Patriots Players Skipping Out on White House Visit

I wish only Belichick and Brady would go...and nobody else. I'd enjoy that.

 

Cut a player for declining to meet Trump? That is just silly and dramatic. It is probably for the best considering how the White House is slowly turning into such a safe space for Trump. Sad!

 

Tom Brady is not attending today's White House ceremony. This is a statement from him: "I am so happy and excited that our team is being honored at the White House today. Our team has accomplished something very special that we are all proud of and will be for years to come. Thank you to the President for hosting this honorary celebration and for supporting our team for as long as I can remember. In light of some recent developments, I am unable to attend today's ceremony, as I am attending to some personal family matters. Hopefully, if we accomplish the goal of winning a championship in the future years, we will back on the South Lawn again soon. Have a great day!"

Devin McCourty among Patriots not expected to make White House trip

• "The different things that come out of the White House or the [administration] just didn’t agree or align with some of my views," McCourty said. McCourty said he wouldn’t "feel accepted in the White House. With the president having so many strong opinions and prejudices, I believe certain people might feel accepted there while others won’t. ... I don’t believe in excluding other people."

• Defensive end Chris Long, tight end Martellus Bennett, running back LeGarrette Blount and defensive tackle Alan Branch are the other players from the 2016 Patriots team who have publicly said they won’t attend.

• "When 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, 'Dad, why did you go when you knew the right thing was to not go?'" Long said.

• Immediately after Super Bowl LI, Bennett said, "I am not going to go. I can elaborate later on in life. People know how I feel about it, just follow me on Twitter."

• As for Blount, he said on the "Rich Eisen Show" in February, "I don’t feel welcome in that house. I’ll leave it at that."

• Branch told the Boston Globe this week, "I have three daughters. I wouldn’t spend time away from my family to shake the hand of a guy I wouldn’t want to meet with or talk to. I can’t see myself going and then hanging out with my kids and pretending everything was all right."

• Some players, such as Dont'a Hightower, said they don’t plan to attend Wednesday but stopped short of saying it was for political reasons. "Been there, done that," he said Feb. 8 during an on-air appearance at ESPN, pointing out that he attended two years ago and with the University of Alabama national championship football team.

 

Even Trump's boy Tom Brady couldn't be bothered to go? I bet Trump is livid on the inside.

 

I am sure he called and told him. His family has been going through some tough times lately.

 

Umm, he didn't even say President Trump in his message. Yeah, I don't think he called him.

 

LOL.

 

Well, if Trump wants to do that, fine. Under any other President, which has happened before, you're going to always have some no-shows. But at this level? Nope. That's what President Trump gets for being an *******. You can respect him as President, but you sure as hell don't have to go out of your way, either.

 

I stand by what I said, and if it were any other president, you'd probably agree with me. I know that Trump makes it where otherwise rational people end up being incredibly irrational, so I don't plan on discussing it further.

 

Again, there are degrees and there are degrees. You didn't see this with W Bush. Why? Because, despite differing political ideologies, they knew he was a decent person. Same with Obama. Trump is an ass. Sorry, but that's the plain truth. The thing is, he can do well in the White House- and power to him if he does. Doesn't erase all the ******* things he's done. Chickens coming home to roost.

I know you like to see the world in black and white, Bobby- but that ain't just the way it is. You have this running theme of "doesn't matter what happened, the law is the law..." etc. Actually, no, it's not. This is why the judicial branch exists. But you have a very hard time accepting anything that differs from your black-and-white view. You're trying to compare Obama, or Bush, or Clinton, or Reagan, etc. to Trump- and you can't- because they were all decent, professional individuals.

I mean, Bobby, come on, President Trump included "that's why I won..." as part of his speech about the Patriots. I've watched these ceremonies all the way back to Clinton, and not one of them ever mentioned themselves except to say why they liked the team, or if the team was from their hometown.

It does matter. Maybe, Trump can turn the corner and not be an overwhelmingly narcissistic jerk. There's a start.

 

Bobby, you always stand by what you say. Most times, that is admirable. But you do it even when you're flat-out wrong. If this were partisan politics driven, I would bring George W Bush into the discussion and say, "Well, they shouldn't have visited when he was President, either!"

I know you have a hard time believing that people wouldn't act the same with Romney or McCain or Bob Dole or George HW Bush or Ronald Reagan or Gerald Ford or Richard Nixon or Barry Goldwater or Dwight Eisenhower or any of the other Republicans Presidents / Almost-Presidents, but that is simply not true. Proof: Search for any post in which I've mentioned any of these individuals above. Matter of fact, you can search any post I've made about Cruz, or Rubio, or Jeb Bush, or any of those others last year. None compare to President Trump. He is in a category by itself.

I didn't criticize Brady or James Harrison when they didn't show, either.

What's hilarious, though, is that it will DEFINITELY MATTER to President Trump, b/c he's a big baby wrapped in the title of President.

 

While it may be your opinion that Obama was a "decent, professional individual", you fail to understand that not everyone sees the world the same way you do. The way you feel about Trump, there are MANY people who felt the same way about Obama. Now would that make it right for them to act towards him the way you think it would be okay to act towards Trump? No, of course not.

If you can't treat the office of the president with respect, you don't deserve the honor of being invited to begin with and unfortunately fewer and fewer people these days are worth a damn enough to show respect in situations like that. As such, they should just cancel the whole thing.

I don't like Trump and I didn't like Obama, but if I was in a situation where I was invited to the White House, I wouldn't act like a douchebag......but of course I'm becoming a minority of the population.

 

If you can't see the difference in class, dignity, and respect between Trump and every other recent President we've had, then you are blind or those things simply don't matter to you.

 

Snowflake?

 

I guess that's one way of putting it. People who think they are beautiful and unique snowflakes don't have to show respect for the office shouldn't be invited in the first place. I'm not big on that term because it has become overused in the last few years, but I guess it could be applicable.

 

I was referring to you, not the players.

 

Oh, well that's foolish but fair enough, you be you.

 

Bobbytheflake is an unemployed turd that lives in his mom's basement. Sad.

 

https://www.boston.com/sports/new-e...-house-photo-difference-trump-obama-2015-2017

According to an update from the Times, the Patriots said, despite the fewer numbers of players, the team’s total delegation was about the same size.

Of course, the lower player turnout for Trump isn’t unique. In 2005, only 27 Patriots showed up according to CSN New England, and 36 attended in 2004, both during the George W. Bush administration. The Patriots’ 2002 visit with Bush, after the team’s first Super Bowl championship, drew “50-plus” players.