
Shortly after the New England Patriots Super Bowl victory against the Atlanta Falcons, Free Safety Devin McCourty of the Patriots announces that he will not be joining the trip for the team’s annual White House visit with the President of the United States. McCourty is now the second Patriots player to speak out and dismiss himself from the visit, the first being newly acquired Tight End, Martellus Bennett.
In a text message sent to TIME Magazine, the player said “I’m not going to the White House,” “Basic reason for me is I don’t feel accepted in the White House. With the president having so many strong opinions and prejudices I believe certain people might feel accepted there while others won’t.”
This will surely create controversy among the Patriots locker room as we have previously seen some key figures in the organization publicly endorse the President of the United States. Among those key figures are QB Tom Brady, Head coach Bill Belichick, and Owner Robert Kraft. Tom Brady did not attend the teams previous visit to the White house in 2015 with Barack Obama in office.
Both McCourty and Bennett were previously seen this season holding up their fists after the national anthem in solidarity of social justice, they are among the many players league wide who have utilized their social platforms in a positive manner.
Congrats to Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty and any of the other Patriots who actually care about social justice. pic.twitter.com/YSOwuow0bg
— RogueRogerOfficial (@iamtherog) February 6, 2017
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, McCourty may possibly be the most respect player in the Patriots locker room, which means we may quickly see a trend in the remaining players to decline the invite to visit the White House.
Devin McCourty is maybe the most respected #Patriots player in the locker room. This speaks loudly. https://t.co/24Yxqye4BH
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 7, 2017