New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said it was a privilege to be able to visit the White House after the Super Bowl in an interview Tuesday.
This comes as Patriots running back James White publicly expressed uncertainty about whether he would attend the team’s impending White House visit.
So far, six players have come out and said they would not attend. Three specifically said they are not going because of Donald Trump.
Brady said in an interview with NBC Sports: ‘Putting politics aside, it never was a political thing. At least, it never was to me.
‘It was just always something that was a privilege to do because it really meant you won a championship and you got to experience something cool with your team, with your teammates.’
James White, the Patriots running back who scored three touchdowns including the winning one at last week’s Super Bowl, debated whether or not he would attend.
White told TMZ Sports on Monday: ‘I’m not sure yet, I haven’t decided.’
He added: ‘Everybody has their own opinions and what not, I just haven’t decided.’
Brady, for his part, said he had no problem with his team-mates deciding they might skip the event.
‘Everybody has their own choice,’ said Brady, who missed the Patriots’ White House visit in 2015 hosted by President Barack Obama.
The Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks at the 49th Super Bowl that year, 28-24.
Brady said he could not go because of a ‘family commitment’, however on the day his teammates visited Obama he was reportedly at New England’s stadium in Foxboro. The next day, he went to the Apple Store in New York.
He said: ‘We didn’t get told until I think like 10 days before we were going, and at that point I had something I’d been planning for months and couldn’t get there.’
Brady did attend three other White House celebrations following New England Super Bowl wins — in 2001, 2003 and 2004 — during George W. Bush’s presidency.
He also attended a reception hosted by Bill Clinton in 1997 when Michigan won the national college title.
‘It really is a great experience,’ he said.
White, if he ends up not attending the visit this year, would join teammates Chris Long, LaGarrette Blount, Devin McCourty, Dont’a Hightower, Alan Branch, and Martellus Bennett.
Blount, Bennett and McCourty all pointed to Trump in explaining why they wouldn’t make the trip.
Linebacker Rob Ninkovich also said he is unsure if he will go to the White House.
Meanwhile, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a friend of Trump, was asked about the growing number of Patriots who have said they will not make the customary trip to DC during his appearance on NBC’s Today Show on Monday morning.
‘It’s interesting – this is our, happy to say, fifth Super Bowl in the last 16 years, and every time we’ve had the privilege of going to the White House a dozen of our players don’t go,’ he said.
‘This is the first time it’s gotten any media attention. Some of the players have the privilege of going in college because they are on national championship teams, others have family commitments.
‘But this is America, we are all free to do whatever is best for and, and we’re just privileged to be in the position to be going.’
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