Fans convince New Yorker to join Rider Nation

The Roughriders are known for having the best fans in the league, but they can also be a persuasive bunch.

Just ask Joe Lozito from New York City. He decided to give the CFL a try after watching the Grey Cup in November. He was instantly sold but the only problem was he didn’t have a team to root for.

He posted a poll on Twitter asking which team he should root for. He didn’t get many responses at first, but it “blew up” once Rider Nation found it.

“I thought maybe my buddies might vote, my wife may vote, you know maybe like 20 votes,” Lozito said.

Lozito ended up with nearly 1,800 votes with a clear majority picking the Roughriders.

It's official. Starting today my @CFL team is the @sskroughriders. I'm absolutely amazed that my poll received over 1,700 votes but I guess that speaks to the passion of the CFL fans! Thank you all for voting! @6BONECRUSHER3 https://t.co/33K3J1J5qG

— Joe Lozito (@joe_lozito) January 17, 2018

The poll also caught the attention of Riders’ lineman Derek Dennis.

A fellow New Yorker himself, Dennis reached out to persuade Lozito to join the ranks of the Green and White.

Since I’m a queens native you should go with @sskroughriders it’s only right 😏😉

— Derek Dennis (@6BONECRUSHER3) January 14, 2018

Lozito said he didn’t need any more convincing.

The newly minted Roughrider fan says he’s already making plans to see a game and a GoFundMe page has been started to get him to Regina.

Lozito said he’s flattered by all the attention he’s getting.

“I kind of feel bad in a way because (Dennis’) timeline is blowing up because he’s tagged in all of these tweets,” laughed Lozito

Lozito is no stranger to media attention. He made headlines seven years ago after he was stabbed several times while stopping an attack on a New York subway.