David Beckham gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times a few days ago, and the LAT totally buried the lead, and now the British tabloids are freaking the f-ck out. In an extensive piece covering the journey of the LA Galaxy in general, and Beckham’s place on the team specifically, the reporter asks Beckham if he really enjoys being in America. Beckham says he’d “like to make California his family’s home even when his playing days are over” and “Our boys go to school here. They’re happy here. As long as they continue to be happy here, my wife’s happy here, then we plan on staying.” Then the reported asks if he’d ever consider becoming an American citizen, since he enjoys being in America so much, and Beckham says: “I hope so, one day. It would be nice. I’m English born and bred. And that’s the way I’ll always be. I’m an Englishman, you know.” So he “hopes” to become an American citizen, but he will always identify himself as an Englishman.

Question to the Americans: Would you mind David Beckham as an American citizen? I wouldn’t. But I’m a sucker for naturalization stories and people making the conscious choice to “become American.” It stirs my sense of patriotism. Also – I think Beckham is being honest. I think he really enjoys how (mostly) low-key he and his family get to be here, and he likes that his kids get to go to school and be normal and that the whole family isn’t under the microscope of the British dailies. Now, does Victoria feel the same way? For some reason, I doubt it. I bet she wishes they were back in England, where she is much more famous.

Also – in the LAT piece, Becks also complains a lot about his injuries sustained on the field, but he’s optimistic: “I find it hard to sit still and do nothing … but at the end of the day I need to rest my legs. Waking up in the morning, it still takes me a while to get the leg going and it’s still pretty painful. There’s always a satisfaction when you prove people wrong. I’ve been able to do that over the years. Yeah it was great winning FA Cups, Champions League, playing in World Cups, winning [Spanish] La Liga. But now I’m playing in a MLS team and the MLS Cup is the biggest thing in soccer in this country. So it’s an exciting prospect.” Good for him!