FOXBORO, Mass. — While trying to overcome a left calf injury that has kept him out of five consecutive games, Patriots safety Jarrad Page has found a little extra time to dedicate to his Twitter page.
Even without much playing time this season, due to the injury and his adjustment to a new defense, Page has gained popularity from New England fans because of two gigantic similarities he shares with them.
Page hates the Yankees and Lakers.
Page grew up in Oakland, Calif. as a fan of the Athletics and Warriors, and the thought of rooting for either the Yankees or Lakers sent him into an emotional tailspin.
"I don’t know. I just never liked them," Page said. "I'm an A's fan. I don’t know. I just don’t like the Yankees. I don’t like the Lakers."
Page was openly Tweeting his support for the Twins and Rangers during the American League playoffs, and then he opened up about his disdain for the Lakers once the NBA season approached. Last week, Page went into a little more detail over his hatred for the Lakers.
"I lived in L.A., and everybody hops on the Laker bandwagon," Page said. "A few years ago when they were terrible, nobody liked them out there. Now, they've won a couple of championships, and [the fans] are back on."
The Patriots acquired Page from the Chiefs during Week 1, and he immediately earned the praises of head coach Bill Belichick, who loved Page's work ethic. Still, Page was stuck behind safeties Brandon Meriweather, Patrick Chung and James Sanders on the depth chart, and it was tough for him to earn much playing time.
So, while Patriots fans still don’t know much about Page on the field, they have been able to warm up to him away from it.
"Oh, [the New England fans] loved it," Page said of the reaction he's gotten on Twitter. "I don’t blame them. They should love that. I don’t see how anybody can [like the Yankees or Lakers], I just can't root for them."
