The 2014/2015 National Football League’s final game of the season between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks was arguably the most exciting Super Bowl of all time. With less than four minutes to go, either team could have won. After a series of miracle plays, New England went home with the Lombardi trophy.
Champions of the Super Bowl are traditionally invited to the White House to be honored by the president. Quarterback Tom Brady did not make the trip to Washington this April 23, 2015. Brady had attended three previous White House congratulatory events.
The 37-year-old quarterback claimed that he had “prior family commitments” that would keep him from visiting the nation’s Capital. Tom had previously met with then Senator Obama at a White House Correspondents dinner in 2005. The snub sparked much debate on the Internet and undoubtedly at dinner tables across the nation.
Speculators immediately voiced their take on why the superstar did not attend – it got downright ugly on Twitter. The four-time Super Bowl champion was called an “unpatriotic Tea Party racist” for not attending.
Conversely, the President handled the snub with grace and he even took a jab at the franchise. He jocundly said, “That whole (deflate-gate) story got blown out of proportion…
I usually tell a bunch of jokes at these events, but with the Patriots in town I was worried that 11 out of 12 of them would fall flat.”
Coach Bill Belichick gave the President a thumbs-down while slightly grinning.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest chimed in with,“For years it’s been clear that there is no risk that I was going to take Tom Brady’s job… But I can tell you, as of today, it’s pretty clear that there’s no risk of him taking my job either.”
Avid Patriot fans would ardently disagree with Mr. Earnest. They would go as far as claiming that Tom could be the president of the United States. His supermodel wife Gisele, however, would probably disapprove of the egregious pay cut.