New England Patriots visiting White House today
By: News Staff
Email: news@abc6.com
Twitter: @ABC6
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Super Bowl LI Champion winners, New England Patriots, are scheduled to visit the White House Wednesday, but not all the players will be in attendance.
It is nothing new for players to skip the White House visit. In fact, a handful or so usually do every year. Tom Brady, for instance, missed the trip in 2015 for family obligations.
However, it seems this time around, some players have been more outspoken than ever about why they are choosing to forgo the trip.
The Patriots are fairly frequent guests at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They recently went in 2015 when President Obama was in office, but now that President Trump is in the White House, several players have been vocal about why they will not be taking part.
Alan Branch, Legarette Blount, Chris Long, Dont’a Hightower, Martellus Bennett, and Devin McCourty will not be visiting the White House.
Each player has their different reasons for skipping the trip.
McCourty and Long took part in a fan video where they explained why they will not be going to D.C. with their teammates.
“You know, right away I knew I wasn’t going because it was something I thought about before we even won the game,” said McCourty.
“As my son grows up and I believe the legacy of our president is going to be what it is, I don’t want him to say hey dad why did you go when you knew the right thing was to not go?,” said Long.
Hightower has never attended the White House as a professional athlete, but went twice while in college at Alabama.
The other players who cited political reasons for skipping, of the six players: Branch, Hightower, and McCourty, are still under contract with the team.
Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and owner Robert Kraft, who are all vocal Trump supporters, are expected at today’s event.
©WLNE-TV / ABC6 2017
