Minutes after Jalen Mills posted on Twitter and shared his excitement to join his new team, the New England Patriots — no, actually it was exactly one minute afterward, according to the timestamp — former Eagles and Patriots defensive end Chris Long asked the burning question on everyone's minds.
Mills' response was popular with not only his personal fan base, but the Marvel (Greeen Goblin) and DC Comics (Superman) fan bases... and Torrey Smith.
Mills dug deeper into that question when he joined the latest episode of "Takeoff with John Clark" podcast.
"...It's to the point where there are Jalen Mills fans, there are Green Goblin fans out there, where I had people who were either writing in my comments or trying to reach out in DMs and different things like that, and saying they were Philly fans for however long but they were also Jalen Mills, Green Goblin fans," Mills said. "And now they're going to be cheering for me in New England and some even saying they're going to convert over to Patriots fans now, so I think with that I have to show also that loyalty to those fans who actually sit there and watch me play."
Would Bill Belichick really let green hair fly, especially with those clashing Patriots colors?
"Yeah, so I talked to Bill, met with Bill yesterday — also met with Mr. Kraft — you know, great guys," Mills said. "And they just tell me, be myself, because that's why they brought me here. They know the type of player I am and they just told me to be myself."
But it's not only staying true to himself that makes Mills want to rock his iconic green hair. It's also the fact that Philadelphia and his time with the Birds was such a meaningful experience that he'll never forget.
"It's definitely a place where I have an emotional connection, just for the simple fact that, you know, I made history there," Mills said. "I was a part of the history there, you know, winning the Super Bowl, bringing that to the city. Man, all the crazy games that we played in up to that point and then even after.
"[So I] definitely have an emotional connection to the city and you know, I always will love that city, man. That city gave me an opportunity, the organization gave me an opportunity to live out a dream that I had when I was 10-11 years old, and so I couldn't say that I don't have that connection to the city."
Mills agreed to a four-year, $24 million contract with the Patriots after spending five seasons with the Eagles.
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