Super Bowl Champs Jason, Devin McCourty Are Rutgers Grad Speakers

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Super Bowl champions, Rutgers alumni — and twins! — Jason and Devin McCourty of the New England Patriots have been chosen to give the 2019 commencement address at Rutgers University this spring.

Jason and Devin McCourty will speak at the main campus graduation ceremony on May 19, 2019.

In years' past, former President Barack Obama, Toni Morrison and "Little Steve" Van Zandt of The E Street Band have all served as Rutgers commencement speakers, so the twin Rutgers grads will join their ranks. This past February, the McCourty brothers became the first set of twins to play together in, and win, a Super Bowl. They got their start playing football on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

The brothers are identical twins who attended Rutgers in 2005-2010; they actually both met their wives, fellow Rutgers students, on campus. They are originally from Nyack, New York. The two brothers were standouts on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team, and went on to play in the NFL: Jason first for Tennessee and Devin McCourty for New England. However, 2018 saw both brothers on the Patriots team under head coach Bill Belichick; on Feb. 3, 2019 that NE Patriots team won Super Bowl LIII.

“Rutgers is where we launched our athletic careers and where we met our wives,” said Devin. “The sense of community created more than a decade ago has kept us connected to the university."

Devin's wife is Dr. Michelle McCorty, a graduate of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School who is actually now an an emergency medicine physician in Piscataway. Jason's wife, Melissa McCourty, also graduated from Rutgers and worked for Nissan USA.

A $20,000 honorarium is offered to each of the McCourty twins. Dan Schulman, the CEO and president of PayPal president, was the commencement speaker in 2018 and he did not receive an honorarium. (Schulman is a former Rutgers Board of Governors member.) Van Zandt was the commencement speaker in 2017, and he received a $35,000 honorarium. When Obama spoke in 2016, he spoke for free but the security and price to host his event cost Rutgers $1.43 million in total.

Jason is a 2009 graduate, and Devin is a 2010 graduate. They both arrived at Rutgers-New Brunswick in 2005. After Rutgers, they made the leap to the NFL one year apart and landed on different teams. Jason spent eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans and one with the Cleveland Browns. Devin, who was drafted a year after his brother, has been with the New England Patriots since he college graduation, when Belichick took him in the first round. This year was the first season the brothers played together since 2008 when they were Rutgers teammates.

In 2013, the McCourty twins launched Tackle Sickle Cell in honor of their aunt Winifred, who lost her battle with the disease earlier this year. The goal of the program is to educate the public, increase blood donations and raise funding and awareness for the fight against sickle cell disease. Together, the twins have raised more than $1.5 million to support families battling sickle cell. In fact, after delivering their address to Rutgers graduates, the pair will head to the Heel to Heal Plus Tackle Sickle Cell 5K at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

The McCourtys often return to Rutgers to inspire current Scarlet Knights and to lead fundraising events with Embrace Kids Foundation, which helps families whose children are facing cancer, sickle cell and other serious health challenges.

In 2016, the McCourty twins were both inducted into the Rutgers University Hall of Distinguished Alumni, the highest honor any alumnus can receive. The members of this prestigious group are selected based on their outstanding achievements in professional and civic life. Two years earlier, both Jason McCourty and Devin McCourty were named Walter Payton Man of the Year nominees by their respective teams. Both brothers were nominated for the 2014 and 2015 Byron “Whizzer” White Award, the highest honor the NFL Players Association can give a player. The award recognizes players who go above and beyond to perform community service in their team’s cities and hometowns.

“Rutgers University has always been a special place to us,” said Jason. “The education we received on and off the field helped lay the foundation for so much of what we’ve accomplished. Returning to Rutgers now is certainly humbling and we’re grateful for the opportunity."

There have been 13 sets of twins in NFL history and currently there are five active sets of twins that play in the NFL, including the McCourtys.