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“Few people think we could have won; in fact, about 40% of people still don’t think we’ve won. Do you understand that, Mr. President?
Biden praised the team for getting over an inauspicious start before solidifying as a unit to advance to the playoffs and ultimately win the Super Bowl in a particularly difficult season played amid the pandemic of Covid-19.
The Buccaneers were “a testament to the fact that it’s never too late to come together and do amazing things,” Biden said.
Biden, the oldest person ever to be elected president, also noted that Brady and Bruce Arians were the oldest quarterback and head coach to lead a Super Bowl-winning team.
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing wrong with being the oldest guy to reach the top of the mountain,” Biden said.
The president also singled out wide receiver Chris Godwin – who was born in Philadelphia and raised in Delaware, two places close to Biden’s heart.
“Where I come from, that’s a hell of a combination, man,” Biden said.
The appearance, in conjunction with the ceremony held earlier this month for the World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers, marks the end of the culture wars that surrounded similar events at the White House during the Trump years.
Brady caught the heat during the 2016 presidential campaign for sporting then-candidate Donald Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” hat in his locker while playing for the New England Patriots . He also made several pro-Trump comments, although he also claimed they were taken out of context.
The two were friendly for years, long before Trump entered national politics, as well as periodic golf partners. The former president also has a relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and longtime head coach Bill Belichick, although the latter rejected Trump’s offer of the Presidential Medal of Freedom following the insurrection of January 6.
Brady, who won seven Super Bowls in his 20-year career, refused to join his Patriot teammates when they visited the White House in 2017. At the time, he cited “personal family matters” for the decision, which would have angered Trump.
Brady also skipped a visit to the White House during Barack Obama’s presidency for a similar reason.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only Democrat to hold an elected office statewide is on the march to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis, posted a photo on Twitter of herself in the White House alongside Brady.
Although a number of championship-winning athletes declined invitations to the White House, usually due to political differences with the incumbent president, the token event turned into political football during Trump’s tenure.
Trump has waged a protracted campaign against professional soccer players and others who knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice, going so far as to unsinvite the Philadelphia Eagles less than one day before their planned arrival in 2018.
He also banned NBA star Stephen Curry and his Golden State Warriors teammates after Curry signaled he would not be attending the championship ceremony. The Warriors have always been to Washington, DC, in early 2018 and instead visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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