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Bill Belichick and the Patriots made a trip to the White House in 2015 to see President Barack Obama after winning Super Bowl 49. Obama is known for being a huge sports fan and took a little shot at the team with a Deflategate-related joke during the visit.
The president leaned in early on during his speech. Per the political publication The Hill, the President's Deflategate jokes caused the crowd to "let out an audible groan"
"I usually tell a bunch of jokes at these events, but with the Patriots in town, I was worried that 11 out of 12 of them would fall flat. All right, all right, all right. That whole story got blown a little out of proportion."
The New England Patriots found themselves in the middle of a full-blown controversy earlier that year when it was uncovered that they have used underinflated footballs. This was during the AFC Championship game versus the Indianapolis Colts in 2014.
It was reported that the deflation of the footballs was done at the request of quarterback Tom Brady. The league felt it discovered evidence during a surprise and uncommon inflation check at halftime of the AFC Championship Game.
Belichick asserted during a press conference that he was unaware of the controversy and was “shocked” to learn of the controversy:
“When I came in Monday morning I was shocked to learn of the news reports of the footballs I had no knowledge whatsoever of this situation until Monday morning. I’ve learned a lot more about this process in the last three days than I knew or had talked about in the last 40 years coaching in this league.”
The NFL subsequently spent close to $22 million over two years to conduct an investigation litigate and reprimand Brady and the franchise.
Commissioner Roger Goodell ultimately gave Brady a four-game suspension and fined the Patriots $500K for Deflategate.
Did Belichick and the Patriots visit Obama at the White House again?
The team's 2015 visit to the Obama White House would be the last one they would have with him as President. When the team won Super Bowl 53 in 2019, many players refused to travel to the White House to see President Donald Trump.
New England did visit Trump at the White House after their Super Bowl win in 2017 but several players, including Brady, were not in attendance.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Business Insider, Washington Post, and H/T Sportskeeda.
