New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will visit President Donald Trump‘s White House with the Super Bowl-winning team this week, reports say, while other players have decided to skip the event.
The 39-year-old NFL star will take to the president’s D.C. home along with the team on Wednesday, Politico reports, citing sources familiar with the planning.
Although it is tradition for Super Bowl champions to visit the White House, a few of Brady’s teammates have announced that they will skip the event — and some have cited Trump’s policies for their decision.
Martellus Bennett, Devin McCourty, Dont’a Hightower and Alan Branch, have all said they would not accept an invitation to visit the White House, NBC News reports.
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However, Brady, who said in October that he considers Trump a friend, said he has no negative feelings about his teammates’ decision, telling NBC Sports, “Everybody has their own choice.”
“Putting politics aside, it never was a political thing At least, it never was to me,” Brady said. “It meant you won a championship and you got to experience something cool with your team, with your teammates.”
He added: “You only get so much time with your family and friends, and if people don’t want to go they don’t want to go and that’s their choice.”
Brady skipped a 2015 visit to the White House when Barack Obama was in office due to a prior family commitment, ESPN reported. He was in attendance during the team’s three visits to George W. Bush’s White House, according to Boston.com.