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The NFL champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers visited the White House on Tuesday, and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady was packing some one-liners.
While addressing his team and President Joe Biden, the quarterback, who turns 44 next month, referenced a play in the 2020 season when he forgot what down it was during a game. “We had a game in Chicago where I forgot what down it was. I lost track of one down in 21 years of playing, and they started calling me Sleepy Tom.”
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This, of course, was a reference to the “Sleepy Joe” nickname that former President Donald Trump and other conservative political figures sought to hang on Biden in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election.
There was more to come from Brady.
“Not a lot of people think we could’ve won,” Brady joked. “In fact, I think about 40% of the people still don’t think we won.”
“I understand that,” Biden, cognizant that majorities of self-declared Republicans have continued in the eight months since Nov. 3 to tell pollsters they doubt the election’s outcome, chimed in with a smile.
Championship teams from the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB usually visit the White House after their seasons end — it’s a tradition that dates back to 1865.
From the archives (September 2017): Player protests sweep NFL as Trump continues his attacks
The Buccaneers’ visit was the first time since 2017 that an NFL team has come to the White House after a Super Bowl victory. Brady opted out of visits to the White House as a member of the New England Patriots during both the Trump and Obama administrations, despite having called Trump a “great friend.”
Key Words (April 2017): Patriots’ Gronk crashes the White House briefing
