you're passionate about.

18:54

So just see where it takes you. And

18:56

you know, as veterans, as captains,

18:58

you know you've I feel like you guys have probably gotten

19:00

comfortable being able to stand up and

19:02

speak out about things that you care about. I mean, obviously

19:05

you have, that's what you guys do, but um,

19:07

you know when you were younger, when you were rookies, who

19:10

was an athlete or a coach that you

19:12

know really influenced you and taught

19:14

you by by example how

19:17

to speak out as an athlete? Oh

19:21

man, I would say I had a lot of when

19:23

I first came in the league. I had some good veterans

19:26

around, Chris Hope, Courtland

19:29

Finnigan. Those were guys that just

19:31

did everything the right way, you know, from

19:33

charity events, from how they carried

19:36

themselves, and that just gave me an

19:38

example of how to be a pro. And I

19:40

think as I progressed, as I progressed

19:42

in my career, you

19:44

naturally start to see who you

19:46

are as a person. And I think as

19:49

you become more comfortable, something

19:51

coach Yanna always used to say to us in college,

19:53

as you have to find a way to be comfortable

19:55

being uncomfortable. And I think as

19:57

I've continued in my career, Alan

20:00

Kaepernick taking the kneed, Malcolm Jenkins

20:02

and Quan Bolden starting the Player's Coalition. There's

20:04

been so many things that have started to happen

20:06

and you start to form your opinions in whereas

20:09

maybe early on you're like, hey, I agree

20:11

with them, but you're like, hey, I don't know what the team will

20:13

think if I do this. You get to a point where you just don't

20:16

care anymore. You feel strongly enough,

20:18

and you get to a point where you're like, hey, I'm comfortable

20:20

being uncomfortble, uncomfortable standing alone

20:22

for what I believe is right. And I'm passionate enough

20:25

and believing it enough that I

20:27

can educate myself that I

20:29

can be able to speak about it and get someone

20:31

to understand why I feel this way or

20:33

why I'm doing this and be comfortable

20:36

doing that. Yeah, And I would just

20:38

say, you know, like Jay Matt when I got to New

20:40

England, all of different people giving

20:42

back, whether it's invincible for having event,

20:44

Gerard Mayo with the Mayo

20:46

Bowl, it was always, you know, I always feel

20:48

like I was going to somebody's event and

20:51

that was always positive. You know, call

20:54

it for you know, cancer or

20:56

diabetes, like great causes. And

20:58

then as I got a couple years in, you know,

21:00

I read Tony Dungee's book and

21:03

when Bill Russell had the statue

21:05

built of him in Boston, and

21:07

I already knew Bill Russell the basketball player,

21:09

but I started to really like research

21:12

and watch things and read things about

21:15

just his story, his journey through the NBA

21:18

and you know, everything he stood for and

21:20

then still what he went through, and

21:22

you know, some of the animosity he had towards

21:24

Boston because of what he went through. For

21:27

me, it was very eye opening and seeing

21:30

that he was never afraid to talk about

21:32

those things. He won championships, he did all

21:34

those great things, but he still stood

21:36

up and talked about different things. And

21:38

I remember just hearing his story and

21:41

understanding, like man like, I

21:43

don't want to miss my time when that comes up.

21:46

And like Jay Max said, it definitely helped

21:48

I was more mature. I've been in the league for a

21:50

while, I started a family. I

21:53

just felt like it was a lot easier for me to

21:55

have the support system to stand

21:57

up for some of the things I believed them. As we talked

21:59

about you know, you you both are involved

22:01

with so many different things, you know, whether

22:04

it's it's here in Boston or Jay when you were in Nashville

22:06

or in New York and New Jersey. Um, you have

22:08

connected with so many families across so

22:10

many different lines. UM, So what

22:13

is a moment that really sticks out to you? And this

22:15

is probably an impossible question, So I'm sorry ahead

22:17

of time, but of an interaction with someone

22:19

you know that made it made

22:22

it clear you know that all of the work is

22:24

worth it. Oh, for me, that's

22:26

simple. Twenty eighteen, Um,

22:29

you were a wine probably

22:31

call it five to six years before that.

22:34

Um, I was at Boston Children's Hospital

22:37

and I I would go there every once in a while.

22:39

I went there one time after we got blown

22:41

out by Kansas City and played Bingo and

22:43

like each kid whooped me and Bingo too.

22:46

I've done There've been there and done pancakes.

22:49

But each time I've been there to

22:51

do something, I've always got a chance

22:53

to go into hospital and visit different

22:55

patients that we're dealing with sigle

22:58

cell or something else. And

23:00

it just so happens. I go there one day and

23:02

I meet a young man named Brunelle

23:04

and we just start talking. We're talking to the Patriots.

23:07

We're talking football, what he likes

23:09

and different things like that, and

23:11

you know, as we're talking, I'm like, hey, man, just take

23:14

down my number, shoot me in text.

23:16

We'll keep in touch. And that's what we did.

23:18

We still talk to this day. And

23:20

in twenty eighteen, you know, when

23:22

I was nominated for Walter pay A Man of the

23:24

Year, that allowed me

23:27

once we made it to the super Bowl, to give

23:29

somebody two tickets to the Super Bowl, and

23:32

I called him and his mom and I was like, hey,

23:35

you know, through our PR staff, I set up an

23:38

awesome behind the scenes tour

23:40

of the Patriots Hall of Fame, like you guys,

23:42

come check it out. I'll be able to hit

23:44

the tour with you. And as we're hitting

23:46

the tour, you know, we get to the section where

23:49

there's the duck boats and confetti

23:51

drops down and I present them two tickets

23:53

to the super Bowl. And

23:55

you know, it was actually before we even made it to the

23:57

Super Bowl. And the first thing he said to me, well,

24:00

I mean, I don't really want to go if you guys aren't going

24:02

to the super Bowl. And I was like, I'll do

24:04

my best. But just like

24:08

we pushed back his treatments, different

24:10

things he was gonna do. All I had to get

24:12

like, I had to talk to doctors like hey, this is I

24:14

want to do, and it all got pushed

24:16

back for a kind of once in a lifetime moment

24:18

for him being down at the super Bowl in

24:20

Atlanta. We win. Just

24:23

an awesome story and I was just happy

24:25

to be a part of that. You should

24:27

have went second. I following

24:29

that up. It doesn't

24:31

have to do with the Super Bowls and I've got

24:33

a chance to meet who knows an awesome person.

24:36

I would say, for me, it's just been the interactions.

24:38

While I was in Nashville volunteering at

24:41

a youth center called why he

24:44

S Youth Encouragement Services. I'm still

24:46

in touch with them, still trying to do things for them,

24:48

but going I used to go up there on Tuesdays

24:50

on an off day, and it was just something small

24:52

like as my kids got older, I'd take

24:54

my kids and they go on to playground and player to other

24:57

kids at the youth center. They had a basketball

24:59

coordinaty and I would just going there. We

25:01

would play basketball, we play dodgeball,

25:03

and just build relationships with the

25:06

kids. I had did a shopping event for them every

25:08

year during Christmas. Met a kid

25:10

there, Antoine, who we kept in touch as he grew

25:12

older. I would say those type of events

25:15

are five K walk, meeting a mom

25:17

with a little with a little daughter, then being

25:19

able down the line and find out that

25:21

hey, she needed a little help get in the car, being able

25:24

to help her with something like that. Those

25:26

small gestures and when people come up

25:28

to you and they're excited and you see how much

25:30

of an impact you really had, and the relationships

25:33

you build, you know, when you meet someone. We met a

25:35

kid Jimmy who comes to our five

25:37

K in New Jersey every year and he'll

25:39

shoot us a text every now and then let us know how

25:42

he's doing. Like those small things

25:44

here and there are the relationships you build

25:46

with people that you would never have gotten

25:48

a chance to meet other than these events, I

25:50

would say, go a long way. That's

25:53

those are great and I think those small moments, you know, those

25:57

create a legacy, you know, which

26:00

brings me to my second to last question. M that

26:02

is a little It's a simple question, but I think the answer

26:04

might be a little loaded. So um, you know, as

26:06

you think back, um, which was my forte

26:09

Um, what do you when you think back

26:11

or when you think forward to you

26:13

know you're done playing football, Um, you

26:15

know you're retired, You're still doing the work. But

26:18

you know someone googles your names. Um, what

26:20

do you hope your legacy is and how

26:22

do you hope you are remembered? You

26:25

can go first. I went first before. Oh,

26:27

well, I hope I hope that my kids google

26:30

it. They don't pull up any plays wrong, I'm

26:32

exposed or anything like that.

26:34

But oh man, I

26:37

would say, because I guess whenever

26:39

I think of legacy, I do think of aspects

26:42

to my career and everything I've done. I do

26:44

think of my children as children

26:47

seeing kind of who dad is, because your

26:50

kids, you don't really know who your parents are other

26:52

than our generation. Your kids

26:54

will be able to google different things about you. But

26:56

it was kind of what people around would say

26:59

about your parents, and me and Deav got

27:01

a chance to in a negative way but a

27:03

positive way. Our father passed away

27:05

when we were three, so a lot of the things that you

27:07

know about them or what other people come

27:09

to you and saying I

27:11

guess for me, I was looking at if someone

27:14

was to go up to my kids and tell my kids

27:16

about me. I would just hope that

27:18

they would say, like, hey, yeah, your dad was a

27:20

good football player. He played, but man, it

27:23

wasn't football the way he treated

27:25

people, the relationships he built,

27:27

his willingness to sacrifice and serve

27:29

somebody else because realizing

27:32

that hey, they might have been going through something just to

27:34

be there as a friend. For me, that's

27:36

what's going to be most important to work that I've been able

27:38

to do off the field with dead. Whether

27:41

it was the kids we impacted at

27:43

our annual football camp that we

27:45

do where you've maybe ran around

27:47

and be the kid, or we raced against the kids

27:49

at the end of the camp, those lasting memories.

27:52

Maybe it's a kid coming up to him telling them

27:54

about that. Maybe it's like

27:56

Deaf said earlier, kid who benefited from

27:58

the education that pass in Boston

28:01

and we were a part of it and they can say a

28:03

big impact. Maybe it's somebody that minds

28:05

matter when we went there and got a chance to hear the

28:07

kids who are now heading to college. I think all

28:09

of those small things, when you add them all up,

28:12

I just want people to say like, hey, I got

28:14

a chance to be around this person and

28:16

he was just a tremendous person. He treated

28:18

me with respect, he cared, he looked

28:20

me in the eyes. It was just very

28:22

genuine of a meeting with him.

28:24

I think that for me is going to be the most

28:26

important things that when people see me, they can see

28:29

my faith and be able to say, like, hey man,

28:31

his smile, everything about

28:33

him, like you can just see that it was something

28:35

bigger than himself. I think that for me is

28:38

something that's going to be very important. Yeah.

28:41

I think you hit it right on the head. I think

28:43

when you talk about those things, you always hear the

28:46

phrase you know, people won't always remember, you

28:48

know, what you did for him or what you said to him,

28:50

but like people always remember how you made

28:52

him feel. And I hope that's what

28:55

people were relay, Like Jamac the same

28:57

scenario. You know, if I wasn't

28:59

here another day and people went

29:01

up and told my kids, um, I hope

29:04

it would be that. You know, I only

29:06

spoke to your dad, you know, five minutes

29:08

my whole life. But it wasn't awesome five

29:10

minutes. You know, he made me feel

29:12

X, Y and Z. You know people in

29:14

this building that you know might

29:16

not have been coaches or players but got

29:19

a chance to be around them all the all the people

29:21

in the lunch room, people in the equipment

29:23

room, to train and staff. You know, I just hope

29:25

that, you know, no matter what, my kids get to

29:27

hear the same type of stories,

29:30

the same feelings that

29:32

their dad made someone feel. I think, you

29:34

know, you put that that good stuff

29:36

along with the consistency of

29:38

you just being the same person all the time.

29:41

UM. I think if I couldn't teach my kids

29:43

anything and they only got to hear stories about

29:45

me, m I hope it'll all add up

29:47

to great lessons for them to say at

29:50

some point, like, man, if I could just be more like

29:52

my father, I would be a good person. I

29:55

think that's, you know, a

29:57

perfect way to put it. That. Thank

29:59

you both for sharing them. I appreciate it. Problem,

30:02

and I have one last question for the

30:04

both of you. Again, as we've talked

30:06

about, and as everyone's talked about, this has been a

30:09

very difficult year, a challenging year, an

30:11

isolating year for so many reasons. But

30:13

I want to end our conversation on a positive note

30:15

and not linger on that for too too long.

30:17

So, UM, what

30:20

is something that has made you smile

30:22

or feel thankful or feel proud recently,

30:25

whether it's you know today, this week, um,

30:28

something that just made you happy.

30:31

Um, Well, I got a three year old and a two

30:33

year old, so um, I

30:35

would say daily you get the roller

30:38

coast of angry said man

30:40

and just driving hilarious

30:43

things that go on. UM. So

30:46

for me, it's just them, the interaction with

30:49

them. You know, even as

30:51

a season hasn't been you know, ideal

30:53

for how we want and winning games.

30:56

Um. And you know, even like you spoke about

30:58

an offseason, just dealing with so many different

31:00

things and you know, even my

31:02

family dealing with you know, other personal things

31:05

that affected us. Just

31:07

them every single day, high energy,

31:09

yelling and screaming at me at

31:11

the TV, just doing different things. And

31:14

jay Max's story about his son's a little bit better.

31:16

But you know, the last two weeks, even as

31:19

my daughter is getting older, she's into

31:22

it. She understands that daddy's not there because

31:24

he has a football game. And I

31:26

got home the last two weeks and you know, usually

31:28

I just get greeded with a hug, but I get the full

31:30

sprint to Daddy, did you win your

31:32

football game? And you know, back to

31:35

back weeks, I'm like no, um,

31:37

and you know, I think I want to change that coming

31:39

up this week, but just that,

31:42

you know, as she asked me, I can't help

31:44

but smile and lie because

31:46

she really does not care at all, really

31:49

doesn't listen to what I say when I

31:51

say nowhere yes, But just

31:53

the energy and how much you can tell she

31:55

cares about, you know, what I'm doing and

31:58

coming home with band aids from the

32:00

game and they're like, Daddy, you don't need to play football.

32:02

You keep getting boo boos. So to

32:05

me, they've been the biggest blessing

32:07

I could ask for in twenty twenty. Oh

32:09

yeah, without a job, it's my kids.

32:12

Sunday, we lose the game to the Red team,

32:15

come home. The first thing my son

32:17

says me is Daddy, Daddy, that Red

32:19

team spang job. But and

32:22

I had no choice but to laugh,

32:24

just from a four year old perspective. I asked him

32:26

who was he ruling for. He's I was ruling

32:28

for the Red team because they was winning the whole game.

32:31

So it's definitely my kids. Obviously,

32:34

the season hasn't been ideal. We've been virtual

32:37

for a decent amount of it, and my

32:39

youngest has been home and she

32:41

gets to come with me when I come up to get

32:43

tested on all day she'll sit in the car. So now

32:45

she thinks every day she's supposed

32:48

to come with me to work. And then my

32:50

oldest is at the age where she's

32:52

studying for spelling tests and stuff

32:54

weekly, so we'll come

32:56

when she comes home Wednesday, she like today

32:59

she gets a new list of words,

33:02

she does a pretest, and then throughout the week she has

33:04

to make sentences put them out of all that fun stuff.

33:06

And as a family, we all make

33:09

sentences for the word. So we

33:12

yell and we scream, we run around the house,

33:14

we take it turns. Each person has to say a

33:16

word and it um. The last two weeks

33:18

he's had probably about forty fifty words and she's

33:20

only gotten one wrong. So for me

33:23

being able to be there and do those things

33:25

kind of night after night, um, that's

33:28

what brings a smile to my face. And sometimes

33:30

some of the stuff we go through with you lose

33:32

a game, you win it, it can be extremely

33:34

frustrated and then you go home to that and

33:37

it kind of just brightens your spirit up. Yeah, kids

33:39

will keep you in check like that. Well,

33:43

um, so I know you both if well if

33:45

whoever is listening. Um likes this conversation.

33:48

There is the double Coverage podcast

33:50

that they can tune into every week that

33:52

you that you all have so um if

33:55

you if you like conversations like this, you can tune

33:57

in there and you can find Devin adjacent on

33:59

at forty twins on Instagram and Twitter. But

34:02

thank you so much for taking the time

34:04

to come on the podcast. I really really appreciate

34:06

it. I'm happy we were at

34:08

first. Man, we started this thing, all right, appreciate

34:12

you having us. Yeah, the second guest is in for some trouble.

34:14

How are they going to manage up to this? We'll

34:18

help them out, pre prep

34:20

them for the hard hanging question. Well,

34:22

thank you for tuning in to do your part, and we'll see you next

34:24

time. Thank you for downloading

34:27

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