Devin McCourty felt like he was ‘duped’ by ‘The Dynasty’ docuseries
"Everything that we all gave to the 20 years that it encompassed, they only hit anything that was negative.”
Apple TV+’s “The Dynasty” docuseries has sparked plenty of discourse and controversy in New England over its month-long run.
Most of the criticism doled out against the 10-episode series detailing the Patriots’ two-decade reign atop the NFL has revolved around repeated digs at Bill Belichick, omitting critical highlights of the team’s dynasty, and honing in on more of the lows than the highs achieved by the franchise over the years.
Former Patriots stars Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison shared similar sentiments about the shortcomings of the series, especially when it came to a focus on the negative aspects of Belichick’s 24-year tenure in Foxborough.
McCourty, who said that he spent nearly eight hours with the production staff during the making of the series, was not pleased with the overall tone of the finished product.
“I felt like I got kind of duped,” McCourty said during a conversation with Harrison on NBC Sports. “I watched and I was just like, man, only things I said that could come across as negative to Bill was the only thing [used].
“Like, I mean, I had different kind of quick sentences on things, but the longest thing I talked about was 2016 with Trump and the letter [Belichick sent in support of his candidacy for president]. And I thought that was probably the worst part. That everything that we all gave to the 20 years that it encompassed, they only hit anything that was negative.”
Harrison, who played an essential role in New England’s back-to-back Super Bowl titles during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, was rarely featured in the series — despite also conducting extended interviews with the production team.
“It just seemed so Tom-and-Bill-centric,” Harrison said. “And [owner Robert] Kraft. I didn’t enjoy it. I stopped. Because it didn’t tell the stories. . . . It was centered around some things that I wasn’t really feeling. And I just stopped watching. I mean, I interviewed for five or six hours I was in New York, and all they had me saying was, ‘[Expletive] ‘em all. [Expletive] ‘em all.’
“Like, that’s it. That’s all I saw myself say. Like, I have a lot of input into Tom and how these guys treated me and the things that happened that led to me signing here. That was a big deal. You know, I just — I wasn’t a big fan of it.”
While New England’s two straight titles in 2003 and 2004 were overlooked, McCourty also took umbrage with the series skipping over the franchise’s significant roster retool ahead of the 2010 season.
“I thought 2010 was like a changing of the guard for so many different things with New England. Like, some of the older players were gone, and it was just like every move had to be made right to try to move on and the only thing they talked about was Aaron Hernandez,” McCourty said.
Both Harrison and McCourty also agreed that the series omitted several details or events over Belichick’s extended run that would have painted the future Hall-of-Fame coach in a better light.
“Bill was a big reason we helped a guy get released from prison after 28 years,” McCourty said. “He was one of the first people after I read and told everybody about this story raise his hand and he said, ‘How do we help?’ He said, ‘I’m willing to sign my name on a letter that goes to the governor.’ And you know the impact of Bill Belichick’s name on anything in Massachusetts.
“And I thought that showed so much growth and change of how he saw things outside of football compared to years before. And it was just like, ‘Well, that makes him look good, so we’re not gonna include that.”
Belichick was far from perfect during his time on New England’s sideline, and his roster decisions over the last few years have played a significant role in the Patriots’ current spot at the bottom of the AFC standings.
But Harrison stressed that the good still far outweighs the bad when it comes to his former coach.
“Bill was a hell of a coach,” Harrison said. “They act like the last three or four years, because the Patriots struggled, that Bill can’t coach. You give me one game and you give me Bill’s Xs and Os, I’ll take him over anybody. . . I just didn’t like the way that he was made out. . . . I just don’t think he got enough credit, enough respect, enough props. Man, this dude is the greatest coach of all time.”
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