Patriots' Devin McCourty: Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski in Super Bowl Is Bittersweet

New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty has conflicting feelings about longtime teammates Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski playing in Super Bowl LV on Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

During an appearance on ESPN's Get Up (h/t ESPN.com's Mike Reiss), McCourty discussed what it is like for him to see two former Patriots going for another championship elsewhere:

"To watch those two guys leave our team and bring everything they've learned to Tampa, a team that didn't make the playoffs last year and now is having an opportunity to win a world championship, it's been awesome to watch. And obviously, a little bittersweet because you would rather those two guys suiting up with you on Sundays.

"But it's still awesome to see those guys going out there and doing it again. Obviously, for Tom and his legacy and what he's done in this league, he doesn't have to do any more. But to continue to watch him and his greatness, and continue to get better and better each year, it's just unbelievable."

When the Bucs host the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday, Brady will be going for his seventh career Super Bowl win and Gronk will be vying for his fourth.

McCourty has spent his entire 11-year NFL career in New England, and he benefited greatly from the play of Brady and Gronk, winning three Super Bowls during their tenure together.

Brady was a Patriot longer than any of them, as he was with the team for 20 years and established himself as arguably the greatest quarterback of all time during that stint by reaching nine Super Bowls, winning six of them, and claiming four Super Bowl MVP awards and three NFL MVP awards.

Gronk was Brady's favorite target in New England for some of that time, scoring a remarkable 91 touchdowns in 131 regular-season and playoff games combined for the Pats.

Gronkowski retired prior to the 2019 season and didn't play, while Brady played out his final season in New England. While the Pats won the AFC East, they were shockingly eliminated in the AFC Wild Card Round of the playoffs by the Tennessee Titans in a game that saw Brady and the offense go stagnant.

Brady seemingly saw the writing on the wall in terms of the Patriots entering a downturn, so he got out and signed with a Buccaneers team stacked with offensive weapons.

Gronk followed suit by coming out of retirement and facilitating a trade to Tampa so he could reunite with his longtime friend and quarterback.

The decision turned out to be a good one, as Brady and Gronk helped lead the Bucs to the Super Bowl, while the Pats went just 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Many of the Patriots' great players over the years perhaps haven't gotten some of the credit they deserve due to the belief that head coach Bill Belichick was the driving force behind their success.

If Brady and Gronkowski can take a Bucs team that hadn't been to the playoffs since 2007 and lead them to a Super Bowl win in their first season with the franchise, it would go a long way toward eliminating any doubt that still exists.