ST PAUL, Minn. — Alan Page made history both on the football field and in the courtroom, but apparently that's not good enough for the powers behind Twitter's blue verification checkmark.
Page posted a screenshot to his Twitter page on Thursday, showing a message informing him that the account would not receive the official verification checkmark because "the evidence provided did not meet our criteria for notability."
Alan Page, not notable?
Minnesota (respectfully, of course) disagrees.
For those unfamiliar, let's look at his resume:
Page had an All-American collegiate career with Notre Dame. He was an All-Pro defensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings, playing in four Super Bowls with the team. He was later elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988.
Page went on to become an associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court, serving from 1993 until his retirement in 2015.
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in 2018.
Page has even co-authored several children's books with his daughter.
But according to the Twitter verification folks, "we could not reliably verify that the account associated with the request is a notable person, organization or brand."
Twitter users from Minnesota and beyond have rallied behind Page since the post, with many of them (several of whom are verified themselves) decrying the seeming injustice of denying Page a blue check.
"[Twitter CEO] Jack [Dorsey] is apparently a Packers fan," Sen. Amy Klobuchar declared in a tweet supporting Page.
"This is pretty comical," former NFL coach Tony Dungy said on Twitter. "I guess it comes down to what have you done lately."
The Vikings also listed Page's credentials in their own tweet, saying his many accomplishments are "easier to earn than a Twitter checkmark apparently."
There's no word on whether Twitter will reconsider Page's verification status.
