NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Devin McCourty is starting to get used to the feeling of playing football without his twin brother, Jason. For three years, the two were bookend cornerbacks on the Rutgers football team. Before that, they played for St. Joe's Regional High School and were together ever since starting for the Valley Cottage Indians.
Devin is older, by just a few minutes, but once he was redshirted by Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano his freshman year, he got to see his brother be first- on the field, as captain and now as a sixth-round draft pick trying to crack the Tennessee Titans' roster.
They still talk every day by phone, but it isn't the same as when they were elbow-to-elbow on the field and off.
"It's a little weird, but I'm starting to get used to it," Devin said.
On the turf practice field earlier this week, Devin stood alert during a special-teams session. He heard the kick and saw it as high as the cameras on cranes parked by the field. McCourty got under the ball and pulled it in, high and tight. He ducked and ran right behind a wedge of red shirts, finding a gap and dodging quickly to get through it, emerging to break free of his blockers.
It's a new role for the 5-foot-11, 190-pound No. 21, but just one of the ways in which he'll be expected to perform this year.
It unfolded just as he visualized, hitting the gap before his opponents even see him arrive.
"I expect big things from Devin," Schiano said.
Last year Jason had two interceptions for Rutgers and Devin pulled down one. This year he is the most experienced senior in the secondary, and the only captain. Cornerbacks coach Chris Hewitt said he leads through his work ethic and, when he has to, by talking.
As tough as it might be for Devin to go it alone, this won't be an easy year for Phyllis Harrell, either. The McCourtys' mom has always gone to each of her son's games, home or away, putting miles on the family car to get to West Virginia or Pittsburgh. This year she will have to divide her time as judiciously as possible to support both sons.
"It's something I have to do," she said.
It may be difficult for Harrell to organize it all, but she knows this is the payoff after years of struggle. The boys' father, Calvin, died when they were just 3 of cardiac arrest brought on by asthma.
They lived in Nyack Plaza at the time, a housing project in this tie-dyed town beside the Hudson River. Harrell worked as a nurse, and by the time the twins were 11 she had saved enough for the down payment on their Nanuet home.
"We've never had a lot, but we've always had enough to get by," Harrell said.
She is glad to see they will get their degrees. Devin has even earned Big East academic honors along the way. His coaches see that kind of aptitude as a plus on the field as well.
"Any time that you have a smart player on the football field, as well as a good athlete," Hewitt said, "now you have a great player."
McCourty will get a big test right at the start of the season when Rutgers hosts Cincinnati and All-Big East receiver Mardy Gilyard in their opener on Sept. 7.
While Devin hopes to follow Jason to the NFL, he is learning how different their experiences will be this season. Devin will be a senior captain on a Big East campus with all the status that affords, while Jason has seen other fringe players get cut during a meeting and their locker nameplate is gone when they adjourn.
For now, Devin is concerned with the Scarlet Knights on a turf field in the glaring light of mid-afternoon, taking a drink from a water bottle elbow-to-elbow with his teammates.
"I'm trying to be a leader on this team," McCourty said. "That's what I'm trying to do."
#21 
#78 
_thumb.JPG)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
