'Kelce Bowl' has fans in McCourty brothers, only twins to play together in Super Bowl | Opinion

Devin McCourty has played in five Super Bowls during his career, winning three. Ask the New England Patriots safety if he has a favorite, and he doesn’t hesitate.

Super Bowl 53, no question. Because he and twin brother, Jason, got to play in it together.

And neither one of them had to lose.

“I’m happy for us it happened that way,” Devin McCourty told USA TODAY Sports.

If you know anything about Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, you know that Jason and Travis Kelce will be the first brothers to play against each other in the NFL’s title game. They won’t be on the field at the same time – Jason is Philadelphia’s starting center while Travis is Kansas City’s starting tight end – but one of them will end the night as a champion for a second time while the other will be bitterly disappointed at coming up empty.

As excited as the McCourty twins are to watch the “Kelce Bowl,” neither would want any part of that.

“They’re going to be extremely excited” to be in the Super Bowl, said Jason McCourty, who played cornerback for four teams over 13 seasons, including three with the Patriots, and is now an analyst for NFL Network.

“But I know that embrace at the end of the game, one is congratulating the other and the other is consoling the other. That’s going to suck.”

Super Bowl dreams started early

Like the Kelces, the McCourtys would imagine themselves playing together in the Super Bowl when they were younger. Jason McCourty recalled going outside to run plays before their Pop Warner games, and he and Devin pretending they were doing it in the Super Bowl.

But the odds of that becoming a reality are so, so slim.

The McCourtys were only the third set of brothers to play in the Super Bowl together, and the first in more than 30 years. Archie Griffin and his younger brother Ray were the first, playing for the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 16. Glenn and Lyle Blackwood, the Miami Dolphins “Bruise Brothers,” followed a year later and again in Super Bowl 19.

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh and younger brother Jim, then the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, were on opposing sidelines during Super Bowl 47.

The McCourtys are still the only twins to play in the same Super Bowl.

“It’s very unique to have someone that close to you share the same experiences. That you can call on during good times and bad times,” Devin McCourty said. “Especially when you can share in each other’s success.”

For much of their NFL careers, the success was all Devin’s.

After playing together at Rutgers, Jason was drafted in the sixth round by the Tennessee Titans in 2009 while Devin went to the Patriots as a first-rounder one year later. While Devin played in his first Super Bowl in just his second season, Jason struggled through one lean year after another.

The season before he was traded to the Patriots, in fact, Jason McCourty was part of the 2017 Cleveland Browns team that went 0-16.

He at least got to be part of the Super Bowl, however. Whenever the Patriots were in it, Jason would go with Devin and act as the family liaison. Making the dinner reservations, shepherding people to the team hotel, coordinating game-day logistics – anything that would eliminate potential distractions for his twin brother.

“Just try and make sure he had everything he needed to make it as seamless as possible so he would be ready for the game,” Jason McCourty said.

Thrilled as he was for his brother, and to be able to share his experiences, it wasn’t the same as doing it himself.

“I described it as Christmas morning and you’re this kid, standing in a driveway, and you’re watching people through the window opening presents. You never get (the) chance to go in for four Super Bowls,” Jason McCourty said. “And then the fifth time, I got the chance to kick down the door and experience it all.”

Reunited in New England

Ahead of the 2018 season, Jason was traded to the Patriots.

“His wife said, `You guys need to cherish the moments. Record videos of you driving to practice together.’ Her telling us that, it really put things in perspective of embracing everything that went along with it,” Devin McCourty said.

Devin McCourty and the New England defense were already motivated for that season after a poor showing in the Super Bowl 52 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, when the teams combined for 74 points and a league record 1,151 yards. But having his brother as a teammate only added to it for Devin McCourty.

“I want to win a Super Bowl, and I want to win a Super Bowl with my brother,” he said.

While the Kelces have been good-natured about the attention on them and their family – mom Donna got the first question at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual news conference Wednesday – it’s also made them somewhat uncomfortable. They don’t want the “Kelce Bowl” to overshadow their teammates or diminish the accomplishments of their teams.

That was never a worry for the McCourty twins.

“Nothing will ever overtake Brady, Belichick, Kraft, Gronk and Edelman,” Devin McCourty said, laughing.

Besides, as much as Devin McCourty wanted Jason to get a ring, the other Patriots felt the same way.

“He’d never even been to (the) playoffs. He shared his story with (the) team about never being to (the) playoffs and really challenging guys to take advantage of our situation,” Devin McCourty said. “Everyone bought into that, and they loved everything he was getting and everything he was doing.”

'McCourty Bowl'

The McCourty twins did an interview with CBS, which broadcast the game that year. They sat next to each other at media night. They switched seats for one of New England’s media availabilities.

And when the game was finally played, the McCourtys and the Patriot defense led the way. New England held the Rams, who’d averaged almost 33 points per game in the regular season, to three points. That field goal came after Jason McCourty broke up what would have been a touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks, and Devin McCourty prevented a big gain by shoving running back C.J. Anderson out of bounds.

As the final seconds of the game wound down, Jason McCourty dropped to one knee and looked onto the field, soaking it all in. He remembers his brother watching him, knowing that not only were they Super Bowl champions, they were Super Bowl champions together.

“I just think it’s the coolest thing to do something with someone you’ve been with your whole life,” Jason McCourty said.

Those bonds are what make the McCourtys’ Super Bowl, and the Kelce Bowl, so special. Siblings close in age are often compared to one another – Who’s fastest? Who’s smartest? Who’s going to do (fill in the blank) first? – and that can sometimes create divides.

But the love the Kelces have for one another is obvious, just as it was with the McCourtys.

“I think every family can relate to it,” Devin McCourty said. “Even if you don’t follow football.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour. 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Kelce Bowl' has fans in McCourtys, only twins to play in Super Bowl