Several New England Patriots players have made it clear that they have no intention of meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, eschewing the traditional meeting of championship-winning sports teams meeting with the POTUS.
As Yahoo News reports, tradition holds that the winners of the Super Bowl – and indeed, almost all major college and professional sports championships – meet with the president at the White House. And since the New England Patriots won Super Bowl LIII last Sunday, they should, by all rights, be the next team to stop by for the customary visit.
Not all of them want to go. Some would prefer to visit former President Barack Obama instead.
Speaking to the Associated Press , defensive back Devin McCourty said he won’t be going to Washington to visit Trump.
“I haven’t thought about it, but I highly doubt it.”
His twin brother and teammate Jason McCourty said he’s out as well. Both men say, however, that they’re looking forward to the customary post-Super Bowl visit to Walt Disney World, as well as to the planned parade back home in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Similarly, safety Duron Harmon tells TMZ that he doubts he’s even welcome in the White House.
However, Harmon is interested in following the lead of several players from the Golden State Warriors. As reported by the Inquisitr , several of the players from the NBA championship-winning team also boycotted the customary White House visit with Trump and instead went to visit Barack Obama instead. Harmon says it would be “dope” if given that chance.
“Hey, Obama, come holler at me, man. We love you over here.”
The 28-year-old safety told TMZ he would rather celebrate with Obama. https://t.co/iTzTLSp4pY
— HuffPost BlackVoices (@blackvoices) February 4, 2019
Even Tom Brady, who has caught grief for wearing his “Make America Great Again” hat and is rumored to be a fan of Donald Trump, remains a question mark. He, too, has skipped meeting with Trump at the White House following past Super Bowl wins, but he’s been vague about his reasons.
For decades, it’s been tradition for the winners of major college and professional sports championships to visit with the president following their win. The practice started in earnest during the Kennedy administration, but it goes back even before that.
However, since the Trump administration, several championship players – and in some cases, whole teams – have either declined to visit or have been disinvited. Several Chicago Cubs players skipped the post-World Series visit with Trump following their historic 2016 win, and the entire Philadelphia Eagles team was disinvited by Trump himself after winning the Super Bowl.
