President Obama: Patriots ‘As Good an Organization as There’s Been’ in Sports
The Patriots celebrated their Super Bowl XLIX championship with the leader of the free world on Thursday, as the team was welcomed to the White House by President Barack Obama.
In the team’s first visit to the White House lawn since Obama took office, the president took the time to congratulate the organization on their accomplishment in winning their fourth Lombardi Trophy since February 2002.
“The Patriots organization is as good an organization as there’s ever been in professional sports,’’ Obama said. “To be able to maintain that kind of consistent excellence is a rare thing in any field, including on the football field, and that’s a testament to outstanding ownership, it’s a testament to a Hall of Fame coach.’’
Over the course of the speech, the president made several jokes – including on how coach Bill Belichick “decided to dress up today’’ as opposed to his hoodie with the sleeves cut off – but the most notable was about Deflategate, the investigation that is about to turn two months old, but has yet to reach a conclusion.
“I usually tell a bunch of jokes at these events,’’ he said. “But with the Patriots in town, I was worried 11 out of 12 of them would fall flat.’’
The president later added that he thought “that whole story got blow a little out of proportion.’’
Obama referenced the Patriots’ comeback win in the Super Bowl, where any chance of victory looked slim as the Seattle Seahawks rattled off 17 straight points to take a 24-14 lead.
“Against the Seahawks they gave up one of the greatest finishes in Super Bowl history; the Patriots became the first team ever to win the Super Bowl after trailing by 10 points going into the fourth quarter.
“And you saw what made this team special. There was, of course Tom Brady, the all-time great who couldn’t be here with us today, but who engineered a pair of surgical fourth quarter touchdown drives. You had Julian Edelman playing an unbelievable game after an unbelievable playoffs, clawing for extra yards; Darrelle Revis shutting down receivers like nobody else can; [Rob] Gronkowski, just being Gronkowski.
“He’s not making rabbit ears back there, is he?’’ the president asked the players behind him with a smile. “I told him to keep his shirt on. He asked me what would happen if he took it off. I said ‘Secret Service probably wouldn’t like it,’ he said ‘What could they do to me?’’’
The president later remarked that one of the defining features of the Super Bowl champions was the contributions they got up and down the roster, not just from their well-known players.
“This team came out on top not just because of big stars, but because of guys who aren’t necessarily household names,’’ he said. “Jamie Collins; Shane Vereen; Rob Ninkovich; and, of course, we all became acquainted with a man named Malcolm Butler on the biggest play of the Super Bowl.
“You have a combination of somebody with toughness and heart, and you have a great coach and a great organization…I think it’s fair to say Malcolm has earned a lifetime of free drinks as every bar in Boston.’’
After the president’s speech, Patriots owner Robert Kraft spoke and presented an “Obama 44’’ Patriots jersey and a Patriots helmet signed by the entire team to the noted Chicago Bears fan, saying while he understands the president’s allegiance to the Bears “we think you should have an AFC team.’’
“We thank [the president] for inviting us here today and we hope to have a chance to come back here next year,’’ Kraft said.
Patriots quarterback and three-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady did not attend the ceremony; it was reported that his absence was due to a prior family commitment.
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