Reiss: No plans for Pats to visit White House (yet)

4. A first after Patriots' sixth title -- no White House visit: After the Patriots won their first five Super Bowls, they visited the White House on the following dates:

• April 2, 2002
  
  
• May 10, 2004
  
  
• April 13, 2005
  
  
• April 23, 2015
  
  
• April 19, 2017

The club hasn't visited this year, and now that April and May have passed, it makes a sixth visit more of a logistical challenge, in part because players and coaches are taking final vacations before the start of training camp.

That might be a disappointment to some who would cherish the experience, but at the same time, it eliminates some of the recent hubbub involving teams from all sports in which who attends or doesn't attend becomes a bigger story than the actual White House visit itself.

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sean10mm said:

I think our politics have become sufficiently radioactive that no team owner should want their team visiting any politician. It accomplishes nothing but dividing the team itself and alienating a large share of the fanbase.

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TommyBrady12 said:

I think all players should go TBH. Tim Thomas started the whole thing back in 2011...and players from other leagues have followed suit.

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TommyBrady12 said:

I think all players should go to the White House TBH. Tim Thomas started the whole thing back in 2011...

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Sicilian said:

No matter who's in the white house, watching a politician pretend he cares about a championship team is something I couldn't care less about anyway.

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TommyBrady12 said:

I think all players should go to the White House TBH. Tim Thomas started the whole thing back in 2011...and players from other leagues have followed suit. People like Meghan Rapinoe should quit being a baby.

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1960Pats said:

That crap started long before Tim Thomas, including teams from Pittsburgh and the Red Socks. The major difference is that Thomas took plenty of heat while those others didn't.

This country is the most prosperous and philanthropic of any country in the world. Every day I wake up I realize how lucky I am that my grandfather settled here (legally).

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XLIX said:

It’s starting to get out of hand. It used to be a special thing. Then they started inviting all 4 of the major U.S. sports. Then college football and basketball. And since we have to pretend womens’ sports is just as entertaining and widely followed as men’s sports, they started inviting WNBA and women’s college hoops. Then it moved to Olympic Champions and Women’s World Cup when the US wins.

In this day and age the media is more interested in stoking controversy than merely reporting news, so we now are bombarded with reports of who has been invited, who is going, who is not going and why. I really just wish the issue would go away.

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XLIX said:

It’s starting to get out of hand. It used to be a special thing. Then they started inviting all 4 of the major U.S. sports. Then college football and basketball. And since we have to pretend womens’ sports is just as entertaining and widely followed as men’s sports, they started inviting WNBA and women’s college hoops. Then it moved to Olympic Champions and Women’s World Cup when the US wins.

In this day and age the media is more interested in stoking controversy than merely reporting news, so we now are bombarded with reports of who has been invited, who is going, who is not going and why. I really just wish the issue would go away.

Click to expand...

XLIX said:

It’s starting to get out of hand. It used to be a special thing. Then they started inviting all 4 of the major U.S. sports. Then college football and basketball. And since we have to pretend womens’ sports is just as entertaining and widely followed as men’s sports, they started inviting WNBA and women’s college hoops. Then it moved to Olympic Champions and Women’s World Cup when the US wins.

In this day and age the media is more interested in stoking controversy than merely reporting news, so we now are bombarded with reports of who has been invited, who is going, who is not going and why. I really just wish the issue would go away.

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TommyBrady12 said:

I’m fine with players skipping the WH for legitimate reasons. I don’t consider political disagreements to be legitimate, however. Thomas was pretty vocal about it. Bird and Jordan may have skipped meeting Reagan, but they did so quietly. Nowadays just about every player who declines the WH invitation is outspoken about their disagreement with the President...

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Sicilian said:

No matter who's in the white house, watching a politician pretend he cares about a championship team is something I couldn't care less about anyway.

Click to expand...

XLIX said:

It’s starting to get out of hand. It used to be a special thing. Then they started inviting all 4 of the major U.S. sports. Then college football and basketball. And since we have to pretend womens’ sports is just as entertaining and widely followed as men’s sports, they started inviting WNBA and women’s college hoops. Then it moved to Olympic Champions and Women’s World Cup when the US wins.

In this day and age the media is more interested in stoking controversy than merely reporting news, so we now are bombarded with reports of who has been invited, who is going, who is not going and why. I really just wish the issue would go away.

Click to expand...