Six New England Patriots players have indicated that they will not make the customary Super Bowl champion trip to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump, citing Trump’s hateful rhetoric about minorities and his prejudices.
However, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is a friend of Trump’s and even placed a Make America Great Again hat in his locker. Coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft are friends with Trump, as well.
Brady will be in attendance at the White House, and in an interview with Pro Football Talk, he explained his thoughts on his teammates skipping out:
“Everybody has their own choice,” Brady said. “There’s certain years, like a couple years ago, I wanted to go and didn’t get the opportunity based on the schedule — 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.”
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“It really is a great experience,” Brady said. “Putting politics aside, it never was a political thing. At least, it never was to me. It meant you won a championship and you got to experience something cool with your team, with your teammates. Everyone has their own choice. It’s an offseason. These days are valuable for everybody. You only get so much time with your family and friends, and if people don’t want to go they don’t want to go and that’s their choice.”
Brady, as a rich white man, is not very affected by whoever is president, so it is easy for him to put politics aside. He was always able to feel welcome for being who he was.
For others, like Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount, it’s not the same:
“It’s just some of the things — I just don’t feel welcome into that house. I’m just gonna leave it at that.”
[PFT]
