Devin McCourty recruiting Kevin Durant to Boston

Last night was the ESPY Awards, the night each year that ESPN takes off from 8 hours of LeBron James coverage to give awards to the most under appreciated individuals: millionaire athletes. Honestly, each year there are some great moments to come out of the event (such as this speech by Stuart Scott), and there is no livelier night for athletes' twitter accounts. New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty took to his account, which he shares with his brother Jason, to give fans of multiple Boston area sports something to buzz about:

Now, I'm sure that our friends over at CelticsLife will have more to say on the NBA side of things, but I think there's a Patriot's take here that is worth noting. What people don't seem to want to remember is that this season is the last year of McCourty's contract. While I can get heartburn worrying about the Patriots offering enough to retain top level guys, this gives me reason to be optimistic about McCourty.

McCourty isn't speaking on behalf of the Patriots, nor is he speaking as a hometown boy. McCourty luring stars to the Boston area would show how happy he is with the team, and the fans as well. When going into a contract year, and seeking every last dime from a team like the Patriots, players would avoid giving such indications. As we learned from situations like the franchise tag dispute with Jimmy Graham and the Saints, twitter can cost players millions. McCourty, and his agent, are surely smart enough to understand this.

To me, this rings volumes about positive negotiations, or a lot of common ground, between the Patriots and McCourty. It could be that the Patriots are set to offer him top safety money to retain his services, or that McCourty wants to take a team friendly discount, but either way Patriots fans should feel more confident than ever that D-Mac will be tweeting sports stars to the Boston area for years to come.

-Bill Stiles
@thefib0624

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