Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, Patriots’ Stephon Gilmore exchange jerseys

There has long been a tradition of support between the various New England professional sports teams, with the Boston Celtics, Bruins, Red Sox, and New England Patriots’ players frequently making shows of solidarity and shared fandom on social media.

The Celtics and the Patriots in particular have stood out as two closely-linked franchises in both the minds of their fans and their players, and the tradition continued on Wednesday when Boston’s All-NBA small forward Jayson Tatum and New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore decided to swap jerseys in a show of mutual respect, posting photos on their respective Instagram accounts.

Gilmore shared an autographed Patriots jersey with Tatum, who posted it with a raised fist of solidarity in his photo.

The Duke product responded with an autographed Celtics jersey while writing “To JT Keep being great. Big fan!”

The mutual admiration between the two franchises may go back many years, but it’s still a pleasure to see it keeping up with the times.

(h/t Boston.com’s Trevor Hass for the find).

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