Patriots still patriotic
February 19, 2017
Led by Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett, six members of the New England Patriots have chosen not to continue the tradition of visiting the White House after winning the Super Bowl.
Many people are criticizing the men on their choice, but these same people were noticeably quiet when Tom Brady chose not to visit President Obama on April 23, 2015. Brady claimed to have a previous family commitment, but many speculated that his true reason was because he did not support the president.
If that’s the case, it was his prerogative. It’s his right if he doesn’t want to go, just as it’s the right of these men.
Over the years, there have been several athletes who have skipped the presidential visit. In 2011, Boston Bruins goaltender Tim omas elected not to go after they won the Stanley Cup. omas was very vocal about his decision, stating that he made the choice not to attend as an individual.
He said it was not about politics or any political party because he felt that both parties were respon- sible for the then-current decline in the country.
Many other athletes have exercised their right as well, including Manny Ramirez, James Harrison, Tom Lehman and even Michael Jordan.
And that is okay. They don’t have to go. It’s not part of their contracts. By winning the championship, they’ve done their jobs. Getting to schmooze with the president is just a perk.
It isn’t right to judge any of these players for not going. Just because they are public figures, it doesn’t mean they don’t get to have their own personal feelings about who is running the country. If Trump invited me to the White House, I’d turn down the invitation as well.
The media also needs to lay o these players be- cause they didn’t give any of the above-mentioned athletes a hard time.
It’s okay to not support the current president. And to be perfectly honest, I feel that the only reason people are making such a huge deal over this is because of who our current president is.
The media just wants to fan the anti-trump flame some more. And it doesn’t help that there are people claiming that the six men who are refusing to go are being un-American.
News ash, you can still be an American and disagree with the current administration. Just ask all those who opposed Obama and Clinton, as well as both Bushes.
There has never been a man who has held that office and had a 100 percent approval rating. ere will always be someone who disagrees with the cur- rent political shift, and once again, that is perfectly fine.
That doesn’t make you un-American. Quite frankly, that’s about as American as it gets. These people need to stop being so hurt that someone doesn’t love their Twitter-in-Chief and worry about the real issues of the day.
Who is and isn’t going to the White House to rub elbows with Trump should really be the last thing on everyone’s minds.
There are just too many other, way more important things going on in this world to be worried about than six men who oppose the Trump administration’s actions.
