Former New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty is a big Jaylen Brown fan, however, not for the same reasons as most Boston Celtics fans.
While McCourty, like all Bostonians, can admire what Brown brings to the court on a night-to-night basis, McCourty instead has loads of respect for what the two-time All-Star does off the court. The now-retired NFL veteran acknowledged Brown's social justice efforts and willingness to be outspoken to get his message across.
"I think JB's a guy that's been a leader on the Celtics, he's very open-minded on how he's gonna go about and tell different things, not shy about using his voice," McCourty said, per NBC Sports Boston video. "And I think as he continues to grow and continues to have life experiences, being a father, different things like that, I'm excited to see what his growth looks like and how he's able to impact the community."
Brown, 26, on multiple occasions has put forth an effort in making his stances clear. Whether it'd be his declaration to help improve Boston for those of the Black community or calling out the hypocrisy of Nike when they severed ties with ex-Celtics teammate Kyrie Irving.
"To actually spend time trying to be in the community at 22, 23 years old, that's hard to do. So I have a lot of respect for it," McCourty said.
McCourty also noted how, like Brown, he'd taken stances during his time with the Patriots, which weren't received well by the New England faithful. The 35-year-old referenced when he and his former teammate Martellus Bennett raised their fists in solidarity during the National Anthem in Week 1 back in 2016.
At the time, fans were significantly harsher about allowing players to take a stance for social justice causes, following the lead taken by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. And Brown, like a large portion of the NBA, took Kaepernick's torch during the 2020 rallies following the death of George Floyd.
McCourty noted that Brown wasn't the first Boston star that's drawn well-deserved praise for his off-court efforts in his mind, crediting one all-time Celtics legend.
"I think I learned a lot about that watching Bill Russell," McCourty said. "Watching different things and seeing how he was. I was like, 'Wow.' Like he is standing up and he is going against the curve. And I think, no matter what you do, you have to go against the curve a little bit."
