(The Slice): Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucaneers received a heroes welcome from Pres. Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday. The team filed in on the steps of the South Portico where Biden saluted them from a podium, saying "This Bucaneer team is a testamenr to the fact that it is never too late to come together and achieve great things." This is a reference to the come-from-behind season where they pushed into gear to win the final four games of the and went on to win Superbowl 55, defeating Kansas City 31-9.
Brady acknowledged the doubt that surrounded their victory. "Not a lot of people think that we could have won; in fact about 40 percent of people still don’t think we won. Do you understand that Mr. President?,” he asked.
The two men also related to being the oldest in "the game." Biden is the oldest president elected to office. Brady is the oldest quarterback in the league.
Remarked Biden, “As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing wrong with being the oldest guy to make it to the mountaintop."
This is a trip that the football champ could have taken may times before but he did not.
Brady had come under fire for displaying a "Make America Great Again" hat in his locker. A multi-ring winner, he decided against attending the traditional visit when when both Trump and Obama were leaders. The MVO opted not to visit in 2015, 2017 and 2019. In 2019, the New England Patriots opted not to visit as a team. In 2017, Brady said he could not go because he was visiting his mother.
The custom of champion sports team coming to the White House was disrupted when Trump was president. The political tension appears to have quelled during the Biden Administration.
The Bucks presented Pres. Biden with a jersey with the number 46 on it representing the 46th president.