Kirk Cousins FaceTimed Into A Team Meeting While His Wife Was Giving Birth

Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated published a Q&A with Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins today. He discusses his new workspace at the stadium, his experience golfing with Donald Trump and his perspective on the protests during the national anthem. He also discusses this, regarding the birth of his son last month:

Oh, I haven’t missed a practice since I’ve been here. That was my first one. Going into a Monday Night Football game against the Chiefs that week, I didn’t really want to miss a day. But Colt [McCoy, my backup,] set up his phone in the quarterback meeting room and we got on FaceTime. I was basically there without being there. . . . Julie’s contractions were coming every four to five minutes, and they lasted about 30 seconds—but outside of that I was able to focus [on football] and Julie was very understanding. She could hear my coaches and [teammates] talking in the background but she said it was fine. When she needed to grab my hand to get through a contraction for 30 seconds, I was there—and I had my iPad next to me, looking at cut-ups, in between. I think our doula thought that was weird. She wanted me a little more present. But Julie understood.

Maybe this was in their birth plan. Maybe the root of Julie’s understanding here was the fact that they had hashed out together, ahead of time, that Kirk would be able to bring Colt McCoy and company into the room via FaceTime while she was giving birth to the couple’s first child. Here is who can be in the room: me, you, baby, doula, no one else except for the voices of Colt McCoy and however many other of your teammates and coaches. Maybe the couple decided that efficiency would be the name of the game here, and they figured that emotional support was only needed for the duration of the contractions themselves and so Kirk’s mental presence could be directed elsewhere in between. Maybe! Maybe all of that is true.

Regardless, we are all still left with the image of Kirk Cousins bringing his iPad into the delivery room to look at cut-ups and chat with Colt McCoy while his wife was giving birth.

[ Sports Illustrated]