The winning ways in Foxborough extend much further than One Patriot Place.
Foxborough's own Jeremy Collins is competing on Survivor's 40th season, "Winners at War," his third time on the CBS staple. But even though Collins was in Fiji, he got a taste of home in the show's latest episode when his wife Val and four children surprised him for the Loved Ones Visit in what Collins called a "life-changing experience."
His family made sure to bring a slice of Foxborough with them, with his children decked out in Patriots gear and his wife Val rocking a Foxboro Football hat.
"We live in Foxborough and love the Patriots," Collins said. "We represent our hometown team wherever we go. A championship mindset is contagious, and I try to bring the Patriot mindset into the game of Survivor. When I won, the Kraft family gave us personalized Patriot jerseys with #31 (my season) and my daughters' names on the back, and those jerseys were the best reminder of the championship mindset I need to have. To complete the theme, Val rocked her old school Foxboro Football Snapback, my son Remy had an Edelman T-shirt and my son Lenyx wore his red TB12 jersey."
The Collins family's connection with the Patriots is deep-seated. After Collins won his season, the Kraft family invited him and his family to a Patriots game, where they took photos with the Super Bowl Trophies, enjoyed pregame warm-ups from the sideline and watched the game from the Krafts' suite.
"We watched the game from the Kraft box where Robert Kraft would high five us after touchdowns and steal chicken fingers from my kids' plates. It was surreal," Collins said. "He then invited me to the locker room after the game to see the team break it down after the game. Tell me that isn't the greatest game experience you have ever heard of?!"
Collins won Season 31 of the show and is now battling against the best of the best for Survivor's hallmark 40th season, the first all-winners installment of the show. His wife Val also competed on the show alongside Collins during Season 29, and is a sergeant for the Foxborough Police Department. In his third appearance on the show, the Cambridge firefighter said the support of Foxborough is as strong as ever.
"The Foxborough community has been epic," Collins said. "Everywhere I go, I hear the cheers and support and I feel the love. We have a watch party at CBS Sporting Club for the premiere episode every season I play, and every time, it is standing room only and people are screaming and cheering like I scored a touchdown. This community is second to none."
After making it through another vote on the latest episode, Collins will continue to represent his family, his town and his team every Wednesday at 8 p.m. as he competes for the $2 million dollar prize.
