These Patriots Players Attended the White House Ceremony

Several players were notably absent

Photographs of the New England Patriots’ visit to the White House this week are raising questions: Which players made the trip to Washington? Who stayed home?

The New York Times posted two photographs to Twitter – one from the teams' White House visit in 2015 and one from the trip this week.

It appeared from the photos that many more Patriots' players attended the ceremony two years ago, when former President Barack Obama was in office.

The Patriots responded by tweeting, “These photos lack context.” The team added the 2015 photograph included dozens of staffers. Such employees were not pictured in the image from Wednesday, the team said. 

Still, several high-profile players were absent from the visit. Most notably, quarterback Tom Brady skipped the trip, citing “personal family matters.”

Providence Journal reporter Mark Daniels tweeted a list of players in attendance.

Other members of the Super Bowl LI team, including defensive back Devin McCourty and tight end Martellus Bennett, boycotted the event for political reasons.

According to the Boston Globe, those who did not attend included: Danny Amendola, Alan Branch, Don’t’a Hightower, Chris Long, LeGarrette Blount, Patrick Chung, Dion Lewis, James White, Duron Harmon and Logan Ryan.

Teams from the major sports leagues are traditionally invited to the White House after winning a championship.

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