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Patriots players taking to Twitter

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February 04, 2012|By Chad Finn

When it comes to football fame, Rich Ohrnberger falls smack-dab on the opposite end of the spectrum from glamorous superstar quarterback Tom Brady. He’s 25 years old, a 6-foot-2-inch, 300-pound offensive lineman who has played five games in three seasons, none this year because of injury.

He’s presently obscure, and his NFL future may be uncertain. But on Twitter, the social network that has accumulated more than 300 million users worldwide, he’s a budding star.

In monitoring the accounts of more than 20 Patriots players during the two-week buildup to Super Bowl XLVI, it wasn’t social-media savvy wide receiver Chad Ochocinco (his @ochocinco account has more than 3.2 million followers) or gregarious tight end Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski, more than 217,000 followers) who did the most with the allotted 140 characters Twitter permits per comment, or tweet.

It was Ohrnberger, which comes as no surprise to his teammates. Both Gronkowski and receiver Julian Edelman insisted this week that Ohrnberger is the funniest Patriot.

“He’s like Will Ferrell, he’s that funny,’’ Edelman said.

Ohrnberger has approximately 23,000 followers and a standup comic’s knack for a self-deprecating one-liner. A few of his recent gems:

I think Wesley Snipes would most accurately portray me in a movie

Today’s outfit: No-slip hospital socks, sweats (hole in crotch), a joke tuxedo thong, and a womens volleyball tshirt... I should do laundry

I blame cooler ranch doritos and marvel comics for my lack of female companionship until the 10th grade

“It’s just something I have fun with,’’ said Ohrnberger, who missed the entire season because of a head injury. “I don’t mind making fun of myself, obviously, and there’s a pretty good back and forth on Twitter. I get to try out some material. I’m not Ocho in terms of popularity or anything, but I enjoy it.’’

“Ocho’’ would be Ochocinco, a decorated performer for more than a decade with the Cincinnati Bengals who has endured a disappointing first season with the Patriots. He still remains a Twitter superstar, bantering good-naturedly with fans, reiterating his love of the International House of Pancakes, or riffing on his fear of appearing on a certain exploitative daytime talk show.

When asked this week by a follower which is more pressure, trying to make a field goal or a free throw with a game hanging in the balance, he replied:

Waiting for pregnancy test results on ‘Maury.’