Six Patriots say they’ll skip White House trip
Players offer various reasons for not accompanying team to Washington
The New England Patriots recently won their fifth Super Bowl title. The number of New England players saying they’ll skip the traditional champions’ visit to the White House is now up to six.
Defensive end Chris Long, running back LeGarrette Blount and defensive tackle Alan Branch added their names to the list Thursday, joining tight end Martellus Bennett, defensive back Devin McCourty and linebacker Dont’a Hightower as having publicly stated an intention not to accompany the team on its expected trip to Washington. Some of the six players cited an antipathy to U.S. President Donald Trump as their reason.
Long responded to a column by Chuck Modiano of the New York Daily News, one framed as an open letter that implored the longtime Ram and former Virginia star to “stand up” to Trump. “You are one of the only white NFL athletes who publicly seemed to ‘get it’ after Colin Kaepernick took his national anthem stand,” Modiano wrote.
On Twitter, Long replied by saying, “Oh Chuck. Planned on skipping, hadn’t been asked. Don’t need an open letter explaining my own words to me. Not *joining* anyone. My call.”
Blount, told NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, “I will not be going to the White House. It’s just some of the things that — I just don’t feel welcome in that house, I’m going to just leave it at that.”
Branch offered a different reason. “I’m going to hang with family and continue to celebrate until next season starts,” he said.
For Hightower, it was “been there, done that,” which were his words Wednesday on the topic. The linebacker had visited the White House twice as a member of Alabama’s BCS title-winning teams, and he pointed out that he had eschewed the trip in 2015, after the Patriots had notched a Super Bowl victory over the Se- ahawks.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft is a longtime friend of Trump’s, as is quarterback Tom Brady. Both, along with coach Bill Belichick, have received words of effusive praise from the president.
It’s remains possible that an invitation from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. won’t be extended to New England, if enough players stage a boycott and Trump’s team decides the optics would be bad. According to ESPN, the tradition dates back to at least 1865, when President Andrew Johnson received a pair of amateur baseball squads.